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Yi Jin, Cenyu Yang, Xiao Hu, Guizhi Xu, Bo Zhao, Gaoqun Zhang, Zhaolong Du, Liang Chang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Power Transmission Technology
Global Energy Interconnection Research Institute
Changping District, Beijing, 102211, China
E-mail address: jin.yi@139.com

Abstract—Future energy systems face significant challenges in to the use of fossil fuels, which has been shown to be a main
resolving global energy trilemma of clean supply, affordability effect for global warming. Due to above reasons, large-scale
and security. This calls for high penetration of renewables and use of renewable energy sources, in particularly wind and solar,
electrification of heat and transportation. This paper concerns becomes more and more attractive. Key problems for such
thermal energy storage (TES), which is expected to play an energy sources are their intermittent nature, which makes the
important role in addressing the energy trilemma. It summarizes delivery of reliable power, on demand, a major challenge.
our recent work on this area, covering TES materials, modules Energy storage, particularly TES, has the potential to meet this
and applications. Our work on TES materials has been on challenge.
composite materials, including materials formulation and
properties characterization and fabrication. Our work on TES TES is a conventional technology which based on sensible
devices is covered the material formulation, exchanger thermal energy storage has been applied for centuries[3-5]. For
developing and TES system building. The experimental study example, electrical water heating has already been put forward
indicates that the thermal recovery efficiency is from 87~91% for as a solution for storing surplus wind power in the form of
each TES exchanger. A multistage system with graded use of the thermal energy with an aim to reduce the curtailment of wind
thermal energy can enhance the thermal recovery efficiency up to power generation. Hot water based storage has been applied in
92%. domestic homes for load control, peak shaving, leading to a
reduced bill for end-users [6]. Xydis indicates that heat and
Keywords—thermal energy storage(TES); phase change
materials(PCMs); composites PCMs module formulation; multi-
cold storage allows a high wind power integration through
stage TES converting excess renewable electricity into thermal or cold
energy, leading to energy savings and reducing the need for
building new coal-fired power plants [7]. Hughes simulated
I. INTRODUCTION converting electric energy to heat at off-peak time can reduce
China has promised to cut greenhouse gas emissions per electricity abondaned rate which is generated from the wind .
unit of GDP by 60-65% by 2030 from the 2005 levels. This It can decrese the greenhouse gas emissions as well [8]. Jones
implies a large extent of reduction in fossil fuel consumption, studied the potential of building thermal storage as a load
currently at ~65%, and therefore imposes a significant shifting technology The TES under consideration of this work
challenge for the nation. . A pathway for meeting such a is on phase change materials (PCMs). The principle of such
challenge is the so-called ‘Two-Replacement strategy’, namely, materials is due to enthalpy associated with reversible state
Clean Replacement - replacing fossil fuels with clean energy change of the materials.[9-10] Compared to traditional sensible
sources in energy production process, and Electricity heat storage, latent heat storage offers a number of advantages
Replacement - replacing non-electrical energy at the end user including high energy density and isothermal behavior during
side with clean electricity [1]. charging and discharging processes. Phase change can be
between liquid, solid and gas phases but only liquid-solid and
This work concerns thermal energy particularly thermal solid-solid transitions are practical due to small changes in
energy storage (TES) technologies. The rationale for the work volume. For the solid-liquid phase changes, encapsulation is
lies in the fact that approximately 90% of the global energy often needed in order to contain the liquid, thus avoiding
budget centers around thermal energy generation, leakage, oxidation and corrosion issues. PCM encapsulation
transportation, storage and conversion[2] As a result, balance has been a subject of extensive investigation and lots of the
of the thermal energy supply and demand has been and remains work has been on creating spherical capsules which offer a
a crucially important aspect in the energy supply chain. high surface to volume ratio for heat transfer and are easy to
Traditional thermal energy supply scenario is featured by high form a packed bed [11-14]. Most PCMs have a low thermal
proportion of fossil fuels and centralized electricity generation. conductivity, a considerable amount of studies have been
In such a scenario the primary fuels such as coal, oil and gas performed to enhance thermal conducitvity coefficience by
are easily to be stored and transported for delivering power on using a metal matrix[15-16], carbon fibers or fiber brushes[17],
demand. However, environmental degradation is growing due graphite nanopowder[18] and expanded graphite [19-20].
Acknowledgements:This work was supported by State Grid Corp Sci. &
-DL-71-16-013)

