ENERGY STORAGE

POLITECNICO DI TORINO

Academic Year- 2021-2021 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino

 Thermal energy storage
2

• THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE (TES) TECHNOLOGIES CAN

POTENTIALLY OFFER THE POSSIBILITY OF RECOVERING /
REUSING LARGE QUANTITIES OF ENERGY AT THE TIME
WASTED (I.E. INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES) THUS HELPING
TO SAVE VALUABLE FUELS;

• ENERGY CAN BE STORED IN VARIOUS FORMS. THE

REASON WHY THE STUDY OF HEAT STORAGE DESERVES A
DEDICATED STUDY IS THAT MANY OF THE ENERGY
CONVERSION PROCESSES PASS THROUGH THE THERMAL
FORM;

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 2

 Cold storage
3

• AMONG THE MOST ANCIENT FORM OF TES WE HAVE ICE COLLECTION

FROM LAKES AND/OR RIVERS AND STORAGE IN THERMALLY
INSULATED WAREHOUSES TO FULFILL PURPOSES THAT TODAY ARE
SATISFIED BY MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL REFRIGERATION
•( I E FOOD PRESERVATION, COOLING OF DRINKS, SUMMER AIR
CONDITIONING):

Ice collection from Air condition of the

the lake Balaton. Hungarian parliament

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 3

 Traditional TES
4

• THEHEAT STORAGE BASED ON TEMPERATURE INCREASE OF A GIVEN

MATERIAL IS REFERRED TO AS SENSIBLE;

• HEAT STORAGE BASED ON PHASE CHANGE OF A GIVEN MATERIAL (I.E.

CHANGE FROM SOLID TO LIQUID OR FROM LIQUID TO VAPOUR WITHOUT
TEMPERATURE VARIATION) IS REFFERED TO AS LATENT;

• SENSIBLE TES USUALLY STORE ENERGY WHITIN ROCKS, GRAVEL, WATER

ETC. BY RAISING THE TEMPERATURE LEVEL;

• THE MOST COMMON LATENT STORAGE SYSTEMS ARE BASED ON THE SOLID
/ LIQUID PHASE CHANGE. THE MOST IMPORTANT DESIGN PARAMETERS ARE:
I) THE LATENT HEAT OF SOLIDIFICATION (KJ / KG); II) THE TRANSITION
TEMPERATURE;

• A THERMAL STORAGE SYSTEM CAN USE BOTH WAYS (LATENT AND

SENSIBLE).

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 4

 Sensible TES
5

• THEENERGY NEDEED TO HEAT UP A STORAGE MATERIAL

WITH VOLUME V FROM A STATE 1 TO A STATE 2 IS:

E = m  c  (T2 − T1) =  V  c  (T2 − T1)

• DEPENDING ON THE SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY, THE SAME
AMOUNT OF ENERGY CAN HEAT THE SAME MASS OF ANOTHER
MATERIAL UNDER LARGER OR LOWER TEMPERATURE
DIFFERENCES;

•H E DA TE P EVNADLI UN EGS O NC ATNH E STORAGE MATERIAL, THE SPECIFIC

VARY BY SEVERAL ORDERS OF
MAGNITUDE:

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 5

 Materials for sensible TES
6

• IN SENSIBLE TES, THE USE OF WATER IS VERY COMMON

FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS: I) LOW COST; II)
AVAILABILITY; III) ONE OF THE HIGHEST SPECIFIC HEAT
CAPACITY VALUE AMONG LIQUIDS AT AMBIENT
TEMPERATURE; IV) WATER CAN BE TRANSPORTED MORE
EASILY THAN SOLIDS (E.G. WITH PUMPS); V) GOOD HEAT
EXCHANGE;

• AT HIGH TEMPERATURE (E.G. PRE-HEATING OF AIR

FOR INDUSTRIAL OVENS), SOLID MATERIALS ARE TO BE
PREFERRED (E.G. REFRACTORY BRICKS). IN CASE OF
TRANSPORT OF TES MEANS, MELTED METALS CAN BE
USED.

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 6

 Materials for sensible TES
7

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 7

 Melting and vaporization heat
8

• THE LATENT HEAT SUPPLIED TO THE STORAGE MATERIAL IS

NEEDED TO CHANGE ITS PHASE (E.G. ICE INTO LIQUID
WATER, LIQUID WATER INTO VAPOR. THE QUANTITY OF HEAT
NECESSARY FOR THOSE CHANGES IS OFTEN CALLED: MELTING
OR VAPORIZATION HEATS. THOSE QUANTITIES VARY
CONSIDERABLY DEPENDING ON THE MATERIAL USED:

Example: 1 kg water
tot = +720 kcal
Ice
0oC
+80 kcal Water +100 kcal Water
100oC
+540 kcal Steam
100oC
0oC

tot = −720 kcal

ES - 2022
 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 8
 Technical assessment
9

• ALTHOUGH UNIVERSAL CRITERIA FOR THE TECHNICAL

ASSESSMENT OF TES ARE NOT AVAILABLE AS THEY ARE OFTEN
"CASE-SENSITIVE", THERE ARE – HOWEVER - CRITERIA ON
THE BASIS OF WHICH WE CAN COMPARE SYSTEMS:

1) STORAGE CAPACITY; 2) AVERAGE LIFE-TIME; 3) SIZE; 4) COST; 5) TYPE

OF RESOURCES USED; 6) EFFICIENCY; 7) SAFETY.

