International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/hmt

Experimental study and analytical modeling on the thermocline hot

water storage tank with radial plate-type diffuser
Can Xu, Ming Liu∗, Shuai Jiao, Haiyu Tang, Junjie Yan
State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The thermocline storage tank (TCST) is a cost-effective device that can be integrated into district heat-
Received 21 July 2021 ing networks for peak shaving. The formation and variation in the thermocline thickness with time in
Revised 8 December 2021
the TCST are key parameters to evaluate the performance of the TCST. Therefore, the TCST with a radial
Accepted 22 December 2021
plate-type diffuser is studied experimentally and theoretically in this study. The stratification of the stor-
Available online 4 January 2022
age tank is divided into the formation and developmental stages, and a modified 1D analytical model is
Keywords: developed and compared with the experimental data. The correction coefficient ε is defined to quantify
Thermocline storage tank the enhancement in the thermal diffusion of the thermocline. This parameter can improve the accuracy
Analytical model of the 1D analytical model. The average percentage error of the analytical model is reduced from 48.7% to
Thermal diffusion enhancement 18.5%. The quantitative relationship between ε and the tank Reynolds number is obtained. For the forma-
Initial thermocline thickness tion stage of the thermocline, the correlation equation between the thickness of the initial thermocline
and the inlet Reynolds and inlet Froude numbers is determined experimentally. Then, with ε and the
thickness of the initial thermocline, the algebraic relationship of the thickness of the thermocline with
time is investigated. The prediction error of the 1D analytical model for the variation in the thermocline
thickness with time is 13.9%.
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction [8]. Many comprehensive studies on thermocline storage tanks (TC-

Energy consumption at present, which mostly relies on fossil
fuels, is unsustainable. The development of renewable energies is
necessary to achieve a sustainable energy supply [1]. Therefore, the
coordination of multiple energy sources is the primary develop-
mental trend of future energy systems. The proportion of renew-
ables, such as wind, water, and solar energies, is increasing quickly
[2]. To accommodate the high penetration of intermittent renew-
able power, the concept of an “energy internet” [3] has been pro-
posed, in which a connection among power grid, district heating
networks, and natural gas networks is established. Energy storage
devices are integrated within the energy internet. Thermal storage
is a mature and cost-effective technique that can be integrated into
district heating networks for peak shaving [4]. Various substances,
such as water [5], oil [6], and phase-change materials [7], can be
used as the thermal storage media. The thermocline heat storage
tank is widely applied to decrease the investment in heat storage
systems. A thermocline can form in thermal storage tanks because
the density of a working fluid varies at different temperatures, and
the stability of this phenomenon can be maintained by buoyancy
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ming.liu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (M. Liu).
STs) have been conducted by using experimental, numerical and
theoretical methods.
Many experimental studies on TCSTs have mainly focused on
the effects of the structure of diffuser [9], phase change mate-
rial [10], temperature difference of charging and mass flow rate
of charging [11] on the thermal storage efficiency and thermo-
cline [10]. Fahad and Savilonis [5] experimentally investigated the
discharge of a spherical TCST equipped with a plate-type diffuser
and found that Reynold (Re) and Froude (Fr) numbers are key fac-
tors that affect thermocline formation and temperature distribu-
tion in TCSTs. A thermal efficiency equation based on the Re and
Fr has been developed. Bruch et al. [6] experimentally studied a
pilot-scale oil/rock thermal storage system and found that the ra-
dial temperatures are similar, and the heat transfer is mainly one-
dimensional (1D). Castell et al. [11] experimentally investigated the
dimensionless parameters that characterize stratification and found
that Richardson is the best parameter to define the stratification
phenomenon. He et al. [12] conducted experimental research of
the thermocline characteristics in the TCST in which the variation
in the thermocline thickness was analyzed. Experimental methods
are reliable to study TCSTs, and they can provide basic data sup-
port for numerical study and analytical modeling.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2021.122478
0017-9310/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