‹,(((
These methods resolve the problem to a certain extent but have using a metal module. The resulting composites can be seen in
limited effect on cost and volume change of the materials. Figure I.
Recent work has demonstrated that, for medium to high
temperature, the use of composite materials consisting of The nitrate salt and carbonate slat (calcium carbonate:
molten salt based PCM, a ceramic material and thermal lithium carbonate) are used for medium temperature TES and
enhancement material [21-24], offers unique advantages that high temperature respectively (shown in Figure II). A similar
have the potential to resolve the above problems. In addition, formulate method are carried out for both. The use of the
the method can also resolve the large scale manufacture and ceramic material is to create a microstructural skeleton for
life-span challenges. Ge et al. demonstrated that no significant PCM encapsulation and shape stabilization, whereas the use of
changes to the performance of composite materials after 300 carbon material is to enhance thermal conductivity of the
cycles at 390-520degC. [22]. composites. In both of these composite matierals , the various
eutectic salt are selected to store different grade thermal. The
A relatively small amount of work has been carried out on ceramic skeleton will be choesen on the basis of PCMs. The
the device and system level of TES using PCMs. Li examined composite materials are formulated, which should be tested
the effect of the use of extended fins on the heat transfer with excelletn physical and chemical stability. The high
performance of PCMs [25] . Pandiyarajan designed a combined thermal conductivity can been obtained with thermal
sensible and latent heat storage unit for integration with an IC conduction enhancer addition, such as graphite powder.
engine to recover exhaust heat, and evaluated the heat
recovered, heat lost, charging rate, charging efficiency and A B
percentage [26]. Seddegh presented a shell-tube energy storage
heat exchange system with PCM and studied its thermal
performance [27]. Wang considered a heat storage module
containing different PCMs with a zigzag configuration, and
enhanced charging dynamics were observed in comparison
with the use of one PCM.[28]. Cabeza indicated that the use of
TES technology can mitigate CO2 emission[29]. FIGURE II. COMPOSTIE PCMS MDEIUM TEMPRERATURE
PCM(A) AND HIGH TEMPERATURE(B)
To enhance the thermal energy utilization efficiency for the
TES system, a multi-stage TES is built which is based on the
three various kinds of PCMs. Each single TES and TES system B. Materials properties
are tested in this work. The thermal energy recovery efficiency For the PCMs application, the thermal performance of
is compared then. The study covers material research, system materials is necessary to tested, in particularly the energy
development and application aspects. density, thermal conductivity and so on.
The heat fusion and thermal stability are tested by TG-DSC.
II. MATERIALS RESEARCH The heat capacity test is carried out by TG-DSC as well. A
laser thermal conductivity meter is used to test the thermal
A. Materials formulation conductivity. All the test results are presented in the table I.
In this case, three kind of composite PCM are formulated
whose work temperatures are covering 100 to 600 degC. TABLE I. THERMAL PERFORMACNE OF PCMS

Low temperature Medium temperature High temperature

Melting point(ć) 138 308 500

Heat fusion (kJ/Kg) 172 130 273

Energy density(kJ/kg) 300 370 650

Density(kg/m3) ~1000 ~1900 ~1900

FIGURE I. HDPE/GRAPHITE COMPOSTIES HEAT STORAGE Thermal conductivity (W/m•K) ~1 ~1.5 ~3