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 9

 Environmental and economic
assessment
10

• THETECHNICAL DESIGN OF TES, AND THE USE OF TES

MATERIALS MUST NOT THREATEN PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE
ENVIRONMENT (E.G. CAUSTIC SODA AS TES MATERIAL). FOR
EXAMPLE, THE STORAGE MATERIALS CANNOT BE TOXIC OR
DANGEROUS IN THE EVENT OF ACCIDENTAL RELEASE;

• THE SIMPLEST PARAMETER FOR THE ECONOMIC

EVALUATION OF STORAGE SYSTEMS IS THE PAY-BACK TIME
PERIOD.

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 10

 TES duration
11

• ONE OF THE WAYS TO CLASSIFY THERMAL STORAGE

SYSTEMS IS BASED ON THE DURATION OF THE STORAGE:
SHORT, MEDIUM AND LONG TERM;

•SHORT-TERM TES IS USED MAINLY TO FACE PEAKS OF

ENERGY DEMAND IN A FEW HOURS (MAX. 1 DAY), to REDUCE
THE SIZE OF PLANTS AND/OR TO BENEFIT FROM THE MOST
CONVENIENT HOURLY ELECTRICITY RATES. SHORT-TERM TES
CAN REACH EFFICIENCIES EVEN LARGER THAN 90%;

• THE MEDIUM OR LONG TERM TES IS USED TO STORE HEAT

FOR PERIODS OF A FEW WEEKS UNTIL SEVERAL MONTHS.
LONG-TERM TES EXPLOITING SEASONAL CHANGES. The energy
efficiency of long-term systems typically does not exceed 70%.

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 11

 Operating TES temperature
12

• AN IMPORTANT CLASSIFICATION OF TES IS BASED ON

THE OPERATING TEMPERATURE;

• THE THRESHOLD THAT IS GENERALLY ASSUMED IS 120

Celsius: TES OPERATING AT TEMPERATURES LOWER
(HIGHER) THAN 120 Celsisu ARE REFERRED TO AS LOW
TEMPERATURE (HIGH TEMPERATURE) TES. COLD
STORAGE SYSTEMS ARE CONSIDERED LOW
TEMPERATURE TES.

• LOW TEMPERATURE TES SYSTEMS ARE CONSIDERED OF

PARTICULAR INTEREST AS THEY POSSIBLY ALLOW
REUSE OF ENERGY THAT OTHERWISE WOULD BE
LARGELY WASTED.
ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 12
 Short term TES
13

Network • INSTEAD OF
USING
ELECTRICITY, NATURAL
GAS, PROPANE, ETC. FOR
HEATING. A STORAGE
SYSTEM CAN BE CHARGED
USING AN ELECTRIC
Air HEATER / HEAT PUMP AT
out Air NIGHT AND THEN DIS-
in CHARGED DURING THE DAY
WHEN THE COST OF
ELECTRICITY IS HIGHER
(ECONOMICALLY
TES CONVENIENT FOR LARGE
VARIATION OF THE RATES -
Insulation 33%).

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 13

 Cold TES
14

• A SIMILAR STRATEGY
CAN BE USED FOR
SUMMER COOLING BY
USING WATER OR ICE
AND EXPLOITING THE
MOST CONVENIENT
ELECTRICITY RATES.

Acqua/
ghiaccio

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 14

 First law efficiency of a sensible
TES
15

• ANALYZING A SENSIBLE TES FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF

THE FIRST PRINCIPLE, IT MAKES SENSE TO COMPARE THE
ENERGY INCREASE OF THE STORAGE MATERIAL TO THE
ENERGY CONTENT OF THE CHARGING FLUID:

Water or other storage mean

Insulated tank
m,c,T

 Environment
T0

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 15

 First law efficiency of a sensible
TES
16

m  c  (T − T0 )
I = • THEFIRST LAW EFFICIENCY INCREASES
m  c  (T − T0 ) WITH THE STORAGE SIZE AND THE
CHARGING TIME
0  I  1

Water or other storage mean

Insulated tank
 m,c,T

 Environment
T0

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 16

 Time evolution of a sensible TES
17
Time evolution of the storage Time evolution of outlet
mean temperature: temperature:
T (t ) − T0 Tout (t ) − T0
= 1− e − = 1−   e −
T − T0 T − T0

 = 1− e −NTU


T (t ) − T0
I = = 1− e − • IT INCREASES WITH
T − T0 BOTH SIZE AND TIME!

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 17

 Second law perspective
18

Storage mean C.V.

Insulated tank
m,c,T

 Ambiente
T0

Second law applied to the CV : Entropy generation number:

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 18

 Optimal charging time
19

• BYNEGLECTING PRESSURE LOSSES, THE ENTROPIC

GENERATION NUMBER CAN BE CALCULATED AS:

𝜏𝜂𝐼 − 𝑙𝑛 1 + 𝜏𝜂𝐼
𝑁𝑠 = 1 − 𝜂𝐼𝐼 = 1 −
𝜃 𝜏 − 𝑙𝑛 1 + 𝜏   1
0 ≤ 𝑁𝑠 ≤ 1 NS  = 0.7

T − T0
= ottimo 
1.26
T0   
ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 19
 Optimal size
20

• THEOPTIMAL TES SIZE CAN BE COMPUTED BY INCLUDING

ALSO THE PRESSURE LOSSES:

 2 I  (1 − I ) R  g2  f Nu
NTUottimo = ln − ln St =
1 +   I
Re Pr
c p  St
• KRANE ET AL. (1987) HAVE PROVED THAT:

ottimo = 0.83; NTUottimo = 5.53; N S ,min = 0.734

ES - 2022 Prof. E. Chiavazzo – Politecnico di Torino 20