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Chapter 9

Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy


Storage Systems
Chapter Outline
9.1 Introduction 134 9.6 Energy and Exergy Analyses of Cold TES Systems 149
9.2 Principal Thermodynamic Considerations in TES 135 9.6.1 Energy Balances 149
9.3 Exergy Evaluation of a Closed TES System 135 9.6.2 Exergy Balances 150
9.3.1 Analysis of the Overall Processes 136 9.6.3 Efficiencies 150
9.3.1.1 Overall Energy Balance 136 9.7 Exergy Analysis of Aquifer TES Systems 150
9.3.1.2 Overall Exergy Balance 136 9.7.1 ATES Model 151
9.3.1.3 Overall Energy and Exergy Efficiencies 137 9.7.2 Energy and Exergy Analyses 151
9.3.2 Analysis of Subprocesses 137 9.7.2.1 Charging and Discharging 152
9.3.2.1 Analysis of Charging Period 137 9.7.2.2 Balances and Efficiencies 152
9.3.2.2 Analysis of Storing Period 138 9.8 Examples and Case Studies 153
9.3.2.3 Analysis of Discharging Period 138 9.8.1 Inappropriateness of Energy Efficiency for TES
9.3.3 Implications for Subprocesses and Overall Process 139 Evaluation 153
9.4 Relations between Temperature and Efficiency 9.8.2 Comparing Thermal Storages 153
for Sensible TES 139 9.8.2.1 Energy Analysis for the Overall Process 154
9.4.1 Model and Analysis 139 9.8.2.2 Exergy Analysis for the Overall Process 154
9.4.2 Efficiencies and Their Dependence on Temperature 140 9.8.2.3 Comparison 155
9.5 Exergy Analysis of Thermally Stratified Storages 141 9.8.3 Thermally Stratified TES 156
9.5.1 General Stratified TES Energy and Exergy 9.8.4 Cold TES 156
Expressions 141 9.8.4.1 Assumptions and Specified Data 157
9.5.2 Temperature-Distribution Models and Relevant 9.8.4.2 Results and Discussion 157
Expressions 142 9.8.5 Aquifer TES 159
9.5.2.1 Linear Temperature-Distribution Model 143 9.8.5.1 Simplifications, Analysis, and Results 159
9.5.2.2 Stepped Temperature-Distribution Model 143 9.8.5.2 Discussion 160
9.5.2.3 Continuous-Linear Temperature- 9.8.6 Borehole TES 161
Distribution Model 143 9.8.6.1 System Description 161
9.5.2.4 General Three-Zone Temperature- 9.8.6.2 Analysis Assumptions 161
Distribution Model 144 9.8.6.3 Exergy Balances and Efficiencies 162
9.5.3 Increasing TES Exergy Storage Capacity Using 9.8.6.4 Performance Assessment 163
Stratification 145 9.9 Concluding Remarks 163
9.5.3.1 Analysis 145 Problems 166
9.5.3.2 Effects of Varying Stratification Parameters 145

ABSTRACT relation of temperature to efficiency is highlighted, and thermal


This chapter describes the application of exergy analysis to stratification, cold TES, and aquifer TES are considered. Exam-
thermal energy storage (TES) and demonstrates the usefulness of ples are storage of solar energy for overnight heating, of summer
such analyses in providing insights into TES behaviour and heat for winter use, of winter ice for space cooling in summer, and
performance. TES generally involves the temporary storage of of heat or cool generated electrically during off-peak hours for use
high- or low-temperature thermal energy for later use. Key ther- during subsequent peak demand hours. Exergy analysis provides
modynamic considerations in TES evaluation are discussed, and an illuminating, rational, and meaningful alternative for assessing
the use of exergy in evaluating a TES system is detailed. The and comparing TES systems.

Exergy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097089-9.00009-7
 2013 Ibrahim Dincer and Marc A. Rosen. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved 133
134 Exergy