MATERIAL WITH 4% (LEFT) AND 20% GRAPHITE(RIGHT)
Heat capacity (kJ/kg•K) 1.9 1.2 1.1
High density polyethylene (HDPE) is applied for low
temperature PCMs(melting point is ~138degC). The composite Energy density (kJ/Kg) 300 370 490
formulation begins with the grinding of the HDPE
powder(particle size lower than 0.1mm. After the grinding The test results are shown that the thermal conductivity is
process the graphite is added in the correct amount for each obviously enhanced with adding thermal conductivity
composition and blended. Then the mixture is heated at a enhancement materials. The original thermal conductivity of
temperature up to 150degC, which is higher than the melting those composites materials should be lower than 0.8w/m. The
point of the HDPE. After that it is shaped by compression thermal energy density is including latent heat and sensible
heat which cover the application temperature range. It can be stored in those TES respectively. During release process, the
calculated with the heat fusion and heat capacity data. cold air is pumped by count current.

III. TES SYSTEM TESTS B. The single TES measurement


The fig IV (a) and (b) show the experimental results about
A multi-stage TES system is built for the high store process of low temperature PCMs TES and its release
temperature( up to 600degC) thermal energy storing and process respectively. In the both processes, the obviously
recovery. A graded use of thermal energy storage test is carried temperature difference between the entrance and exit is
out in this system. observed during to the thermal energy is stored or released. The
ending of this process can be judged while the minimum
A. TES system desgin temperature difference is appeared.

On the basis of structure of the plate heat exchanger, a 440 440

A B
thermal storage plate heat exchanger is designed. The
420 420

TLr,in
400 400 TLr,out

composites PCMs module is filling the each plate which can

Temperature (K)
Temperature (K)
380 380
TLs,in

compose a thermal storage unit. Graphite powder is used to fill


TLs,out
360 360

the gap between the PCMs modules and the inner wall of each
340 340

320 320

plate, which can reduce the thermal resistant between the 300
2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
300
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

PCMs modules and wall. On the basis of thermal storage units, Time (s) Time (s)

a TES system is building with three plate TES heat exchanges


(shown in Fig III), whose structure has been simulated by the FIGURE IV. TEMPERATURE DATA RECORDING ABOUT
STORE PROCESS(A) AND RELEASE PROCESS(B)
former work. A three stages thermal energy storage system
with three kinds of PCMs in various storage temperature is The storage capacity(Q) of TES is calculated on the basis of
used for the system. the enthalpy change of the air.

-GYVOVK =GZKXVOVK 4 ¦ PFS 7RXW  7LQ 'W


:GV]GZKX (1)
=GZKX
IUUROTM

3
<
<

In which, m is the mass rate of the air, Cp is the heat
capacity of air which is changed as a function of temperature.
<
3

IUUROTM
,GT +RKIZXOI
NKGZKX
.OMNZKSVKXGZ[XK:+9
Tout is outlet temperature and Tin is the inlet temperature. Δt is
U[ZRKZ <
< <
3
< the time difference for each measurement.
The storage energy and release energy is presented in the
3

 
figure V. The result indicates the total stored energy and
]GZKX
:GV

< <
<
release energy is 21.5kWh and 19.7kWh. The energy
3 ]GZKX
2U]ZKSVKXGZ[XK:+9 3KJO[SZKSVKXGZ[XK:+9 efficiency can be over than 91%. The main energy loss is
;YKX regarded as the insulation loss and the pipe. The scale up
(A)
system can come over the heat loss for this kind of system.

