EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDY ON THERMAL STORAGE PERFORMANCE OF SOLID PACKED BEDS

Liu Yan; Zhang Haobin; Ye Chengliang; Yu Mingfeng; Zhang Lei; Wen Hangyu

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0258

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (11) : 136-143. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0258

EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDY ON THERMAL STORAGE PERFORMANCE OF SOLID PACKED BEDS

Liu Yan^1,2, Zhang Haobin^1,2, Ye Chengliang², Yu Mingfeng², Zhang Lei¹, Wen Hangyu¹

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Abstract

To investigate the thermal storage performance of horizontal packed-bed systems filled with solid particles, an experimental setup was established using air as the heat transfer medium. Experimental and numerical studies were conducted to analyze the thermodynamic characteristics and pressure drop variations during the charging and discharging processes. Results showed that the round-trip efficiency of the packed bed reached 95.5%. When the inlet airflow velocity increased from 0.40 m/s to 1.96 m/s, the effective utilization rate improved by 15 percentage points, and the storage duration decreased by 70%. During operation, a top-layer settling phenomenon occurred in the packed bed, leading to premature heating of the downstream section and a reduction in overall thermal storage capacity. By installing baffles with an optimal insertion depth at the top of the bed, the impact of air bypass could be effectively mitigated. When the thermal storage lag coefficient k=1, the propagation speed of the temperature field in the air layer matched that in the packed bed, achieving the optimal baffle insertion depth.

Key words

packed beds / heat storage / mumerical simulation / thermal storage experiment / air bypass

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Liu Yan, Zhang Haobin, Ye Chengliang, Yu Mingfeng, Zhang Lei, Wen Hangyu. EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDY ON THERMAL STORAGE PERFORMANCE OF SOLID PACKED BEDS[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2025, 46(11): 136-143 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0258

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