fuser [13], tank geometry structure [16], porosity [17], particle di-
Nomenclature ameter [18] and effective thermal transfer coefficient [19] on the
thermal storage efficiency and thermocline thickness [20] in TC-
Acronyms STs. Yang et al. [18] studied the discharging behavior of TCSTs by
TCST Thermocline storage tank using a finite-volume approach to solve numerically the momen-
1D One-dimensional tum and volume-averaged mass equations. The result showed that
small Re numbers and large tank heights can enhance discharg-
List of symbols
ing efficiency. Xu et al. [15] developed a transient two-dimensional
A The cross sectional area of the TCST, m2
model and numerically investigated the thermal performance of
Q Water mass flow rate during charging, kg•s − 1
a molten salt thermocline heat storage system and evaluated the
T Temperature of water, K
coefficients related to the thermal storage performance. Flueckiger
Th Inlet temperature of charging, K
et al. [21] developed a computational fluid dynamic model to sim-
Tc Initial temperature in the tank, K
ulate molten-salt TCSTs to analyze the temperature distribution
h Thickness of the thermocline, m
and heat transfer in the tank. Van et al. [22] established a new nu-
xh The height when θ =0.85, m
merical method to solve the governing equations of heat transfer.
xc The height when θ =0.15, m
The developed model was validated using experimental data, and
c Specific heat capacity of water, kJ kg−1 K − 1
the method can handle varying inlet boundary conditions and ar-
T0 Initial temperature in the tank, K
bitrary initial conditions. Bayon and Rojas [20] developed a single-
Ti Inlet temperature of charging, K
phase 1D model to analyze the thermal performance of the TCSTs,
s Laplace Operator
and the design equation, which can improve the thermal storage
E Error
efficiency, was established. Bonanos and Votyakov [23] proposed a
x Axial coordinate measured along the vertical axis of
1D thermocline thickness model and carried out sensitivity anal-
the tank, m
ysis to show the relevant parameters that affect the thermal ef-
v Velocity of the downward movement of the thermo-
ficiency. Hoffmann et al. [14] proposed a 1D numerical model to
cline, m•s − 1
predict the characteristics of the thermocline. The result showed
H Height of tank, m
that the 1D dual-phase model can predict accurately and quickly
u Dimensionless velocity
the thermocline behaviors. Altuntop et al. [24] numerically studied
Fo Fourier number
stratification characteristics in a cylindrical TCST with different ob-
Pe Peclet number
stacles and found that they will affect the thermocline evolution.
t Normalized time of charging
Kursun and Okten [16] investigated numerically the effect of the
D Hydraulic diameter of the tank, m
aspect ratio and the position of the rectangular tank to the ther-
P ecor Correction Peclet number
mocline, and the results could be used to guide the TCST design.
Res Tank Reynolds number
Hanchen et al. [19] solved numerically and verified experimentally
Rei Inlet Reynolds number
the equations for 1D two-phase energy conservation. Moreover, the
Fri Inlet Froude number
charging/discharging characteristics and thermal storage efficiency
Greek symbols of the tank were analyzed. Numerical studies can provide substan-
θ Dimensionless temperature tial information for the TCSTs, and they can guide the design of
ξ Dimensionless height of tank TCSTs without considerable cost.
λ Thermal conductivity, W m − 1 K − 1 Given that numerical simulations are time-consuming and chal-
δ Dimensionless thickness of thermocline lenging for engineers, many comprehensive studies have been con-
ν Kinematic viscosity, m2 •s − 1 ducted on the analytical modeling of TCSTs that can reveal the
τ Dimensionless time relationship between thermal performance and dimensionless pa-
ρ Mass density of water, kg•m − 3 rameters. One-dimensional single-phase analytical models [25] and
ε Correction coefficient one-dimensional double-phase analytical models [26] have been
δ0 Dimensionless thickness of initial thermocline developed, analytical models were used to describe the tempera-
ture distribution of thermocline storage tank. In order to obtain
Subscripts the analytical solutions for the corresponding differential energy
0 Initial balance equation describing the TCSTs, various researchers adopted
s Thermocline storage tank different mathematical methods, such as Laplace transforms tech-
c Cold nology [27], the Greens’ function methodology [28], Normal Cu-
a Average mulative Distribution Function (Normal-CDF) [29] and Logistic Cu-
exp experiment mulative Distribution Function (Logistic-CDF) [25]. Bayon et al.
i Inlet [29] developed an algebraic sigmoid as the solution for the energy
h hot balance equation, and key parameters were fitted with the experi-
cor Correction mental data. The results showed that the analytical model can ac-
ana analytical curately predict the efficiency of the heat storage tank. Kuznetsov
developed an analytical solution for heating a two-dimensional
porous packed bed by using a nonthermal equilibrium flow of in-
Given that industrial-scale TCSTs are very large, detailed ex- compressible fluid [30]. Nelson et al. [31] developed a 1D con-
perimental studies are very expensive. Therefore, some numerical jugate heat conduction model to analyze the stratification of the
studies have been performed on the thermal efficiency and the de- TCST. The results showed that the heat capacity and Biot number
velopment of thermocline to optimize the structure of the TCSTs. can be used to define the stratification of the tank. Votyakov et al.
Researchers developed three-dimensional models of hot water [32,33] developed a new single-phase perturbation model by using
storage tank [13] and one-dimensional two-phase energy equa- an algebraic approximation to predict the temperature distribution
tion models of molten salt thermal storage tank [14], respec- in the TCST. Marafie and Vafai [34] analytically studied the forced
tively. The effects of mass flow rate [15], different types of dif- convection flow through a channel filled with a porous medium

