VOL. 14, NO.

19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608

ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK MODELLING APPROACH

FOR ASSESSMENT OF STRATIFIED THERMAL ENERGY
STORAGE TANK
Mohd. Amin Abd Majid, Afzal Ahmed Soomro and Ainul Akmar
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia
E-Mail: mamin_amajid@utp.edu.my

ABSTRACT
Thermal energy storage (TES) tank plays an important role in the energy management of large buildings such as
military bases and university campus. Hence, the TES performance is important to be monitored. Various methods to
measure the performance of the TES covering both numerical and analytical have been published. In this paper artificial
neural network (ANN) is used to measure the performance of the TES tank in terms of thermocline thickness and half-
cycle figure of merit. The ANN with 14 temperature sensor data as input and the thermocline thickness and half cycle
figure of merit as the outputs is proposed. The model is based on 14-90-2 configuration using backpropagation Lavenberg-
Marquadt. The data of one year has been used in modelling. Based on the trial and error the number of neurons were used
and the optimum numbers of the neurons found were 90. The overall 𝑅2 for the model was 0.99 and predictions compared
with the actual data gave a 0.94𝑅2 .

Keywords: stratified thermal energy storage tank; thermocline thickness; artificial neural network modelling.

Nomenclature attention in the system modelling and simulation field due

𝑇 Reference temperature
𝑇𝑐 Average cold temperature
𝑇ℎ Average hot temperature
𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑡 Integrated capacity
𝑚 Mass flow rate
C Specific heat capacity
∆𝑡 Time increment
𝑀 Total mass in the tank
𝑥 Original value
𝑥𝑚𝑖𝑛 Minimum value
𝑥𝑚𝑎𝑥 Maximum value
𝑤 Weight
𝑏 Bias
𝑌 Output of the model
𝑇 Target value
𝛿 Error
𝜂 Learning rate
INTRODUCTION
Stratified thermal energy storage (TES) have
become increasingly popular in recent years from view
point of heating and air-conditioning [1]. The benefit of
using TES for comfort process and cooling application are
due to eliminated concern of energy cost. The actual
performance of TES depends upon several factors such as
mixing at inlet of the tank, mixing between hot and cold
water, heat loss to the environment and aspect
ratio[2].Hence detailed physical based modelling is
required for predicting the performance of the TES tank
considering the above-mentioned factors. Yoo et al [3]
used analytical approach to analyse performance of TES
tank. Steward [4] conducted the steady state model for
stratified TES. Musser and Behnfleth [5]analysed the
performance of TES tank using numerical method. The
artificial neural network (ANN) has received increased
to their learning ability and versatile mapping capabilities
[6]. ANNs have been applied to various building energy
system modelling including TES [7]. Farkas and Geczy-
Vig [8] developed ANN models for three different types of
solar thermal collectors to predict the outlet temperature of
the solar collectors based on to the inlet temperature and
the global solar radiation. In the work of Wahiba [9]
predicted the performance of hot domestic water storage
tank using artificial neural network. F.J Diez [10] used
ANN to predict the temperature distribution in the TES
tank of solar thermal system.
An ANN learns the relationship between the
controlled and uncontrolled variables by studying
previously recorded data hence there is no need of
physical based modelling [11]. It maps the input and
output patterns and predicts the output for required input
pattern [12]. In this paper the ANN approach using
backpropagation (BP) with Lavenberg-Marquadt (LM)
[13] is used to predict the performance of the TES tank of
Gas District Cooling(GDC) plant installed at university
technology PETRONS, Malaysia.
Data collection
TES tank installed at gas district cooling plant
(GDC) of University Technology PETRONAS (UTP) for
energy storage is considered in this study to compare with
the developed ANN model. Table-1 shows the general
details of the TES tank.

