Investigating the performance enhancement of copper fins on trapezoidal thermochemical reactor. (May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Han, Xiaojing; Liu, Shuli; Zeng, Cheng; Yang, Liu; Shukla, Ashish; Shen, Yongliang
• Is Part Of: Renewable energy. Volume 150(2020)
• Page Start: 1037
• Page End: 1046
• Publication Date: 2020-05
• Subjects: Thermochemical reactor -- Zeolite 13X/water -- Copper fins -- Reactor performance; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Periodicals; Énergies renouvelables -- Périodiques; Ressources énergétiques -- Périodiques; 333.794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.11.052
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-1481

Abstract

Abstract: Thermochemical energy storage has a great potential in thermal energy storage attracting extensive attention in building's applications. However, performance issues of the thermochemical reactor should be tackled to improve the overall performance. To enhance the heat transfer within the reactor, this study proposes a thermochemical reactor integrated with copper fins. The reactor features both heated air and water output in a discharging process. Using Zeolite 13X as the thermochemical material, experimental tests have been conducted and presented in this paper to investigate the performance of the reactor. According to the experiment, the copper fins reactor achieves better performance in both charging and discharging compared with the reactor without fins. In charging, copper fins reactor reduces charging time by 0.75 h for the outlet air temperature reaching to the comparable level of the reactor without fins at 156.2 °C. In discharging, the copper fins reactor achieves the peak outlet air temperature at 54.6 °C and the peak outlet water temperature at 39.4 °C. Additionally, the reactor achieves energy storage density at 233 kWh/m 3 for material level and 128 kWh/m 3 for the reactor level. This paper provides valuable information for improving the reactor performance to achieve an optimal performance of a thermochemical energy storage system. Highlights: This paper presents an experimental study of a copper fins thermochemical reactor. Copper fins pipe is integrated with the reactor to enhance the reactor performance. Experimental tests of charging and discharging have been conducted and presented. The reactor achieves peak outlet air temperature at 54.6 °C and peak outlet water temperature at 39.4 °C. The reactor achieves energy storage density at 233 kWh/m 3 for material level and 128 kWh/m 3 for the reactor level.