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C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

and obtained analytical solutions for fluid and solid temperature

fields with various relevant parameters. Lee and Vafai [26] de-
scribed analytically the same physical system as in [34]. In addi-
tion, the temperature difference between the fluid and solid was
analytically modeled, and the exact solution was obtained. Bayon
and Rojas [25] proposed a dimensionless analytical equation to de-
scribe the stratification of the TCST by using the Logistic Cumula-
tive Distribution Function.
As discussed, many comprehensive studies have been carried
out on the TCSTs with experimental, numerical, and analytical
methods. The stratification in the TCST consists of two stages: the
formation and the developmental stages. The formation stage is
mainly affected by the water distributor and operation parameters,
and the development stage is mainly affected by the heat conduc-
tion between the two sides of the thermocline. Analytical modeling
can reflect the physical essence of the stratification process, and
analytical models are easier for engineers to master the design and
operation of TCSTs. Available analytical models are mainly focused
on the developmental stage of the thermocline. The models de-
veloped in previous studies cannot accurately predict the thermo-
cline thickness development, because the thermocline formation
and thermal diffusion enhancement phenomenon during the ther-
mocline development process are not appropriately considered. In
this study, experimental study and analytical modeling of the ther-
mocline hot water storage tank with a radial plate-type diffuser
are performed. The contributions of this study are as follows. (1)
At the development stage of thermocline, a new correction coeffi-
cient ε , considering the enhancement in the thermal diffusion of
the thermocline, is proposed to enhance the accuracy of the an- Fig. 1. TCST experimental setup.
alytical model in predicting the temperature distribution in the
thermocline zone. The quantitative relationship between ε and the
tank Reynolds number (Res ) is obtained by experimental studies.
(2) The quantitative relationship between the thickness of the ini- thickness was the employed insulation material, and the outer
tial thermocline and the inlet Reynolds (Rei ) and Froude (Fri ) num- layer of the aluminum silicate was also wrapped with a polished
bers is obtained experimentally in the formation stage of the ther- aluminum foil. The thermal conductivity of aluminum silicate is
mocline. (3) Combining analytical and experimental research, the 0.035 W/(m•k).
algebraic correlation of the thickness of the thermocline with time As shown in Fig. 2, the water enters the water tank at the top
is obtained. It reduces the amount of calculation, and conveniently and exits from the bottom. The high-temperature water inlet is at
obtains the thickness of the thermocline at any time in the ther- the center of the TCST top of the TCST, and the low-temperature
mocline development stage. water outlet is at the center of the bottom of the TCST. As shown
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The exper- in Fig. 3, the diffuser is a radial plate type. The diameter of the dif-
imental system and evaluation index are discussed in Section 2. fuser is 0.08 m, and the height of the gap is 0.035 m. The incom-
Model development is described in Section 3. Comparative analy- ing water enters the diffuser vertically from upward at its center
sis of the experimental and analytical models, developmental char- through the supply pipe, impinges on the circular spreading sur-
acteristics of the thermocline, and temperature distribution in the face, and then turns radially outward through the uniform-width
TCST are provided in Section 4. The conclusion and main results gap formed between the spreading and diffuser plates. The exper-
are presented in Section 5. imental system also contains an electric heater with a maximum
working power of 18 kW.
2. Experimental system and performance indicator The coordinate positions of 164 temperature measuring points
are shown in Fig. 4. Two thermocouples are installed in the inlet
An experimental system is designed and constructed to study and outlet pipes of the water tank, and the others are evenly ar-
the formation and development of the thermocline in the TCST. ranged (with an adjacent distance of 0.05 m) along the water tank
The experimental data are used to validate and develop the ana- height to measure the temperature distribution in the TCST. Three
lytical model. In this section, the experimental system and perfor- thermocouples are arranged in the same horizontal plane in the
mance index are introduced. TCST and planed at the wall surface, half-radius, and central axis of
the tank. Two thermocouples are arranged within the same hori-
2.1. Experimental system zontal plane from the water distributor to the top or bottom, i.e., at
the wall surface and half radius. The experimental platform adopts
The experimental system is primarily composed of a TCST, four T-type thermocouples with a precision of ±0.5 °C and a CAMILO
mass flow meters, two high-temperature circulating pumps, a re- mass flowmeter with a precision of ±0.15%. To accurately measure
covery water tank, and valves (Figs. 1 and 2). The heat storage wa- temperature data, the temperature acquisition module is equipped
ter tank is made of Q235 steel plate with a thickness of 5 mm, with a cold compensation channel. The T-type thermocouple out-
which has an internal diameter of 1 m, a height of 3 m, and an puts a standard voltage signal with a range of 0–15 mV, and the
effective volume of 2356 L. The water tank and connecting pipes mass flow meter outputs a standard current signal with a range
are covered by thermal insulation layers to reduce heat loss. Alu- of 4–20 mA. The measurement accuracy of the acquisition module
minum silicate refractory ceramic fiber needled felt with 20 mm is within ±0.1%, and the acquisition frequency is once per second.

