Sensitivity analysis of design parameters for melting process of lauric acid in the vertically and horizontally oriented rectangular thermal storage units

Widespread commercialization of PCM-based latent heat storage systems is limited by the low melting and solidification rates during the phase transition process. In this study, fins are used to enhance the phase change process. A parametric study is conducted to understand the effect of fins on the thermal performance of vertically- and...

Design and assessments on a hybrid pin fin-metal foam structure towards enhancing melting heat transfer: An experimental study

Solar energy, as a kind of renewable energy, offers a large reserve to be harvested at a reasonably low cost for engineering applications. To decouple the temporal and spatial relevance of the continuous energy supply of solar energy, latent heat thermal energy storage can deal with this problem at different temperatures. Aiming to improve...

Towards Sustainable Heat Supply with Decentralized Multi-Energy Systems by Integration of Subsurface Seasonal Heat Storage

In the energy transition, multi-energy systems are crucial to reduce the temporal, spatial and functional mismatch between sustainable energy supply and demand. Technologies as power-to-heat (PtH) allow flexible and effective utilisation of available surplus green electricity when integrated with seasonal heat storage options. However, insights...

Natural gas displacement by wind curtailment utilization in combined-cycle power plants

The energy scenario is currently undergoing a rapid transition in the pursuit of increasing the share of renewable energy sources in order to reduce the global anthropogenic CO2 emission. However, since several of the renewable energy sources are intermittent in nature, like wind and solar, this intermittency gives rise to several problems in...

Phase Change Material Slurry for Medium Temperature Heat Storage: Numerical comparison between a slurry model and a shell and tube packed bed model

Concentrated solar technologies have been successfully used to collect solar irradiance and transform it into useful heat for electricity generation. A problem in these systems is often that a mismatch between input and output is present due to variable solar irradiance and energy demand. To compensate for this mismatch storage is utilized to...

Development and prototyping of an integrated 3D-printed façade for thermal regulation in complex geometries

Currently, several research projects investigate Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology as possible construction method for future buildings. AM methods have some advantages over other production processes, such as great freedom of form, shape complexity, scale and material use. These characteristics are relevant for façade applications, which...

Developing an integrated 3D-printed façade with complex geometries for active temperature control

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is currently being investigated as possible construction method for future buildings. AM methods have advantages over other production processes, such as great freedom of form, shape complexity, scale and material use. Because the freedom in geometric complexity applies also to the inner part of the...

A Framework to Simulate Small Shallow Inland Water Bodies in Semi-arid Regions

In this study, a framework for simulating the flow field and heat transfer processes in small shallow inland water bodies has been developed. As the dynamics and thermal structure of these water bodies are crucial in studying the quality of stored water , and in assessing the heat fluxes from their surfaces as well, the heat transfer and...

Convective Concrete: Additive Manufacturing to facilitate activation of thermal mass

This paper reports on the research-driven design process of an innovative thermal mass concept: Convective Concrete. The goal is to improve building energy efficiency and comfort levels by addressing some of the shortcomings of conventional building slabs with high thermal storage capacity. Such heavyweight constructions tend to have a slow...

Evaluation of three energy balance-based evaporation models for estimating monthly evaporation for five lakes using derived heat storage changes from a hysteresis model

The heat storage changes (Qt) can be a significant component of the energy balance in lakes, and it is important to account for Qt for reasonable estimation of evaporation at monthly and finer timescales if the energy balance-based evaporation models are used. However, Qt has been often neglected in many studies due to the lack of required water...

Natural gas displacement by wind curtailment utilization in combined-cycle power plants

Integration of seasonal thermal energy storage in refurbishment projects: Development of an integrated thermal battery system towards renewable solar heat throughout the year

Integration of decentralized solar collectors in Dutch district heating networks

Most of the heat in Dutch district heating networks is produced by fossil fuels. In this study the limits and most promising configurations for the feed-in of solar heat from consumers have been investigated. The results have been evaluated in terms of total annual solar gain, solar gain per collector area, solar fraction, CO2 reduction and...

Double face: Adjustable translucent system to improve thermal comfort

The DoubleFace project aims at developing a new product that passively improves thermal comfort of indoor and semi-indoor spaces by means of lightweight materials for latent heat storage, while simultaneously allowing daylight to pass through as much as possible. Specifically, the project aims at designing and prototyping an adjustable...

Estimating Water Balance Components of Lakes and Reservoirs Using Various Open Access Satellite Databases

There are millions of lakes and ten thousands of reservoirs in the world. The number of reservoirs is still increasing through the construction of large dams to meet the growing demand for water resources, hydroelectricity and economic development. Accurate information on the water balance components of lakes and reservoirs is deemed necessary...

Hilland - Engineering the Landscape

The merging of building and landscape through the design of a smart sound barrier with integrated functions. The project is located in Utrecht and is dealing with the problems of insufficient housing, disappearing green areas, lack of connection between the city and its surroundings, and sound pollution caused by the A12 highway. In essence the...

Design and Analysis of a Solar Assisted Absorption Cooling System Integrated with Latent Heat Storage

Air conditioning is one of the major consumers of electrical energy in many parts of the world. The demand can be expected to increase because of the changing working times, increased comfort expectations and global warming. With more air conditioning units, the electricity demand has been rising thereby increasing the use of fossil fuels and...

Adaptive Multiscale Finite Element Method for Subsurface Flow Simulation

Natural geological formations generally show multiscale structural and functional heterogeneity evolving over many orders of magnitude in space and time. In subsurface hydrological simulations the geological model focuses on the structural hierarchy of physical sub units and the flow model addresses the functional hierarchy of the flow process....