Thermal Calculation and Experimental Investigation of Electric Heating and Solid Thermal Storage System

Abstract

Electric heating and solid thermal storage systems (EHSTSSs) are widely used in clean district heating and to flexibly adjust combined heat and power (CHP) units. They represent an effective way to utilize renewable energy. Aiming at the thermal design calculation and experimental verification of EHSTSS, the thermal calculation and the heat transfer characteristics of an EHSTSS are investigated in this paper. Firstly, a thermal calculation method for the EHSTSS is proposed. The calculation flow and calculation method for key parameters of the heating system, heat storage system, heat exchange system and fan-circulating system in the EHSTSS are studied. Then, the instantaneous heat transfer characteristics of the thermal storage system (TSS) in the EHSTSS are analyzed, and the heat transfer process of ESS is simulated by the FLUENT 15 software. The uniform temperature distribution in the heat storage and release process of the TSS verifies the good heat transfer characteristics of the EHSTSS. Finally, an EHSTSS test verification platform is built and the historical operation data of the EHSTSS is analyzed. During the heating and release thermal process, the maximum temperature standard deviation of each temperature measurement point is 28.3 °C and 59 °C, respectively. The correctness of the thermal calculation of the EHSTSS is thus verified.