KEYWORDS follow a load. Rather, it can be dispatched in more


Exergy; Thermal energy storage; TES; Heat storage; Cold storage; advantageous ways (within some constraints).
Thermal stratification; Aquifer thermal energy storage; Under- l Shift energy purchases to low-cost periods. This use is
ground thermal energy storage; Borehole thermal energy storage; the demand-side application of the first purpose listed, and
Storage efficiency.
allows energy consumers subject to time-of-day pricing to
shift energy purchases from high- to low-cost periods.
l Increase system reliability. Any form of energy
9.1 INTRODUCTION storage, from the uninterruptible power supply of
a small personal computer to a large pumped storage,
Thermal energy storage (TES) generally involves the normally increases system reliability.
temporary storage of high- or low-temperature thermal l Integration with other functions. In applications
energy for later use. Examples of TES are storage of solar where on-site water storage is needed for fire protection,
energy for overnight heating, of summer heat for winter it may be feasible to incorporate thermal storage into
use, of winter ice for space cooling in summer, and of a common storage tank. Likewise, equipment designed
heat or cool generated electrically during off-peak hours to solve power-quality problems may be adaptable to
for use during subsequent peak demand hours. In this energy-storage purposes as well.
regard, TES is in many instances an excellent candidate to
offset this mismatch between thermal energy availability The most significant benefit of a TES system is often cited as
and demand. its ability to reduce electric costs by using off-peak electricity
TES systems for heating or cooling capacity are often to produce and store energy for daytime cooling. Indeed, TES
utilized in applications where the occurrence of a demand systems successfully operate in offices, hospitals, schools,
for energy and that of the economically most favorable universities, airports, and so forth, in many countries, shifting
supply of energy are not coincident. Thermal storages are energy consumption from periods of peak electricity rates to
used in energy conservation, industry, commercial periods of lower rates. That benefit is accompanied by the
building, and solar energy systems. The storage medium additional benefit of lower demand charges.
can be located in storages of various types, including tanks, Having investigated methods for TES evaluation and
ponds, caverns, and underground aquifers. comparison for many years and recently combined the
The storage medium in a TES can remain in a single results, Dincer and Rosen (2011) concluded that, while many
phase (so that only sensible heat is stored) and/or undergo technically and economically successful thermal storages are
phase change (so that energy is stored as latent heat). in operation, no generally valid basis for comparing the
Sensible TESs (e.g., liquid water systems) exhibit changes achieved performance of one storage with that of another
in temperature in the store as heat is added or removed. In operating under different conditions has found broad accep-
latent TESs (e.g., liquid water/ice systems and eutectic salt tance. The energy efficiency, the ratio of the energy recovered
systems), the storage temperature remains fixed during the from storage to that originally input, is conventionally used to
phase-change portion of the storage cycle. measure TES performance. The energy efficiency, however,
TES systems are used in a wide variety of applications is inadequate because it does not take into account important
and are designed to operate on a cyclical basis (usually factors like how nearly the performance approaches ideality,
daily, and occasionally seasonally). TES systems achieve storage duration, and temperatures of the supplied and
benefits by fulfilling one or more of the following purposes: recovered thermal energy and of the surroundings.
l Increase generation capacity. Demand for heating, Exergy analysis provides an illuminating, rational, and
cooling, or power is seldom constant over time, and the meaningful alternative for assessing and comparing TES
excess generation capacity available during low- systems. In particular, exergy analysis yields efficiencies,
demand periods can be used to charge a TES in order to which provide a true measure of how nearly actual perfor-
increase the effective generation capacity during high- mance approaches the ideal, and identifies more clearly than
demand periods. This process allows a smaller energy analysis the magnitudes, causes, and locations of
production unit to be installed (or to add capacity thermodynamic losses. Consequently, exergy analysis can
without purchasing additional units) and results in assist in improving and optimizing TES designs.
a higher load factor for the units. Using information in the authors recent book on TES
l Enable better operation of cogeneration plants. (Dincer and Rosen, 2011), this chapter describes the appli-
Combined heat and power, or cogeneration, plants are cation of exergy analysis to TES and demonstrates the
generally operated to meet the demands of the con- usefulness of such analyses in providing insights into
nected thermal load, which often results in excess TES behavior and performance. Key thermodynamic
electric generation during periods of low electric use. considerations in TES evaluation are discussed, and the use of
By incorporating TES, the plant need not be operated to exergy in evaluating a TES system is detailed. The relation of
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 135

