THERMODYNAMICS

The Essence in
Thermal Energy Storage

Maria Natalia R. Dimaano, D. Eng.

Research Center for the Natural Sciences /
Faculty of Engineering
University of Santo Tomas
How to Store Energy ?
• Electrical Energy
How to Store Energy ?
• Chemical Energy

Power Storage Batteries

 How to Store Energy ?
• Mechanical Energy

Flywheel Energy in
Energy Storage Compressed Spring Gravitational
Potential Energy
Thermal Energy Storage
 14%
Others 24%
Air conditioning
2% Ventilation
42% 18%
Motors Lighting

Commercial and industrial electricity use in the Philippines

 Energy Storage Methods
• Storage of free energy
– the stored energy can be converted
without any loss into some other form
of energy.
• Storage of thermal or heat energy
– efficiency of conversion depends on the
temperature at which thermal energy is
available
 Exergy = Workrev. – Workambient surroundings

Traditional Thermodynamic Functions

• Energy
• Enthalpy
• Entropy Intrinsic Properties
• Free Energy

Exergy – not an intrinsic material property

– It depends on the temperature of the
surroundings.
Facts about
Thermal Energy Storage (TES)
• An electrical load management and building
equipment utilization strategy, that reduces utility
electricity demand and equipment first-costs.
• Utilized as a demand-side management strategy
by several utilities to shift electricity use
associated with cooling from on-peak periods to
off-peak periods.
• designed to avoid high utility demand and energy
charges from cooling during on-peak periods
associated with time-of-use rates or real-time
pricing rates
 Storage Qo,To
Qi,Ti
Box

From First Law of Thermodynamics

Qi=Qo

From Second Law of Thermodynamics

To<Ti.
 Insulated
reservoir

Cooler Evaporator

Reservoir
Storage Strategies
 Full storage
• discharging or complete solidification
is generated during off peak periods.
 Partial storage
• discharging during off peak periods
based on the immediate thermal needs
on a specific peak time on the
following day.
Thermal Energy Storage Mechanisms
Sensible Heat Storage - Thermal energy stored by
temperature change.
Latent Heat Storage - Thermal energy stored
and released by a
reversible change of state
in an isothermal process.
• Solid – gas • Solid – liquid
• Liguid – gas • Solid – solid
Thermochemical Heat Storage
- Thermal energy absorbed
in chemical reactions.
Sensible Heat Storage Materials

• rocks Recognized Users

• earth  Mercedez Benz
• water  American Airlines
• ceramic bricks  Mc Donald’s
 JC Penney Corporate
Headquarters
 Relatively cheap  Sapporo Kousei
 safe
Hospital
 Universally available  Itabashi Ecopolis Center
 transportable  Osaka Municipal
Central Gym
 Types of Ice Storage Tanks

Heat Heat
Exchanger Exchanger
Ice
Water

Ice on coil type Slurry type

Encapsulated type
 Compressor

Condensing
Ice Storage Tank Unit Evaporator
A diagram of package ice storage
 Latent Heat Storage Materials
1. Salt Hydrates – inorganic compounds of
salt and water
2. Organic Materials – paraffins and fatty
acids
3. Eutectic Mixtures – solutions of organic and
inorganic components

4. Clathrates – a fluid crystalline compound

formed when water is mixed
with a small quantity of an
organic medium or coolant
Characteristics

 Phase change materials have

high energy densities

 Nearly isothermal charge and

discharge

 Compactness of the storage unit

 Less insulation required

Concept of cool storage for possible
industrial application

4°C Thermal
Idletime Discharging Load
Electricity Energy
Pump Pump
Refrigeration Storage Cooled
Air
water
Warm water Cold
Water
water Distribution
Room or 12 L•s–1 System
Space Unit Cooled Heat
Cooled
End-Use Exchanger
air water
(25 – 27C) Unit
Thermochemical Storage Materials
 Reversible chemical reaction

 Adsorption

 Direct hydration process

 Metal hydrides in chemical heat pumps using

hydrogen as the working fluid

 Metallic salts with ammonia

Thermochemical storage can also be useful in

energy transport applications where the
components can be transferred separately and
combined where thermal energy is needed.
 QC

