Thermal Energy Storage Tank Build

Thermal Energy Storage Tank Build

Did this for my Mechanical Engineering senior project at Cal Poly Pomona.

Check out full project info here: https://portfolium.com/martinruiz1

Thermal Energy Tank:
Our design utilizes Phase Change Material in order to store heat for later use. The phase change material used is paraffin wax, which can be thought of as like candle wax except it is much more expensive due to its precise thermal properties. This wax melts at a certain temperature which can vary based on the waxes chemical composition, we decided to go with 53 degrees centigrade for its melting temperature. The hot water that has been heated up by the sun will be pumped through our tank during the day which will melt the wax that is encapsulated inside the tank. When a material changes from solid to liquid it requires heat or energy to do so, likewise when it solidifies it will release heat in the process known as latent heat. This latent heat will be used to heat the water up after the sun goes down and the sun can no longer provide enough energy to keep the incoming water hot enough to maintain the wax as liquid.
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Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion ( OTEC ) – Animated and explained with 3d program
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18 thoughts on “Thermal Energy Storage Tank Build”

  1. I have had solar on my UK house for three years now using Enphase inverters on each panel which reduces DC losses, a great system that works well. As we have a well insulated copper storage cylinder type gas hot water system we installed the Marlec iBoost which automatically redirects unused solar power to the immersion heater, set to 70C, turning our hot water into a virtual battery. This unit cost £250 installed which is easy to do. So far it has used 1.5 MWh of free solar electricity (which our government pays us for producing too) also saving the gas that would normally have been needed. Currently our weather is very sunny and this piece of kit is heating our water 100% for free. Otherwise, if heat top up is required by the thermostat, a twice a day timed burn from the gas heating system satisfies this set at 20C lower than the electric immersion heater.

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  2. If this can hold the heat long enough it can be used in compressed air energy storage to save the heat from the compressor and use it to heat the air when it is expanding to achieve a higher efficiency. Great job at exploring thermal energy storage.

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  3. Excellent idea and many are trying to perfect phase change materials.
    If the tank was 50 gallons what extra capacity or equivalent capacity did the wax add if just had a larger water tank instead?
    Very interesting. Good luck

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  4. Martin, just read a report you did for a heat exchanger in the task you used steam 150°C to heat water from 10 to 50°C. I am not an engineer but it seems to me that the efficiency of the process was not that good, or is it normal?

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  5. Interesting concept. One slight technical note, tanks used for heat transfer should filled from the bottom up if recirculating. This will limit if the tank drains faster than the fill and serves as an easy control.

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  6. nasa used wax as a way to remove heat from the luna rover batteries. the lightest and simple system, great video.

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  7. Cool concept. Just remembered in physics class sometimes latent heat per kg is pretty high. Plus, it happens without temperature change, which could be a good thing to have. However Im curious about the stresses from the volume change by the canisters. Not gonna act as if I know much, obviously its your project, but just would like to suggest a tube as tall as the barrel with a significant empty space at the top, with merely some plates with holes in it to keep the flow back and forth as already done. So the empty space allows a bit of expansion without much change in canister pressure when the wax expands or contracts, but this air space doesnt reduce efficiency since the air space is at the top above the water. Plus, faster installation/repair/removal since you only need to arrange only one stack of canisters. The holes in the 4 plastic plates can just be milled in one go. Might need to watch out for loss by convection though.

    Just an idea. Could be something else that would work better

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  8. Great work!  I really like the way the cutaway on each supporting disc is on the opposite side from the next.  What type of paraffin wax is it? Type 2?  Ive just starting building a 1400Ltr thermal store for my house so would love to hear your results!  Cheers

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  9. im kishan my project is ocean thermal energy conversation but not proper guidance pls. help me to complete my last sem project

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