3
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al.
Fig. 2. Schematic of the experimental system.
Fig. 3. Radial plate diffuser.
The main data from the measurement are mass flow rate and tem-
perate data.
2.2. Thermocline thickness
Thermocline thickness is an important indicator to evaluate the
stratification efficiency of the TCSTs. Thermocline thickness is as-
sessed by the dimensionless temperature. The dimensionless tem-
perature relation is defined as follows [35,36]
T (x ) − Tc
θ (x ) = (1)
Th − Tc
where θ is the dimensionless temperature; T (x ) is the tempera-
ture at a certain point in the TCST during charging, K; Th is the in-
let temperature of charging, K; Tc is the initial temperatures of the
TCST, K. The denominator represents the temperature difference of
charging, and the numerator represents the difference value be-
tween the temperature at any point and the cold water.
During charging, the thermal storage tank is filled with cold
water at temperature Tc , and the hot water at temperature Th flows
into the tank through the diffuser. As shown in Fig. 2, due to buoy-
ancy, the thermocline is formed during charging. The value of θ
increases from 0 at the cold water side to 1 at the hot water side
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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478
in the TCSTs. In this study, 0.15 ≤ θ ≤ 0.85 is defined as the tem-
perature range corresponding to the thermocline [36]. As shown in
Fig. 5, 70% of the change in temperature in the hot water storage
tanks can be reflected in the thermocline. The following formula
can be used to calculate the thickness of the thermocline:
h = xh −xc (2)
where h is the thickness of the thermocline;xh is the height
when θ =0.85; and xc is the height when the θ =0.15.
3. Comparison of experimental results with the 1D analytical
model
3.1. 1D analytical model
The 3D flow and heat transfer in the TCST can be simplified to
a 1D problem. The 1D analytical model to analyze the variation in
the thermocline along with time has been developed by Yoo and
Pak [37,38]. The following assumptions are made in the 1D analyt-
ical model:
• The flow and heat conduction of water in the tank are both
one-dimensional.
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

Fig. 4. Schematic of thermocouples distribution.

• The temperature distribution of the thermocline is axisymmet-

ric and independent of the radial distribution without any mix
or disturbances.
• The heat loss caused by conduction through the wall of the
tank is negligible.
• The inlet temperature and mass flow are kept constant.
• The thermal boundary conditions of the upper and lower cover
and side surfaces are adiabatic.

The 1D schematic of the TCST is shown in Fig. 6. To effec-

tively store heat energy, the thermal storage tank is well insulated.
Therefore, the thermal boundary conditions of the upper and lower
cover and side surfaces are considered adiabatic. First, the TCST is
filled with low temperature water. As charging begins, the hot wa-
ter is evenly poured into the tank from the upper entrance through
the water distributor, and the cold water is discharged from the
Fig. 5. Thickness of the thermocline under the dimensionless temperature.
outlet of the tank. The mass flow rate of the hot water is kept

5
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

For the generality and convenience of analysis, governing equa-

tions have been non-dimensionalized,
∂θ (ξ , τ ) ∂θ (ξ , τ ) ∂ 2 θ (ξ , τ )
+u = (7)
∂τ ∂ξ ∂ξ 2
The dimensionless variables and parameters are defined as follows:

ξ = x/H (8)

τ = F o = ta/H 2 (9)

vH
u=Pe= (10)
a

θ = (T − T0 )/(Ti − T0 ) (11)
where H is the tank height, m; a is the thermal diffusivity, t m2 •s;
is the charging time, s; F o is the Fourier number for the time scale;
Fig. 6. schematic of 1D flow during charging. Pe is the Peclet number for the velocity scale; θ is the dimension-
less temperature; Pe Fc is the normalized time of charging.
The dimensionless form of the initial and boundary condition is
constant during charging, so the averaged velocity of the cross sec-
tion is also unchanged. Thus, the thermocline is gradually formed θ (ξ , 0 )=0 (12)
and completes the exchange of heat with hot and cold water as it
moves downward at a constant rate.
Thus, the following unsteady 1D energy equation can be used
θ (0, τ )=1 (13)
to describe the transient temperature inside the tank as illustrated
in Fig. 5. θ ( ∞ , τ )= 0 (14)
∂T ∂T ∂ T 2
The Laplace transform technique has been applied to solve the gov-
ρc + ρ cv =λ 2 (3)
∂t ∂x ∂x erning equation, the transformed equations are
where x is the axial coordinate measured along the vertical axis d 2 θ (ξ , s ) d θ (ξ , s )
of the tank, m; v = Q/A is the convection velocity, which repre- −u − sθ (ξ , s )+θ (ξ , 0 )=0 (15)
dξ 2 dξ
sents the velocity of the downward movement of the thermocline,
m•s − 1 ; Q is the water mass flow rate during charging, kg•s − 1 ;
θ (0, s)=1/s (16)
A is the cross-sectional area of the TCST, m2 ; T is the temperature
of the working fluid, K, ρ is the working fluid density, kg•m − 3 ;
c is the specific heat capacity of the working fluid, kJ•kg−1 •K − 1 ; θ (∞, s)= 0 (17)
λis the thermal conductivity, W•m − 1 •K − 1 .
where θ (ξ , s ) is the transformation of θ (ξ , τ ).
To obtain the analytical solution for Eq. (3), certain initial con-
Solving the differential Eqs. (15–17) results in
ditions and boundary conditions should be provided. At first, the