temperature to efficiency is highlighted, and thermal strati- the entering and exiting streams, and the durations of the
fication, cold TES, and aquifer TES are considered. charging, storing, and discharging periods. Increasing
stratification improves TES efficiency relative to a ther-
mally mixed storage tank. Four primary factors degrade
9.2 PRINCIPAL THERMODYNAMIC stored energy by reducing stratification as given below:
CONSIDERATIONS IN TES l Heat leakages to or from the environment
l Heat conduction and convection from the hot portions
Several of the principal thermodynamic considerations in
of the storage fluid to the colder portions
TES evaluation and comparison are discussed in this section.
l Vertical conduction in the tank wall
Energy and exergy. Energy and exergy are significant l Mixing during charging and discharging periods (often
quantities in evaluating TES systems. Exergy analysis the main cause of loss of stratification)
complements energy analysis and circumvents many of
the difficulties associated with conventional energy- The effects of stratification are more clearly assessed
based TES methods by providing a more rational with exergy than energy. Through carefully managing
evaluation and comparison basis. the injection, recovery, and holding of heat (or cold) so
Temperature. Exergy reflects the temperature of a heat that temperature degradation is minimized, better
transfer and the degradation of heat quality through storage-cycle performance can be achieved (as
temperature loss. Exergy analysis applies equally well to measured by better thermal energy recovery and
systems for storing thermal energy at temperatures above temperature retention, i.e., increased exergy efficiency).
and below the temperature of the environment because Storage duration. Rational evaluation and comparison
the exergy associated with such energy is always greater of TESs must account for storage duration. The length
than or equal to zero. Energy analysis is more difficult to of time thermal energy is retained in a TES does not
apply to such storage systems because efficiency defi- enter into expressions for efficiency, although it is
nitions have to be carefully modified when cooling clearly a dominant consideration in overall TES effec-
capacity, instead of heating capacity, is stored, or when tiveness. By examining the relation between storage
both warm and cool reservoirs are included. Thus, exergy duration and effectiveness, the authors developed an
analysis provides for more rational evaluation of TES approach for comparing TESs using a time parameter.
systems for cooling or heating capacity. Reference-environment temperature. Since TES
Efficiencies. The evaluation of a TES system requires evaluations based on energy and exergy are affected by
a measure of performance, which is rational, mean- the value of the reference environment temperature To,
ingful, and practical. A more perceptive basis than temporal and spatial variations of To must be considered
energy efficiency is needed if the true usefulness of (especially for TESs with storage periods of several
thermal storages is to be assessed, and so permit months). The value of To(t) can often be assumed to be
maximization of their economic benefit. Exergy effi- the same as the ambient temperature variation with time,
ciencies provide rational measures since they assess the Tamb(t), approximated on an annual basis as follows:
 
approach to ideal TES performance. 2pt
Losses. With energy analysis, all losses are attributable Tamb t T amb DTamb sin phase shift
period
to energy releases across system boundaries. With
(9.1)
exergy analysis, losses are divided into two types: (1)
exergy releases from the system and (2) internal exergy where T amb is the mean annual ambient temperature and
consumptions. The latter include reductions in avail- DTamb is the maximum temperature deviation from the
ability of the stored heat through mixing of warm and annual mean. The values of the parameters in Equation 9.1
cool fluids. The division of exergy losses allows the vary spatially and the period is one year. For most short-
causes of inefficiencies to be accurately identified and term storages, a constant value of To can be assumed. Some
improvement effort to be effectively allocated. possible values for To are the annual or seasonal mean value
Stratification. Thermal stratification within a TES of the temperature of the atmosphere, or the constant
reduces temperature degradation. In many practical temperature of soil far below the surface.
cases, a vertical cylindrical tank with a hot water inlet
(outlet) at the top and a cold water inlet (outlet) at the 9.3 EXERGY EVALUATION OF A CLOSED
bottom is used. The hot and cold water in the tank
TES SYSTEM
usually are initially stratified into two layers, with
a mixing layer in between. The degree of stratification is An exergy analysis of a closed tank storage with heat
affected by the volume and configuration of the tank, the transfers by heat exchanger is described in this section. A
design of the inlets and outlets, the flow rates of complete storing cycle, as well as the charging, storing,
136 Exergy

a d
Q l, 1 Ql, 2 Q l, 3
b c

FIGURE 9.1 The three stages in a simple heat storage process: (1) charging period (left), (2) storing period (center), and (3) discharging period (right).

