Investigation On The Characteristics Of A Novel Vertical Capsulated Plate Ice Storage Equipment

The ice thermal storage technology is one of the successful measures of shifting on-peak electricity loads to off-peak periods. In order to solve the problem of short-circuited of the coolant and disadvantageous effect on heat transfer from the inside air and moreover enrich the type of ice thermal storage products home and abroad, a novel vertical capsulated plate ice storage equipment was developed by our research group. In this kind of ice storage equipment, the ice board was laid vertically, and the air in it was gathered in the top small space, which can decrease the heat resistance and improve the heat transfer. Besides the coolant flow was divided into several flow paths by setting separators among them, which can enforce the heat transfer effectively. Owing to the organization of coolant, the problem of short-circuited was successfully settled and the volume of tank was decreased, therefore, the space utilization was more effective. Several characteristics of this equipment were tested in this paper with the purpose of solving the problems exist in former development. The research works in this paper focus mainly on the following aspects:(1) The sizes of ice storage plate and tank were improved in order to solve the problem of swell distortion of the ice plate and leakage of the stopple;(2) The mathematical model of ice freezing and ice thaw process of the vertical capsulated plate ice storage equipment set up by our research group before was improved according to the thermal equilibrium principle. Heat transmission of the water along length direction of the plate was taken into account and the model was calculated with Thomas calculation method;(3) The experiment stand of ice storage was rebuilt and the ice freezing and ice thaw characteristics of this vertical capsulated plate ice storage equipment were tested. The experiment result and simulation result were compared and analyzed; The ice freezing and ice thaw characteristics corresponding to different inlet coolant temperatures of the vertical capsulated plate ice storage equipment was analyzed by simulation and the simulation of the ice storage equipment has also been done.The research conclusions are: The ice storage plate improved has a relatively larger intensity and density, which can satisfies the pressure resistance requirement in ice freezing process and solve the distortion and leakage due to ice freezing swell; This vertical capsulated plate ice storage equipment has a smaller heat transfer area and storage tank volume. They are 0.53m~2/kWh and 0.016m~3/kWh, which reduce the consumption of material and save building space by 24.3% and 23.8% compared with other similar capsulated plate ice storage equipment; This ice storage equipment has a flow resistance of about 0.018MPa; a ice freezing temperature of about -3℃～-6℃; and a thaw temperature of about 4℃～7℃. The research results are of great referenced value for the subsequent improvement of novel vertical capsulated plate ice storage equipment.