The growing interest in large-scale solar power production has led to a renewed exploration of thermal storage technologies. In a thermocline storage system, heat transfer fluid (HTF) from the collection field is simultaneously stored at both excited and dead thermal states inside a single tank by exploiting buoyancy forces. A granulated porous medium included in the tank provides additional thermal mass for storage and reduces the volume of HTF required. While the thermocline tank offers a low-cost storage option, thermal ratcheting of the tank wall (generated by reorientation of the granular material from continuous thermal cycling) poses a significant design concern. A comprehensive simulation of the 170 MWht thermocline tank used in conjunction with the Solar One pilot plant is performed with a multidimensional two-temperature computational fluid dynamics model to investigate ratcheting potential. In operation from 1982 to 1986, this tank was subject to extensive instrumentation, including multiple strain gages along the tank wall to monitor hoop stress. Temperature profiles along the wall material are extracted from the simulation results to compute hoop stress via finite element models and compared with the original gage data. While the strain gages experienced large uncertainty, the maximum predicted hoop stress agrees to within 6.8% of the maximum stress recorded by the most reliable strain gages.
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November 2012
Research-Article
Thermomechanical Simulation of the Solar One Thermocline Storage Tank
Scott M. Flueckiger,
Scott M. Flueckiger
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University
,585 Purdue Mall
,West Lafayette, IN 47907-2088
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Zhen Yang,
Zhen Yang
Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education,
Department of Thermal Engineering,
Department of Thermal Engineering,
Tsinghua University
,Beijing 100084
, China
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Suresh V. Garimella
Suresh V. Garimella
1
School of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: sureshg@purdue.edu
Purdue University
,585 Purdue Mall
,West Lafayette, IN 47907-2088
e-mail: sureshg@purdue.edu
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
Scott M. Flueckiger
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University
,585 Purdue Mall
,West Lafayette, IN 47907-2088
Zhen Yang
Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education,
Department of Thermal Engineering,
Department of Thermal Engineering,
Tsinghua University
,Beijing 100084
, China
Suresh V. Garimella
School of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: sureshg@purdue.edu
Purdue University
,585 Purdue Mall
,West Lafayette, IN 47907-2088
e-mail: sureshg@purdue.edu
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Solar Energy Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF SOLAR ENERGY ENGINEERING. Manuscript received October 24, 2011; final manuscript received September 6, 2012; published online October 17, 2012. Assoc. Editor: Rainer Tamme.
J. Sol. Energy Eng. Nov 2012, 134(4): 041014 (6 pages)
Published Online: October 17, 2012
Article history
Received:
October 24, 2011
Revision Received:
September 6, 2012
Citation
Flueckiger, S. M., Yang, Z., and Garimella, S. V. (October 17, 2012). "Thermomechanical Simulation of the Solar One Thermocline Storage Tank." ASME. J. Sol. Energy Eng. November 2012; 134(4): 041014. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4007665
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