Numerical Investigation of Effective Heat Conductivity of Fluid in Charging Process of Thermal Storage Tank

This paper presents a numerical case study of heat transfer mechanisms during the charging process of a stratified thermal storage tank applied in a specific adsorption heat pump cycle. The effective thermal conductivity of the heat transfer fluid during the charging process is analyzed through CFD simulations using Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations (URANS). The aim of the study is to provide an equivalent thermal conductivity for a one-dimensional storage tank model to be used in a system simulation of the complete adsorption heat pump cycle. The influence of the turbulent mixing and also the advection effect due to fluid bulk motion are investigated. The results show that in the case considered here, the turbulence effect on the effective thermal conductivity is more considerable than the advection effect.