and discharging periods, are considered. Although energy or


is conserved in an adiabatic system, mixing of the high-
Ha  Hb  Hd  Hc Ql  DE (9.3)
and low-temperature portions of the storage medium
consumes exergy, which is conserved only in reversible where Ha, Hb, Hc, and Hd are the total enthalpies of the flows
processes. at states a, b, c, and d, respectively; Ql denotes the heat
For the TES considered here, a closed system stores losses during the process and DE notes the accumulation of
heat in a fixed amount of storage fluid to or from which heat energy in the TES. In Equation 9.3, (Ha  Hb) represents the
is transferred through a heat exchanger by means of a heat net heat delivered to the TES and (Hd  Hc) represents the
transport fluid. The TES system undergoes a complete net heat recovered from the TES. The quantity in square
storage cycle, with final and initial states identical. brackets represents the net energy output from the system.
Figure 9.1 illustrates the three periods in the overall storage The terms DE and Ql are given by the following:
process considered. The TES may be stratified. Other
characteristics of the considered case are as follows: DE Ef  Ei (9.4)
l Constant storage volume with nonadiabatic storage
X
3
boundaries Ql Ql;j (9.5)
l Finite charging, storing, and discharging time periods j1
l Surroundings at constant temperature and pressure
l Negligible work interactions (e.g., pump work), and Here, Ei and Ef denote the initial and final energy contents
kinetic and potential energy terms of the storage and Ql,j denotes the heat losses during the
The operation of the heat exchangers is simplified by period j, where j 1, 2, and 3 corresponding to the
assuming no heat losses to the environment from the charging, storing, and discharging periods, respectively. In
charging and discharging fluids. That is, it is assumed the case of identical initial and final states, DE 0 and the
during charging that heat removed from the charging fluid overall energy balance simplifies.
is added to the storage medium, and during discharging that
heat added to the discharging fluid originates in the storage 9.3.1.2 Overall Exergy Balance
medium. This assumption is reasonable if heat losses from
An overall exergy balance can be written as follows:
the charging and discharging fluids are small compared
with heat losses from the storage medium. This assumption Energy input  Energy recovered Energy loss
can be extended by lumping actual heat losses for the (9.6)
Exergy consumption Energy accumulation
charging, storing, and discharging periods. The charging
and discharging fluid flows are modeled as steady and one or
dimensional, with time-independent properties. Exa  Exb  Exd  Exc Xl   I DEx (9.7)

9.3.1 Analysis of the Overall Processes Here, Exa, Exb, Exc, and Exd are the exergies of the flows at
For the cases considered (Figure 9.1), energy and exergy states a, b, c, and d, respectively; and Xl denotes the exergy
balances and efficiencies are provided for the overall loss associated with Ql; I the exergy consumption; and DEx
process. the exergy accumulation. In Equation 9.7, (Exa  Exb)
represents the net exergy input and (Exd  Exc) represents
9.3.1.1 Overall Energy Balance the net exergy recovered. The quantity in square brackets
represents the net exergy output from the system. The terms
An energy balance for the overall storage process can be I, Xl, and DEx are given, respectively, by the following:
written as follows:
Energy input  Energy recovered Energy loss X
3
I Ij (9.8)
Energy accumulation (9.2) j1
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 137

X
3 9.3.1.3 Overall Energy and Exergy Efficiencies
Xl Xl;j (9.9)
j1 The energy efficiency h can be expressed as follows:
DEx Exf  Exi (9.10) Energy recovered from TES during discharging
h
Exergy input TES to during charging
Here, I1, I2, and I3 denote, respectively, the consumptions of Hd  Hc Ql
1
exergy during charging, storing, and discharging; Xl,1, Xl,2. Ha  Hb Ha  Hb
and Xl,3 denote the corresponding exergy losses; and Exi (9.16)
and Exf denote the initial and final exergy contents of and the exergy efficiency j as follows:
the storage. When the initial and final states are identical,
Exergy recovered from TES during discharging
DEx 0. j
The exergy content of the flow at the states k a, b, c, Exergy input to TES during charging
d is evaluated as follows: Exd  Exc Xl I
1
Exa  Exb Exa  Exb
Exk Hk  Ho  To Sk  So (9.11) (9.17)
The efficiency expressions in Equations 9.16 and 9.17 do
where Exk, Hk, and Sk denote the exergy, enthalpy, and not depend on the initial energy and exergy contents of
entropy of state k, respectively, and Ho and So state the the TES.
enthalpy and the entropy at the temperature To and pressure If the TES is adiabatic, Qi,j Xi,j 0 for all j, and the
Po of the reference environment. The expression in Equa- energy efficiency is fixed at unity and the exergy efficiency
tion 9.11 only includes physical exergy, as potential and simplifies to the following:
kinetic exergy are assumed negligible. The chemical I
component of exergy is neglected because it does not j1 (9.18)
Exa  Exb
contribute to the exergy flows for sensible TES systems.
Thus, the exergy differences between the inlet and outlet This result demonstrates that when TES boundaries are
for the charging and discharging periods are, respectively, adiabatic and there are no energy losses, the exergy effi-
as follows: ciency is less than unity due to internal irreversibilities.