25

20

15
Q (kWh)

10

5
store process
release process
0
2000 4000 6000 8000 10000

(B) Time (s)

FIGURE III. TES SYSTEM SKETCH PICTURE(A) AND


PHOTOGRAPH(B)
FIGURE V. THE STORE (OR RELEASE) ENERGY OF LOW
In store process, hot air is drive through the high TEMPEATURE TES
temperature into TES in order of high temperature TES ,
medium and low. The various grade thermal energy can be
In the beginning of storage process, the temperature FIGURE VII. THE STORE (OR RELEASE) ENERGY OF LOW
difference between air and PCMs is much bigger which present TEMPEATURE TES
sharp power increment. The peak value of storage(or release)
power is achieved in serve minute(shown in Figure VI). The The multi stag TES can enhance the thermal energy
store(or release) power is decided by the heat exchange utilization efficiency. But the energy storage capacity may
strength of TES system, which is as function of the temperature slightly smaller than the amount of each TES exchanger. The
difference and flow rate. In this case, the flow rate is set as a main reason is the storage temperature for the lower
constant. The temperature change of the PCMs is play main temperature TES is dependent to the outlet of the former stage,
role in the power change. whose temperature may lower than the single storage. It
decreases the storage capacity of the later stage.
25

20 A
50

B IV. APPLICATION OF TES


40

15

A. Enhancemnet of the wind power utilization


Power (kW)

30
Power (kW)

10
20

5
10
An abondaned wind power utilization which is combined
0 0
with TES system is designed as fig VIII. In the thermal charge
0 2000 4000 6000

Time (s)
8000 10000 12000 13:55 14:09 14:24 14:38 14:52 15:07 15:21 15:36 15:50 periods, the abondaned wind power is converted into thermal
energy which can be stored in the TES system. The thermal
Time

energy is released by heat transfer media during the discharge


FIGURE VI. THE TES SYSTEM POWER FOR STORE process[30]. There is obviously differnce between general
PROCESS(A) AND RELEASE PROCESS(B) eneryg storage and this system. The storage energy will be
release thermal energy instead of electric, which can be used
The similar measurement tests are carried our for both of for the district heating or industris heating. The thermal can be
medium temperature and high temperature TES units. For the stability deliver to the end users.
medium temperature TES system, the stored/release eneryg is
around 36.5kWh and 32.3kWh, whose efficiency is around In generally, the release process is consisted of two closed
88.5%. For high temperature TES, the stored/release eneryg is thermal circles. In the first circle, the stored thermal is
around 42.1kWh and 36.8kWh, whose efficiency is 87.1%. released by high temperature air. The water is pumped into
The high storage temperature may cause more thermal loss for heat exchanger which can heating up the water into high
this system is regarded as the main reason for the energy temperature of steam by the high temperature air in the first
efficiency decrement. These efficiency loss can be smaller cylce. Then the thermal energy can be used.
with the TES exchanger scale up. ᔳ仾
Wind power
generator
仾⭥
C. Graded use of TES system
On the basis of single TES tests, a combined system is
tested with a whole heating and cooling cycle. The ⭥㖁
Grid for electricity
measurement is carried out with high temperature gas. The 䗃⭥ transport
thermal from the electric heater is stored in ordered. The inlet
and outlet temperature is recorded to calculated the stored(or
release) energy of each exchanger(shown in fig VII). The Heat
exchanger
amount energy of the TES system is drawn in the figure VII.
In the end of store process, there is 72.1kWh thermal energy is ⭥✝
Electric heater ᦒ
✝⭘ᡧ
Residents
stored in. The output energy can be achieved at 66.5kWh. The and TES system
ۘ✝⚹ ✝
energy efficiency is enhanced to 92.5%. ಘ
㺕≤
仾ᵪ
Fan

80

70 Water
≤⌥pump

60
FIGURE VIII. THE SKETCH OF THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE
50 SYSTEM FOR SURPLUS WIND
Q (kWh)

40
In this case, the heater work power selected is the balance
30
between the thermal demands and the wind generation. On the
20 basis of wind power quickly predication and the thermal
requirments, the proper thermal capacity and heater power for
10 store process
release process TES can be selected to enhance the abondaned wind power
0 utilization.
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
Time (s)
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Energy storage system (such as battery, TES, micro Numerical Simulation of a Short Term Thermal Energy
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