TBAB hydrate slurry based latent heat thermal storage system

Abstract

Latent
heat thermal storage (LHTS) systems can be applied to minimize the
discrepancy between energy supply and demand in cold applications.
Combining this system with night time generation of TBAB hydrate slurry
can significantly reduce the investment cost of systems for cooling
purposes. TBAB hydrate slurry generation requires temperature around 12
°C, operates at atmospheric pressure and, from an energetic point of
view, application of this slurry can contribute to significant energy
savings. In this paper, a numerical model of a LHTS system is coupled
with a hydrate crystal growth model, which has been validated with
experimental data collected with a coil heat exchanger for TBAB hydrate
generation. The model has been used for the estimation of the production
of TBAB hydrate slurry in an air-conditioning system. Results indicate
that with a certain volume of the LHTS system, it is possible to fulfil
the considered 3 kW peak cooling demand for a specified office building
without extra external energy input during the day. The presented work
provides guidelines for the thermal performance and design optimization
of a TBAB hydrate slurry based LHTS system for an air-conditioning
system.