Exa  Exb Ha  Hb  To Sa  Sb (9.12) 9.3.2 Analysis of Subprocesses


Although several energy and exergy efficiencies can be
and defined for charging, storing, and discharging, one set of
efficiencies is considered here.
Exd  Exc Hd  Hc  To Sd  Sc (9.13)
9.3.2.1 Analysis of Charging Period
Here it has been assumed that To and Po are constant, so An energy balance for the charging period can be written as
that Ho and So are constant at states a and b, and at states c follows:
and d.
For a fully mixed tank, the exergy losses associated Energy input  Energy loss Energy accumulation
with heat losses to the surroundings are evaluated as follows: (9.19)

Zf   Ha  Hb  Ql;1 DE1 (9.20)


To
Xl;j 1 dQl;j for j 1; 2; 3 (9.14) Here,
Tj
i DE1 Ef ;1  Ei;1 (9.21)
where j represents the particular period. If T1, T2, and T3 are and Ei,1 ( Ei) and Ef,1 denote the initial and the final
constant during the respective charging, storing, and dis- energy of the TES for charging. A charging-period energy
charging periods, then Xi,j may be written as follows: efficiency can be expressed as follows:
 
To Energy accumulation in TES during charging
Xl;j 1  Ql;j (9.15) h1
Tj Energy input to TES during charging
DE1
Sometimes when applying Equation 9.15 to TES systems,
Tj represents a mean temperature within the tank for Ha  Hb
period j. (9.22)
138 Exergy

An exergy balance for the charging period can be written as Here,


follows:
DEx2 Exf ;2  Exi;2 (9.34)
Exergy input  Exergy loss  Exergy consumption
Exergy accumulation and Exi;2 Exf ;1 and Exf ;2 denote the initial and final
(9.23) exergies of the system for storing. An exergy efficiency for
the storing period can be expressed as follows:
Exa  Exb  Xl;1  I1 DEx1 (9.24)
Here, Exergy accumulation in TES during charging and storing
j2
DEx1 Exf ;1  Exi;1 (9.25) Exergy accumulation in TES during charging
DEx1 DEx2
and Exi,1 ( Exi) and Exf,1 denote the initial and the final
DEx1
exergy of the TES for charging. A charging-period exergy (9.35)
efficiency can be expressed as follows:
Using Equation 9.33, the exergy efficiency can be rewritten
Exergy accumulation in TES during charging as follows:
j1
Exergy input to TES during charging  
DEx1 DEx1  Xl;2 I2
j2 (9.36)
Exa  Exb DEx1
(9.26)
The efficiencies in Equations 9.30 and 9.35 indicate the
The efficiencies in Equations 9.22 and 9.26 indicate the fraction of the energy/exergy accumulated during charging,
fraction of the input energy/exergy, which is accumulated which is still retained in the store at the end of the storing
in the store during the charging period. period.

9.3.2.2 Analysis of Storing Period 9.3.2.3 Analysis of Discharging Period


An energy balance for the storing period can be written as An energy balance for the discharging period can be written
follows: as follows:
Energy loss Energy accumulation (9.27)
Energy recovered Energy loss
Ql;2 DE2 (9.28)
Energy accumulation (9.37)
Here, 
DE2 Ef ;2  Ei;2 (9.29)  Hd  Hc Ql;3 DE3 (9.38)

and Ei;2 Ef ;1 and Ef ;2 denote the initial and final Here,


energy contents of the TES for storing. An energy effi-
ciency for the storing period can be expressed as follows: DE3 Ef ;3  Ei;3 (9.39)
Energy accumulation in TES during charging and storing and Ei,3 ( Ef,2) and Ef,3 ( Ef) denote the initial and final
h2
Energy accumulation in TES during charging energies of the store for the discharging period. The
DE1 DE2 quantity in square brackets represents the energy output

DE1 during discharging. An energy efficiency for the discharg-
(9.30) ing period can be defined as follows:
Using Equation 9.28, the energy efficiency can be rewritten
as follows: Energy recovered from TES during discharging
h3
Energy accumulation in TES during charging and storing
DE1  Ql;2
h2 (9.31) Hd  Hc
DE1
DE1 DE2
An exergy balance for the storing period can be written as (9.40)
follows:
Using Equation 9.28, the energy efficiency can be rewritten
Energy loss  Exergy consumption as follows:
Exergy accumulation (9.32)
Hd  Hc
h3 (9.41)
Xl;2  I2 DEx2 (9.33) DE1  Q1;2
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 139