TCST is filled with cold water, so the initial condition of the charg- 1 2
θ (ξ , s )=e 2 ξ e−ξ s+ u4
u

ing process is (18)

s
T (x, 0 ) = T0 (4) By the use of the inversion theorem for the Laplace transform and
the known inversion, Eq. (18) can be inversely transformed and the
where T0 is the initial temperature in the tank, K. final solution is obtained as follows:
The stratification process with diffusers is complex due to the     
multiplex phenomenon of heat and mass transfer, and it is diffi- 1 ξ uτ uξ ξ uτ
θ (ξ , τ ) = er f c √ − √ + e er f c √ + √
cult to obtain the analytical solution. In order to make the model 2 2 τ 2 τ 2 τ 2 τ
analytically tractable, the diffuser which can induce multidimen-
(19)
sional are simplified base on the above assumptions, and the inlet
boundary condition is defined as follows: The term erfc () stands for the residual error function. According to
the nature of the error function, when x and t are both greater
T (0, t ) = Ti (5)
than 0, the second term in this equation will soon approach 0.
where Ti is the inlet temperature of charging, K. Therefore, the analytical solution for the 1D analytical model can
Since the tank outlet cannot be treated as insulated, the out- be expressed as follows [37,38]:
let boundary condition is hard to define. In order to make the  
1 ξ − uτ
model analytically tractable, the outlet boundary condition can be θ (ξ , τ ) = er f c √ (20)
assumed to be
2 2 τ
The second term on the right-hand side of Eq. (19) is the difference
T (∞, t ) = T0 (6)
between Eq. (19) and Eq. (20). It will quickly approach as the Pe
In fact, this assumption is valid for the whole charging process. number increases. The dimensionless temperature difference vari-
The thermocline can simply advect out of the lower condition of ations with respect to Pe number is shown in Fig. 7, and five ver-
the finite height tank with the assumption. Moreover, the analyti- tical positions were selected at half of charging time. The dimen-
cal solution can be easily obtained with the outlet condition. sionless temperature difference is the largest at the thermocline

6
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al.
Fig. 7. Temperature difference between Eq. (19) and Eq. (20) variations with respect
to Pe number for selected positions at half of the charging time.
Fig. 8. Comparison of vertical temperature between Eqs. (19) and (20) at half of the
charging time for Pe = 100.
zone as shown in line c. In other positions, the farther away from
the thermocline zone, the smaller the dimensionless temperature
difference is. The dimensionless temperature difference decreases
rapidly with the increase of Pe number. When the Pe number in-
creases to 100, the temperature difference is close to 0 except for
the temperature difference near the thermocline zone, which drops
to about 0.04. In fact, the Pe number in the experiment is over 100,
and the temperature difference was small enough to be negligible.
Therefore, this term can be ignored, the analytical solution for the
1D analytical model can be expressed as Eq. (20).
The comparison of vertical temperature between Eqs. (19) and
(20) at half of the charging time for Pe = 100 is shown in Fig. 8. It
can be seen that the difference in temperature distribution is very
small, and the Pe number in the experimental study is bigger than
100. Therefore, this term can be ignored, the analytical solution for
the 1D analytical model can be expressed as Eq. (20).
3.2. Temperature distributions in the analytical model and
experiment
The temperature distribution in the TCST during charging is de-
termined with the experimental data and analytical model. Exper-
iments are carried out with charging mass flow rates of 0.7, 1.0,
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International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478
and 1.2 t/h. Calculation results with the analytical model under the
same operating conditions are also obtained.
3.2.1. Vertical temperature distribution at the fixed charging time
The temperature distributions along the TCST axis at different
times under various charging mass flow rates are presented in
Fig. 9. In general, the discrepancy between the experiments and
the results calculated from the 1D analytical model are not re-
markable. The temperature gradient of the thermocline gradually
decreases as time proceeds because during charging, both sides of
the thermocline exchange heat with the hot and cold water, in-
creasing the vertical diffusion depth of the thermocline.
However, the temperature gradient in the experiments on both
sides of the thermocline is smaller than that calculated by the an-
alytical model. This difference is due to the fact that the influ-
ence of multidimensional flow mixing is not considered in the 1D
analytical model. The temperature gradient of the thermocline of
the working fluid depends on the charging time, diffuser geome-
try, and thermal diffusivity. The radial plate-type diffuser is used
in this study. The working fluid flows around from the slot of the
diffuser and hits the wall of the tank to form a faint vortex. This
phenomenon strengthens the disturbance of the upper part of the
thermocline, and the closer the thermocline is to the diffuser, the
stronger the disturbance. Therefore, in the initial charging stage,
the thermocline is close to the upper diffuser, the mixing of the
upper of the thermocline is larger, and the temperature gradient
becomes smaller. As charging progresses, the temperature gradient
of the lower of the thermocline becomes smaller as the thermo-
cline moves closer to the lower diffuser.
The effect of the Pe number on the axial temperature distri-
bution at half of the charging time is examined, and the results
are shown in Fig. 10. The findings from the 1D analytical model
are compared with the experiment data. As shown in Fig. 10, with
the increase in the Pe number, that is, the increase in the mass
flow rate, the temperature gradient of the analytical model be-
comes larger because the diffusion time becomes shorter with the
increase of Pe.
However, the temperature gradient in the experiments is
smaller compared with that in the analytical model. The experi-
mental results show that other factors affect the mixing degree of
the working fluid and enhance the thermal diffusion. If this en-
hancing factor can be considered in the 1D analytical model, the
prediction accuracy may be improved.
3.2.2. Time-wise temperature variations at the fixed position
Variation in the temperature over time at different positions
in the tank and mass flow rates are illustrated in Fig. 11. The
change rate of temperature along with time at the top of the tank
is higher than that at the bottom. The temperature distribution
on both sides of the thermocline is obviously smoother compared
with the results from the analytical model. The reasons for this
phenomenon are the same as those discussed in Fig. 9.
Time-wise temperature curves calculated using the 1D analyt-
ical model and experimental data are compared, and the results
are shown in Fig. 12, The temperature curve with a small Pe num-
ber first presents an upward trend, and the temperature increases
more gently. A smaller Pe number represents a lower mass flow
rate, so the time for the hot working fluid to reach a fixed posi-
tion is longer, and thermal diffusion is prolonged. The experimen-
tal data show that the temperature at the mid-height of the tank
is higher with the decrease in the Pe number at the area of the
thermocline. This phenomenon is mainly due to the enhancement
of heat conduction during charging, which strengthens the mixing
of the thermocline.
The thickness of the thermocline is used as the evaluation stan-
dard to calculate the average percentage error of the analytical
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