Condenser
QrR
Heating phase
Reactor Storage
Cooling phase
QcR

Evaporator
QE
Base operation of a solid absorbent
solar cooling system.
 Integration of base-load chiller, TES chiller,
and TES system models within a Cooling Loop.
 Q ice
m ice 
c p , water Tinlet  TLoop setpo int 

Charge or Discharge Rate

QTES
Qice  u

t

Operation Modes
• dormant mode: u = 0;
• charging mode: u > 0;
and
• discharging mode: u <
0.
 Dormant Mode Discharging Mode
• u=0
• u<0
• Tinlet = Texit
• If discharge cannot
• No storage capacity to
be provided by the
handle building cooling
TES system,
loads
Q ice
m ice 
Charging Mode c p , water  Tinlet  TLoop setpo int 
• u>0 m ice = the TES water mass flow rate (kg/s),
Q ice = TES cooling load (W),
TLoop setpoint = the supply loop setpoint water
temperature (C).
 Total availability destroyed
Figure of Merit 
Total availability entered

As functions of:
• availability of entering gas streams due to T &P being
greater than ambient
• entropy generation by transient heat conduction within the
storage element
• entropy generation due to convection heat transfer between
the gas and storage material
• entropy generation during the dwell period due to transient
heat conduction within the storage material
• availability destroyed by heat transfer between the exiting
gas and the environment during the storage period.
Applications
• Building cooling/heating systems
• Power utilization in space missions
• Electronics
• Coal fired stations
• energy storage
• industrial waste heat recovery
• greenhouse heating
Heating/cooling Thermal Heating/cooling
source Energy Storage load
System

Rate of Rate of Rate of

thermal thermal
thermal  Energy
+ Energy = 0
Energy in
out production

Rate of exergy storage = Transfer by heat + Transfer by

shaft/boundary work + Transfer
by flow – Exergy destruction
Performance of TES System
• load
• water/transfer fluid circulation
temperature
• ambient temperatures
• water/transfer fluid flow rates
 This research will help improve a critical
component of renewable energy, solar
technology, in the future. Increasing the use
of renewable energy is a clear way to help
meet our growing energy needs using
environmentally-friendly power sources.

Studies have always been concerned with

the choice of or continuous development of
thermal energy storage materials and
schemes to further improve the thermal
energy storage system performance.
“discoveries often come from people straying outside the
normal bounds of their specialties: (J. Gleick on Chaos:
Making a New Science)
 “Discoveries often come from
people straying outside the normal
bounds of their specialties”
(J. Gleick on Chaos: Making a New
Science)
 PCM Selection
System Materials
Performance Characteristics
Working temperature Fusion/transition temperature
Density
Energy density Heat of fusion/transition
Response to load Behavior of fusion/transition
Heat transfer characteristics
Thermal Efficiency
Thermal stability
Life Expectancy
Thermal degradation
Reliability Explosive/ignition reactivity
Compatibility with working fluid
Safety Toxicity
 dm
Continuity Equation   m i   m e
dt

dE dme
Rate of change of total    Q CV  W CV
energy from the energy dt dt
equation   m i htot ,i   m e htot ,e

Rate of change of entropy from the entropy equation

dS dms Q CV 
   m i s i   m e s e    S gen
dt dt T

Exergy,   m  : no flow availability

Rate of exergy equation
d dV
  QCV  WCV   m i htot ,i   m e htot ,e  P0
 
dt dt
Q CV
 T0  m i si  T0  m e s e   T0  T0 S gen
T
 
 (h0  T0 s 0 )  m i   m e

d  T0  
Transfer by heat at T   1  QCV
dt  T 
dV
Transfer by shaft/boundary work  WCV  P0

dt
Transfer by flow  m    m 
i i e e

: specific flow exergy;

flow availability

Exergy destruction  T0 S gen

Rate of exergy storage = Transfer by heat +
Transfer by
shaft/boundary work
+ Transfer by flow –
Exergy destruction