An exergy balance for the discharging period can be written X


3
as follows: DExj Ex3;f  Exl;i Exf  Exi DEx (9.50)
j1
 Exergy recovered Exergy loss
Note for period j that
 Exergy consumption Exergy accumulation
(9.42) DEj Ef ;j  Ei;j (9.51)
  DExj Exf ;j  Exi;j (9.52)
 Exd  Exc Xl;3  I3 DEx3 (9.43)
Here, and that Ei,1 Ei, Ef,3 Ef, and Ei,j1 Ef,j for j 1,2,
DEx Exf ;3  Exi;3 (9.44) while analogous expressions hold for the Ex terms.
This section demonstrates the application of exergy
and Exi,3 ( Exf,2) and Exf,3 ( Exf) denote the initial and analysis to a closed TES system. Exergy analysis clearly
final exergies of the store for the discharging period. The takes into account the external and temperature losses in
quantity in square brackets represents the exergy output TES operation, and hence more correctly reflects thermo-
during discharging. An exergy efficiency for the discharg- dynamic behavior.
ing period can be defined as follows:
Exergy recovered from TES during discharging 9.4 RELATIONS BETWEEN TEMPERATURE
j3
Exergy accumulation in TES during charging and storing AND EFFICIENCY FOR SENSIBLE TES
Exd  Exc
Being energy-based, most TES evaluation measures
DEx1 DEx2
disregard the temperatures of the transferred heat and thus
(9.45)
are misleading because they weight all thermal energy
Using Equation 9.33, the exergy efficiency can be rewritten equally. Exergy efficiencies acknowledge that the useful-
as follows: ness of thermal energy depends on its quality, reflected by
Exd  Exc its temperature, and are therefore more suitable for evalu-
j3   (9.46)
DEx1  Xl;2 I2 ations and comparisons. This section highlights the relation
between temperature and efficiency for a simple sensible
The efficiencies in Equations 9.40 and 9.45 indicate the
TES, demonstrating that exergy analysis weights the
fraction of the energy/exergy input during charging and still
usefulness of thermal energy appropriately, while energy
retained at the end of storing that is recovered during dis-
analysis tends to present overly optimistic views of TES
charging.
performance by neglecting the temperatures associated
with thermal flows.
9.3.3 Implications for Subprocesses
and Overall Process
9.4.1 Model and Analysis
Overall energy and exergy efficiencies can be written as the
Consider the overall storage process for the TES system in
products of the energy and exergy efficiencies for charging,
Figure 9.2. Heat Qc is injected into the system at a constant
storing, and discharging as follows:
temperature Tc during a charging period. After a storing
Y
3 period, heat Qd is recovered at a constant temperature Td
h hj (9.47) during a discharging period. During all periods, heat Ql
j1
leaks to the surroundings from the system at a constant
Y
3 temperature Tl. For heating applications, the temperatures
j jj (9.48) Tc, Td, and Tl exceed the environment temperature To but
j1

In addition, it can be shown that the summations of the


energy or exergy balance equations, respectively, for the
Qc TES Qd
three subprocesses give the energy or exergy balance (T c) (Td)
equations for the overall process. Also, the overall changes
in storage energy or exergy can be shown to be the sum of
the changes during the subprocesses: Ql
(Tl)
X
3
FIGURE 9.2 The overall heat storage process for a general TES system.
DEj E3;f  E1;i Ef  Ei DE (9.49) Shown are heat flows and associated temperatures at the TES boundary
j1 (terms in parentheses).
140 Exergy