3371
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Table-1. Specifications of the TES tank. shows the input parameters of TES used for training of
ANN.
No Parameter Value Unit
1 Height 15 𝑚 Table-2. Input parameters of ANN model.
2 Diameter 22.3 𝑚 Input parameter Description
3
3 Volume 5400 𝑚 T1 Temperature at RTD 1
3
4 Mass flow rate 393 𝑚 /ℎ T2 Temperature at RTD 2
4 Material Steel - T3 Temperature at RTD 3
Numbers of T4 Temperature at RTD 4
5 14 Nos
RTD
T5 Temperature at RTD 5
The performance of the tank was calculated from T6 Temperature at RTD 6
the temperature readings from the built in RTD installed in
the tank as shown in the Figure-1. The performance of the T7 Temperature at RTD 7
tank was calculated by using equation 1 for FOM1/2 and T8 Temperature at RTD 8
dimensionless temperature approach by using equation 2 T9 Temperature at RTD 9
for thermocline thickness as proposed by Musser and
Behnfleth [5]. T10 Temperature at RTD 10
T11 Temperature at RTD 11
𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑡
𝐹𝑂𝑀1/2 = (1)
𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑥 T12 Temperature at RTD 12
(𝑇−𝑇𝑐 ) T13 Temperature at RTD 13
𝜃= (2)
(𝑇ℎ −𝑇𝑐) T14 Temperature at RTD 14

Using the above expressions, the performance of The input parameters are the ones that are easily
the TES is measured for one-year data and the values are measurable. The input data needs to be preprocessed [15]
used to train the ANN model. by data normalization before used for the modeling. The
control parameters for obtaining best neural network are:

Learning rate
One of the main parameters affecting the
prediction accuracy of the model is learning rate [16]. The
learning rate impacts on the speed of the model , higher
the learning rate lower the learning time [6]. In this model
learning rate used is 0.1.

Weighs and biases

The selection of the weighs and biases is also
considered as the major factor the weights decide the
relative importance of the inputs. The biasing technique is
used to skew the output obtained from the sigmoid
function [17] where a weights decide the steepness [18]
Nguen-Widrow [19] method is used in this study for
initialization of the weights and biases.

Hidden layers and hidden neurons

Figure-1. Schematic diagram of TES tank.
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS
The best example of artificial neural network is
the human brain [14]. ANNtries to mimic this biological
network in order to learn the solution to a physical
problem from a given set of training sets. ANN has the
ability to learn and predict the performance of the system.
For training MATLAB 2017a toolbox was used. Table-2
The decision of the network architecture is
decided based on the numbers of the hidden layers and
numbers of the hidden neurons [20]. The authenticate rule
to decide the numbers of hidden layers and the numbers of
hidden neurons is not available. Therefore, the method of
trial and error [21] is used in this study.

3372
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Figure-2. ANN model for TES tank.

CALCULATION PROCEDURE

Figure-3. Architecture of the proposed Feed forward backpropagation with Levenberg-Marquardt.

ANN backpropagation with LM method has been
performed using MATLAB 2017a toolbox, the basic
calculation is as follow:
Step 1 Preprocessing of data
The data is normalized using minmax approach
as used in [22] before feeding into the model by using
equation
𝑥−𝑥𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑥𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚 =
𝑥𝑚𝑎𝑥 −𝑥𝑚𝑖𝑛
The back propagation algorithm[23]steps are
presented below.
Step 2 Calculation of output of the input layer
The output of the input layer is nothing but the
normalized input value.
Step 3 Calculation of output of the hidden layer
The corresponding normalized input value is
multiplied with the corresponding initial weight and these
products are summed. This summation is again added with
the variable bias. The resulting sum is applied to activation
function. The activation function used in this study is log
sigmoid as shown in equation 4 due to its non-linear
behaviour
1
(4)
1+𝑒 −𝑥
Step 4 Calculation of output of the output layer
The same logic involving multiplication of
weights with inputs followed by summation and its
application to the activation function as in step 2.
(3)
Step 5 Calculation of error of ANN
The output of the error layer is compared with the
desired output for each training pattern, and the difference
between them is the error, which is calculated using
𝐸 = 𝑇−𝑌 (5)
Where T is the target value and Y is the predicted value.
Step 6Calculation of square of the error
The square of the error is calculated by squaring the error
E.
𝑬𝟐 = (𝑻 − 𝒀)𝟐 (6)

3373
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Step 7 Calculation of error in the node in the hidden
layer
The error is calculated by multiplying the
derivative of the activation function with error
𝛿2 = 𝑌 ∗ (1 − 𝑌) ∗ (𝑌 − 𝑇)
The derivative of the activation function is
represented by 𝑌 ∗ (1 − 𝑌)
Step 10 determine if the training should continue or
not
The step 1 to 8 are repeated until the specified
number of iterations exceeds or the minimum error is
achieved.
(7)
Step 11 De-normalization of the obtained outputs
This step is important to get the values back to
the un-normalized form by the following equation.

