ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THERMAL STRATIFICATION IN STORAGE TANKS

An analytical and experimental investigation of transient turbulent tw o-dimensional charging and discharging of a sensible heat storage tank has been conducted. Parametric studies showed that the turbulent mixi ng factor due to hydrodynamic disturbances at the inlet ports is the m ost significant item in the performance of thermal stratification stor age tanks. Furthermore, the effect of the aspect ratio and convection at the walls in promoting stratification have been studied. Comparison with experimental data showed the capability of the present analytic approach to accommodate, with a satisfactory degree of accuracy, such problems.