Fig. 10. Effect of the Pe number on the axial temperature distribution at half of the
charging time.

mocline of experiments, m. The ratio is the relative error of the

analytical model under the specified dimensionless time.
The average percentage error under the working condition is
calculated as
E0.3 + E0.5 + E0.7
Ea = (22)
3
where Ea is the average percentage error. E0.3 , E0.5 , and E0.7 are
the relative error when the dimensionless time is 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7,
respectively.
As shown in Fig. 9, the thermocline will continue to thicken af-
ter formation. The averages of the relative errors when the dimen-
sionless time is 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 are taken as the average percent-
age error of the analytical model under the corresponding working
conditions. In this study, the average percentage error is calculated
under the charging mass flow rate of 0.7, 1.0, and 1.2 t/h, as well as
other conditions. The weighted average is taken as the final aver-
age percentage error of the analytical model. Therefore, the average
percentage error of the original analytical model is approximately
48.7%.
The temperature distribution during charging can be estimated
by the analytical model. However, the experimental results show
that the average percentage error compared with the available 1D
analytical model is approximately 48.7%, with the evaluation indi-
cator of the thermocline thickness. This value indicates that the
heat diffusion in the thermocline is enhanced during charging.
However, the analytical model does not consider this phenomenon.
Thus, the heat diffusion enhancement with the charging process is
quantitatively analyzed.

4. Model development based on the 1D analytical model

As discussed in the previous section, the 1D model cannot pre-

dict accurately the experimental results. This discrepancy is due to
the non-inclusion of the influences of the radial plate-type diffuser
Fig. 9. Temperature distribution of TCST along the axis at different times under
varying charging mass flow rates.
and intensified mixing of the hot and cold water in the 1D analyt-
ical model. In this section, the thermal diffusion enhancement and
initial thermocline thickness will be evaluated and considered to
model. The relative error of the thickness of thermocline at a spec- modify the 1D analytical model.
ified dimensionless time is calculated as
hexp − hana
E= × 100% (21) 4.1. Considering thermal diffusion enhancement
hexp
where E is the relative error; hexp is the thickness of the ther- Using Eq. (20), and substituting the defined dimensionless pa-
mocline of experiments, m; and hana is the thickness of the ther- rameter in Eqs. (9) and (10), the following equation can be ob-

8
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

Fig. 12. Effect of the Pe number on the time-wise temperature variations at mid-
height of the tank.

Fig. 13. Variation in thermocline thickness along with the Pe number.

From Eq. (23), the only dimensionless variable that affects

the temperature distribution is the Pe number. As shown in
Figs. 10 and 12, with the decrease in the Pe number, the tempera-
ture gradient with the thermocline decreases. With the 1D analyt-
ical model and the definition of the thermocline, the quantitative
relationship between the Pe number and the thickness of the ther-
mocline is obtained as shown in Fig. 13.
According to the analysis in Section 3.2, the temperature distri-
bution within the thermocline is different compared with the ex-
periment data. This phenomenon indicates that other factors also
affect thermal diffusion during charging. As shown in Eq. (10), the
decrease in the Pe number indicates an increase in thermal diffu-
sivity. Therefore, the correction coefficient ε is defined to quantify
the enhancement of the thermal diffusion, and the correction Pe
number (P ecor ) is defined as follows:
vH
P ecor = (24)
εa
Fig. 11. Temperature variations at different position with respect to the normalized
time.
The movement of the thermocline intensifies the mixing of the
cold and hot water, thereby enhancing the degree of thermal dif-
tained:
fusion. The tank Res number can be used to evaluate the flow of