Step 8 Calculation of error in the node of the input
layer
The error is calculated by multiplication of the
derivation of activation function with error.
𝛿1 = 𝑌 ∗ (1 − 𝑌) ∗ (𝑌 − 𝑇)
Step 9 Adjustment of the weights
Weight and bias adjustment are performance by
LM algorithm
𝑋 = 𝑋𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚 ∗ (𝑋𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑋𝑚𝑖𝑛 ) + 𝑋𝑚𝑖𝑛 (9)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The best ANN configuration is achieved at 14-
90-02, which is based on the control parameters such as
(8) numbers of hidden neurons, numbers of hidden layers and
learning rate. The learning algorithm employed here is
back-propagation algorithm. The network is trained with
371 training data set. The numbers of the neurons impact
on the model performance it can be seen from the Figure-4
that the numbers of the neurons have impact on the r-
square of the model at 90 neurons the best results achieved
and after that model started to overtrain such as mentioned
in [24].

Figure-4. ANN performance on different numbers of neurons.

The inputs are normalized between 0 and 1. and half cycle figure of merit respectively. The closeness
Figure-5 and Figure-6 shows the comparison between of the data to the central line indicates the accuracy of the
actual and predicted values of the thermocline thickness prediction of the model.

3374
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Figure-5. Comparison of actual and ANN predicted thermocline thickness of overall data.

Figure-6. Comparison of actual and ANN predicted half cycle figure of merit overall data

In Figure-7 and Figure-8 thermocline thickness published work results [26]. The model predicts the
decreased with respect to charging time as expected also performance of the system in good agreement with the
half cycle figure of merit increases with respect to time as actual values.
per behavior found in the numerical studies of [5, 25] and

3375
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Figure-7. Comparison of actual and ANN predicted half cycle figure of merit.

Figure-8. Comparison of actual and ANN predicted half cycle figure of merit.

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, an approach to predict the
performance of TES tank using neural network has been
presented and compared with the actual values. This paper
shows that the values predicted with the ANN with
backpropagation can be used to predict the performance of
the TES tank accurately. The results are promising as R-
square approaches 99. The neural network predicted the
thermocline thickness with 0.94 𝑅2 and half cycle figure
of merit with 0.90 𝑅2 . Though mapping can be done
between any input and outputs, providing relevant
information can improve the network accuracy. Future
studies will concentrate on applications to predict
performance on more input variables.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author is thankful to University Technology
Petronas (UTP) and YUTP for support of this research.
REFERENCES
[1] I. Dincer and M. Rosen. 2002. Thermal energy
storage: systems and applications: John Wiley &
Sons.
[2] A. Karim, A. Burnett and S. Fawzia. 2018.
Investigation of stratified thermal storage tank
performance for heating and cooling applications.
Energies. 11: 1049-1051.

