A new method for optimizing the preheating characteristics of storage tanks. (March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Xueqing; Yue, Song; Lu, Luyi
• Is Part Of: Renewable energy. Volume 165:Part 1(2021)
• Page Start: 25
• Page End: 36
• Publication Date: 2021-03
• Subjects: Storage tank -- Preheating -- Thermal stress -- CFD -- Solar energy; Renewable energy sources -- Periodicals; Power resources -- Periodicals; Énergies renouvelables -- Périodiques; Ressources énergétiques -- Périodiques; 333.794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.11.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-1481

Abstract

Abstract: Storage tanks are among the most important components of heat storage systems. Long preheating time causes low operating efficiency and high economic costs. In this work, the temperature distribution, thermal stress distribution, and related influencing factors of storage tanks are studied by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. In addition, a new preheating scheme is proposed to optimize the preheating process of a storage tank. The results show that as preheating proceeds, the temperature distribution of most parts of the tank becomes increasingly uniform, and the thermal stress greatly increases. Local thermal stress can be concentrated at the joint of the tank sidewall and tank bottom. Increasing Ta and Gg can shorten the preheating time of the tank but also increase the risk of thermal stress concentration in the tank. With traditional preheating methods, decreasing the TD can improve tank preheating characteristics but may possibly cause local thermal stress concentration in the tank. The equal difference-variable stepped preheating method is proposed to optimize preheating characteristics. The optimal preheating scheme to efficiently and safely preheat the tank is when T = 15 K, which is reduced by 55.1% in comparison with the preheating scheme of the actual project. Highlights: Preheating characteristics of the storage tank by traditional methods is studied. An equal difference-variable stepped method is proposed as a new preheating method. The optimal scheme is when δ T = 15K to make the tank efficient and safe preheating.