water in the tank. The variation in ε during the growth of the ther-
1 ξ −t√
θ (ξ , τ ) = er f c  Pe (23) mocline is affected by the tank Res number.
2 2 t The tank Res number is defined as follows:
vD
where t = Pe · F o is the normalized time. Res = (25)
ν
9
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al.
Fig. 14. Variation of the correction coefficient ε with Res .
Fig. 15. Error analysis of the empirical coefficient ε .
where ν is kinematic viscosity, and D is characteristic length,
which is the perimeter of the TCST. The physical parameters of wa-
ter are obtained at the average temperature.
As shown in Fig. 14, with the increase in the Res value, the cor-
rection coefficient ε also increases. This result suggests that with
the increase in the charging mass flow rate, the thermal conduc-
tion of the thermocline is enhanced. The following experimental
correlation is obtained through fitting:
ε = 1.22 × 10−6 e2.29 ln(Res )
As shown in Fig. 15, the error range of the experimental correlation
is within 10%, which is within a reasonable range. The Eq. (26) is
obtained by fitting the experimental results, where the maximum
mass flow rate of the experiment is 2.25 t/h. Therefore, the formula
is applicable to the tank Reynolds number (Res ) less than 1708.
Figs. 16 and 17 show the comparison between the results from
the experimental and modified 1D analytical model at mass flow
rates of 1.0 and 1.2 t/h, in which the correction numbers P ecor =
1270 and P ecor = 1100 were used. The average percentage error
compared with the developed 1D analytical model dropped to ap-
proximately 18.5%. This result indicates that the addition of the
correction coefficient ε improves the accuracy of the 1D analyt-
ical model. This coefficient theoretically quantifies the degree of
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478
Fig. 16. Temperature variations at different positions for Pecor =1270 with respect to
the normalized time.
Fig. 17. Temperature variations at different positions for Pecor =1100 with respect to
the normalized time.
thermal conduction near the thermocline under different charging
mass flow rates. The use of ε increases the accuracy of the ana-
lytical solution model in predicting the temperature distribution in
the thermal storage tank.
However, the 1D analytical model with ε still has obvious er-
rors at the formation stage because of the closeness of the initial
thermocline to the upper diffuser such that the thermocline is con-
siderably affected by the diffuser. The formation of the initial ther-
mocline will be discussed in Section 4.2.
The experimental results of Castell et al. [11] are used to vali-
date the developed 1D analytical model. As shown in Fig. 18, the
(26) developed 1D analytical model reduces the average percentage er-
ror between the results from 58.2% to 33.8%, with the evaluation
indicator of the thermocline thickness. This result verifies the fea-
sibility of the developed 1D analytical model.
4.2. Considering the initial thermocline thickness
To further modify the 1D analytical model of the forma-
tion stage of the thermocline, many experiments are performed.
Flow rates during these tests are varied between 0.6 and 2.25
t/h. The results of some selected tests are presented in Fig. 20.
Fig. 19 shows the temperature distribution with time with charging
at flow rates of 1. 0 and 1.2 t/h. The formation of the thermoclines
during charging is clearly observed in Fig. 19.
10
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al.
Fig. 18. Comparison of available and developed 1D analytical model with the ex-
perimental data of Castell et al.
The influence of charging mass flow rates on the thermocline
thickness is shown in Fig. 20. The experimental thermocline thick-
ness increases along with the charging time. When the mass flow
rate is 0.6 t/h, the thermocline thickness is approximately 0.12 m
in the early charging stage. When the mass flow rate increases
to 2.25 t/h, the thermocline thickness increases to approximately
0.32 m. However, the variation in the thickness of the thermocline
along with charging time under different inlet mass flow rates dif-
fers. The charging process can be divided into three stages: the ini-
tial, intermediate, and end.
(1) In the initial charging stage, the disturbance and heat exchange
between the hot and cold water increase with the inlet mass
flow rate. Thus, the initial thermocline is thicker at a larger
mass flow rate.
(2) In the intermediate charging stage, the stable thermocline has
been developed, and a decrease in the mass flow rate can
lead to the full development of the thermocline during charg-
ing. Therefore, the thickness of the thermocline increases faster
when the mass flow rate at the inlet is smaller.
(3) In the end charging stage, under the dual influence of inlet dis-
turbance and thermal conduction in the development stage, the
thermocline becomes thicker. The thickness of the thermocline
11
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478
is functionally the same when the mass flow rate is less than
1.6 t/h, so the development stage has a larger influence on the
final thickness of the thermocline. The thermocline becomes
thicker with a larger inlet mass flow rate, when the mass flow
rate is greater than 1.9 t/h. Therefore, the inlet disturbance has
a more remarkable influence on the final thickness of the ther-
mocline.
As shown in Fig. 20, the formation of the thermocline is mainly
affected by the diffuser. The inlet Reynolds (Rei ) and inlet Froude
(Fri ) numbers are important dimensionless numbers in the design
of the diffuser. The Rei number represents the ratio of the charac-
teristic inlet inertial and viscous forces and is customarily defined
as follows:
q
Rei = (27)
ν
where ν is the kinematic viscosity, and q is volumetric flow per
unit diffuser length which is the perimeter of the diffuser plate.
The Fri number, which represents the ratio of the characteristic
inertial and body forces, is defined as follows:
q
Fri =  (28)
h3 g ρρ
where ρ is the density of fluid in the tank;ρ is the difference
in the densities of the tank fluid and the inlet fluid; g is the local
gravity; and h is the inlet diffuser height, which is the width of the
gap between the diffuser plate and spreading surface.
According to the experimental data, the experimental correla-
tion equation between the thickness of the initial thermocline and
the dimensionless number of the diffuser can be fitted as follows:
δ0 = 5.74F ri 1.34 Rei −0.48 (29)
Therefore, the results from the error analysis in Fig. 21 show
that the error range of the experimental equation is between
−19.2% and 18.1%. The error is within a reasonable range. The
thickness of the initial thermocline is positively correlated with the
Fri number. With the increase in the Fri number, the effect of the
inertial force becomes larger, which will cause a large disturbance
at the inlet. Similarly, the Rei number increases as the flow veloc-
ity, also causing inlet mixing. The combined effect of the Fri and
Rei numbers increases the thickness of the initial thermocline. Fur-
thermore, from the experimental correlation equation, the effects
of the Fri number on the formation of the initial thermocline are
greater than those of the Rei number.
4.3. Model comparison
The Fourier number can be regarded as a dimensionless time
that characterizes the depth of an unsteady state process. The
larger the dimensionless time, the deeper the heat will spread into
the object. Therefore, considering the parameter in Eq. (20), the
scaling relation between the growth of the thermocline and ther-
mal diffusion can be expressed as follows:
√
δ∼ τ (30)
where the δ is the thickness of the thermocline.
The scaling relation of the thickness of the thermocline is pre-
sented, with Eqs. (23) and (24). The analytical solution of the thick-
ness of the thermocline with the correction coefficient ε is ob-
tained as follows:
t
δ= (31)
P ecor
where t is the actual charging time (normalized time). Therefore,
the variation in the thickness of the thermocline with time during
charging can be conveniently predicted by Eq. (31).
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