the discharging temperature cannot exceed the charging 9.4.2 Efficiencies and Their Dependence
temperature, so the exergetic temperature factors are on Temperature
subject to the constraint 0  sd  sc  1.
For a process involving only heat interactions in The energy efficiency can be written for the modeled
a closed system for which the state is the same at the system as follows:
beginning and end, balances of energy and exergy, Qd
respectively, can be written as follows: h (9.58)
Qc
X and the exergy efficiency as follows:
Qr 0 (9.53)
Xd Qd sd sd
r j h (9.59)
X Xc Qc sc sc
Xr  I 0 (9.54)
r An illuminating parameter for comparing the efficiencies is
the energy-efficiency-to-exergy-efficiency ratio j/h. For the
where I denotes the exergy consumption and Xr the exergy present TES system, this ratio can be expressed as follows:
associated with Qr, the heat transferred into the system j sd
(9.60)
across region r at temperature Tr . The exergetic tempera- h sc
ture factor s and the temperature ratio T/To are compared
or
with the temperature T in Table 9.1 for above-environ-
mental temperatures (i.e., for T  To), the temperature j Td  To Tc
(9.61)
range of interest for most heat storages. h Tc  To Td
Equations 9.53 and 9.54, respectively, can be written for
The variation of the ratio j/h with sd and sc is illustrated in
the modeled system as follows:
Figure 9.3. It is seen that j/h varies linearly with sd for
Qc Qd Ql (9.55) a given value of sc. Also, if the product heat is delivered at
the charging temperature (i.e., sd sc), j h, while the
and product heat is delivered at the temperature of the envi-
X c Xd Xl I (9.56) ronment (i.e., sd 0), j 0 regardless of the charging
temperature. In the first case, there is no loss of temperature
The exergy balance can be expressed as follows: during the entire storage process, while in the second there
is a complete loss of temperature. The largest deviation
Qc sc Qd sd Ql sl I (9.57) between values of j and h occurs in the second case.
The deviation between j and h is significant for many
practical TES systems, which operate between charging
temperatures as high as Tc 130 C and discharging
temperatures as low as Td 40 C, and with a difference of
TABLE 9.1 Relation between Several Temperature
Parameters for Above-Environment Temperatures*
1
Temperature Exergetic
ratio T/To Temperature T (K) temperature factor s
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
1.00 283 0.00 1.0

1.25 354 0.20


1.50 425 0.33 0.5
2.00 566 0.50
3.00 849 0.67

5.00 1415 0.80


10.00 2830 0.90
100.00 28,300 0.99 0
0 0.5 1
N N 1.00
FIGURE 9.3 Energy-efficiency-to-exergy-efficiency ratio, j/h, as
*The reference-environment temperature is To 10 C 283 K. a function of the discharging exergetic temperature factor sd , for several
values of the charging exergetic temperature factor sc.
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 141

TABLE 9.2 Values of the Ratio j/h for a Range of Practical Values for Td and Tc*

Charging temperature, Tc ( C)

Discharging temperature, Td ( C) 40 70 100 130


40 1.00 0.55 0.40 0.32
70 d 1.00 0.72 0.59
100 d d 1.00 0.81
130 d d d 1.00

*The reference-environment temperature is To 10 C 283 K.

about 30 C between charging and discharging tempera- quantities, and quantitatively evaluates losses due to
tures (i.e., Tc  Td 30 C). With To 10 C, the first degradation of storage temperature toward the environment
condition can be shown to imply for most present day temperature and mixing of fluids at different temperatures.
systems that 0.1  sd  sc  0.3. Since it can be shown that These advantages of exergy over energy methods are
particularly important for stratified storages since they
Tc  Td To
s c  sd (9.62) exhibit internal spatial temperature variations. The inhibi-
Tc Td tion of mixing through appropriate temperature stratifica-
the difference in exergetic temperature factor varies approx- tion is advantageous. Through carefully managing the
imately between 0.06 and 0.08. Then the value of the exergy injection, recovery, and holding of heat (or cold) to avoid
efficiency is ~50%e80% of that of the energy efficiency. stratification degradation, better storage-cycle performance
The ratio j/h is illustrated in Table 9.2 for a simple TES can be achieved (as measured by better thermal energy
having charging and discharging temperatures ranging recovery and temperature retention and accounted for
between 40 C and 130 C, and a reference-environment explicitly through exergy efficiencies) (Hahne et al., 1989;
temperature of To 10 C. The energy and exergy effi- Krane and Krane, 1991).
ciencies differ (with the exergy efficiency always the lesser This section focuses on the energy and exergy contents of
of the two) when Td < Tc, and the difference becomes more stratified storages. In the first part, several models are pre-
significant as the difference between Tc and Td increases. sented for the temperature distributions in vertically stratified
The efficiencies are equal only when the charging and thermal storages, which are sufficiently accurate, realistic,
discharging temperatures are equal (i.e., Td Tc). and flexible for use in engineering design and analysis yet
Unlike the exergy efficiencies, the energy efficiencies simple enough to be convenient, and which provide useful
tend to appear overly optimistic in that they only account physical insights. One-dimensional gravitational tempera-
for losses attributable to heat leakages but ignore temper- ture stratification is considered, and temperature is expressed
ature degradation. Exergy efficiencies are more illumi- as a function of height for each model. Expressions are
nating because they weight heat flows appropriately, being derived for TES energy and exergy contents in accordance
sensitive to the temperature at which heat is recovered with the models. In the second part, the increase in exergy
relative to the temperature at which it is injected. TES storage capacity resulting from stratification is described.
energy efficiencies are good approximations to exergy
efficiencies when there is little temperature degradation, as
9.5.1 General Stratified TES Energy
thermal energy quantities then have similar qualities. In
most practical situations, however, thermal energy is and Exergy Expressions
injected and recovered at significantly different tempera- The energy E and exergy Ex in a TES can be found by
tures, making energy efficiencies poor approximations to integrating over the entire storage-fluid mass m within the
exergy efficiencies and misleading. TES as follows:
Z
E e dm (9.63)
9.5 EXERGY ANALYSIS OF THERMALLY m
STRATIFIED STORAGES Z
Exergy analysis recognizes differences in storage temper- Ex ex dm (9.64)
ature, even for TESs containing equivalent energy m
142 Exergy