3376
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.
www.arpnjournals.com
[3] J. Yoo, M. Wildin and C. Truman. 1986. Initial
formation of a thermocline in stratified thermal
storage tanks. ASHRAE Trans.; (United States). 92.
[4] W. Stewart. 1992. Downwardly impinging flows for
stratified chilled water storage. in Proceedings of
1992 National Heat Transfer Conference.
[5] A. Musser and W. P. Bahnfleth. 1998. Evolution of
temperature distributions in a full-scale stratified
chilled-water storage tank with radial diffusers.
ASHRAE Transactions. 104: 55.
[6] H. J. Manohar, R. Saravanan, and S. Renganarayanan.
2006. Modelling of steam fired double effect vapour
absorption chiller using neural network. Energy
Conversion and Management. 47: 2202-2210.
[7] M. Krarti. 2003. An overview of artificial
intelligence-based methods for building energy
systems. Journal of Solar Energy Engineering. 125:
331-342.
[8] I. Farkas and P. Geczy-Vıg. 2003. Neural network
modelling of flat-plate solar collectors. Computers
and Electronics in Agriculture. 40: 87-102.
[9] W. Yaïci and E. Entchev. 2014. Performance
prediction of a solar thermal energy system using
artificial neural networks. Applied Thermal
Engineering. 73: 1348-1359.
[10] F. Diez, L. Navas and A. Martínez. 2016. Prediction
and identification of the evolution of solar-heated hot
water temperature in a stratified tank in static mode
using artificial neural networks. Applied Solar
Energy. 2: 183-192.
[11] K.-T. Yang. 2008. Artificial Neural Networks
(ANNs): a new paradigm for thermal science and
engineering. Journal of heat transfer. 130: 093001.
[12] B. Aalizadeh and A. Asnafi. 2016. Integrated bees
algorithm and artificial neural network to propose an
efficient controller for active front steering control of
vehicles. International Journal of Automotive &
Mechanical Engineering. 13.
[13] C. Lv, Y. Xing, J. Zhang, X. Na, Y. Li, T. Liu, et al.
2018. Levenberg-Marquardt Backpropagation
Training of Multilayer Neural Networks for State
Estimation of a Safety-Critical Cyber-Physical
System. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics.
14: 3436-3446.
ISSN 1819-6608
[14] A. H. Elsheikh, S. W. Sharshir, M. A. Elaziz, A.
Kabeel, W. Guilan and Z. Haiou. 2018. Modeling of
solar energy systems using artificial neural network:
A comprehensive review. Solar Energy. 180: 622-
639.
[15] M. Yahya, T. Otsuru, R. Tomiku, and T. Okuzono.
2013. A practical system to predict the absorption
coefficient, dimension and reverberation time of room
using GLCM, DVP and neural network. International
Journal of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering.
8: 1256-66.
[16] P. Srihari, K. Govindarajulu and K. Ramachandra.
2010. A method to improve reliability of gearbox
fault detection with artificial neural networks.
International Journal of Automotive and Mechanical
Engineering. 2: 221-230.
[17] G. Scalabrin and G. Cristofoli. 2003. The viscosity
surfaces of R152a in the form of multilayer feed
forward neural networks. International Journal of
Refrigeration. 26: 302-314.
[18] R. Sedighi, M. S. Meiabadi, and M. Sedighi. 2017.
Optimisation of gate location based on weld line in
plastic injection moulding using computer-aided
engineering, artificial neural network, and genetic
algorithm. International Journal of Automotive &
Mechanical Engineering. 14.
[19] A. Pavelka and A. Procházka. 2004. Algorithms for
initialization of neural network weights. In
Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference,
MATLAB. 453-459.
[20] M. R. Shukri, M. Rahman, D. Ramasamy, and K.
Kadirgama. 2015. Artificial Neural Network
Optimization Modeling on Engine Performance of
Diesel Engine Using Biodiesel Fuel. International
Journal of Automotive & Mechanical Engineering.
11.
[21] J. Xing, H. Wang, K. Luo, S. Wang, Y. Bai and J.
Fan. 2019. Predictive single-step kinetic model of
biomass devolatilization for CFD applications: A
comparison study of empirical correlations (EC),
artificial neural networks (ANN) and random forest
(RF). Renewable Energy. 136; 104-114.
[22] E. Fijani, R. Barzegar, R. Deo, E. Tziritis and S.
Konstantinos. 2019. Design and implementation of a
hybrid model based on two-layer decomposition
method coupled with extreme learning machines to
3377
 VOL. 14, NO. 19, OCTOBER 2019 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2019 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

support real-time environmental monitoring of water

quality parameters. Science of the Total Environment.
648: 839-853.

[23] M. Cilimkovic. 2015. Neural networks and back

propagation algorithm. Institute of Technology
Blanchardstown, Blanchardstown Road North Dublin.
15.

[24] S. Agatonovic-Kustrin and R. Beresford. 2000. Basic

concepts of artificial neural network (ANN) modeling
and its application in pharmaceutical research. Journal
of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical analysis. 22: 717-
727.

[25] J. Waluyo. 2016. Simulation model of stratified

thermal energy storage tank using finite difference
method. in AIP Conference Proceedings. 030002.

[26] J. Waluyo and M. A. A. Majid. 2011. Performance

Evaluation of Stratified TES using Sigmoid Dose
Response Function. Journal of Applied Sciences. 11:
1642-1647.

3378