Fig. 19. Variation in the temperature distribution with time at different mass flow rates.

As shown in Fig. 22, Eqs. (30) and (31) are used to calculate the
variation curve of the thickness of the thermocline with time, and
the findings are compared with the experimental data. The results
of the two equations are considerably different from the experi-
mental data. However, the growth trend of the results from the
Eq. (31) is similar to the experimental results. The formation of
the thermocline in the tank is complex and related to many fac-
tors, such as the diffuser type and charging mass flow rate. Thus,
this process is difficult to describe using the analytical model.
Therefore, the variation in the thickness of the thermocline
with time cannot be accurately described by Eq. (31). To remedy
this inadequacy, the fitting formula of the thickness of the initial
thermocline obtained by the experiments is added to the 1D ana-
lytical model. The following equation is obtained:

Fig. 20. Variation in the thickness of the thermocline during charging under differ- t
ent mass flows. δ= + δ0 (32)
P ecor

12
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 186 (2022) 122478

Fig. 21. Error analysis of the experimental fitting correlation formula for the initial
thermocline thickness.

where δ0 is the dimensionless form of the thickness of the initial

thermocline.
As shown in Fig. 22, the results obtained from Eq. (32) quan-
titatively described the variation of the thickness in the thermo-
cline with time. The model simplifies the formation of the ther-
mocline and directly describes the initial thickness of the thermo-
cline based on the experimental results. The analytical solution of
the variation in the thickness of the thermocline with time dur-
ing the development process is obtained theoretically. The avail-
able analytical model only predicts the variation trend of the thick-
ness of the thermocline. The developed 1D analytical model quan-
titatively analyzes the variation in the thickness of the thermocline
with time, and the average percentage error is approximately 13.9%
compared with the experimental results.

5. Conclusions

In this study, the charging of TCSTs is investigated theoretically

and experimentally. A 1D analytical model is developed through
the experimental study, and the mechanism of the stratification
phenomenon is revealed. The major conclusions derived from the
experimental and analytical model are summarized as follows.

(1) The correction coefficient ε is defined by the experimental

study, and this value quantifies the enhanced thermal diffusion
during charging. The developed 1D analytical model can pre-
dict the temperature distribution of the thermocline more ac-
curately, and the average percentage error was reduced from
48.7% to 18.5%.
(2) From the relationship between the thickness of the initial ther-
mocline and the dimensionless parameter of the inlet diffuser,
the Fri and Rei numbers affect the formation of the thermocline.
The experimental correlation equation between the thickness of
the initial thermocline and Rei and Fri numbers is fitted.
(3) The analytical expression of the variation in the thermocline
thickness with time is obtained, and this variation is quanti-
tatively analyzed. The average percentage error of the analyti-
cal expression of the developed 1D analytical model is approx-
imately 13.9% compared with the experimental results.

Declaration of Competing Interest

Fig. 22. Evolution of the thickness of the thermocline with time under different
None. mass flow rates.

13
C. Xu, M. Liu, S. Jiao et al.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of
China (Grant Number 52022079) and Energy Security Technology
Research Project of Huaneng Group Science and Technology Foun-
dation (Grant Number HNKJ20-H87).
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