where e denotes specific energy and ex specific exergy. For With Equation 9.69, the expression for Ex in Equation 9.71
an ideal liquid, e and ex are functions only of temperature T, can be written as follows:
and can be expressed as follows:
Ex E  mcTo ln Te =To (9.76)
eT cT  To (9.65)
where
exT cT  To  To ln T=To  2 3
ZH
1
eT  cTo ln T=To (9.66) Te h exp 4 ln Th dh5 (9.77)
H
Both the storage-fluid specific heat c and reference-envi- 0
ronment temperature To are assumed constant.
Physically, Te represents the equivalent temperature of
For a TES of height H with one-dimensional vertical
a mixed TES that has the same exergy as the stratified TES.
stratification, that is, temperature varies only with height h,
In general, Te s Tm, since Te is dependent on the degree of
and a constant horizontal cross-sectional area, a horizontal
stratification present in the TES, while Tm is independent of
element of mass dm can then be approximated as follows:
degree of stratification. When the TES is fully mixed, Te
m Tm. This can be seen by noting (with Eqs. 9.64 and
dm dh (9.67)
H 9.74e9.76) that the exergy in the fully mixed TES is as
Since temperature is a function only of height (i.e., T follows:
T(h)), the expressions for e and ex in Equations 9.65 and
Exm Em  mcTo ln Tm =To (9.78)
9.66, respectively, can be written as follows:
The difference in TES exergy between the stratified and
eh cTh  To (9.68)
fully mixed (i.e., at a constant temperature Tm) cases can be
exh eh  cTo ln Th=To (9.69) expressed with Equations 9.76 and 9.78 as follows:
With Equation 9.67, the expressions for E and Ex in Equa- Ex  Exm mcTo ln Tm =Tc (9.79)
tions 9.63 and 9.64, respectively, can be written as follows:
The change given in Equation 9.79 can be shown to be
ZH
m always negative. That is, the exergy consumption associ-
E eh dh (9.70) ated with mixing fluids at different temperatures, or the
H
0 minimum work required for creating temperature differ-
ZH ences, is always positive.
m When the temperature distribution is symmetric about
Ex exh dh (9.71)
H the center of the TES such that
0
Th TH  h
With Equation 9.68, the expression for E in Equation 9.70 TH=2 (9.80)
can be written as follows: 2

E mcTm  To (9.72) the mixed temperature Tm is the mean of the temperatures


at the TES top and bottom.
where
ZH
1 9.5.2 Temperature-Distribution Models
Tm h Th dh (9.73)
H and Relevant Expressions
0
Four stratified temperature-distribution models are
Physically, Tm represents the temperature of the TES fluid
considered: (1) linear (denoted by a superscript L), (2)
when it is fully mixed. This observation can be seen by
stepped (S), (3) continuous-linear (C), and (4) general
noting that the energy of a fully mixed tank Em at a uniform
three-zone (T). For each model, the temperature distribu-
temperature Tm can be expressed, using Equation 9.65 with
tion as a function of height is given, and expressions for Tm
constant temperature and Equation 9.63, as follows:
and Te are derived. The distributions considered are simple
Em mcTm  To (9.74) enough in form to permit energy and exergy values to be
obtained analytically, but complex enough to be relatively
and that the energy of a fully mixed tank Em is by the
realistic. The expressions developed in this section show
principle of conservation of energy the same as the energy
that the exergy of a stratified storage is greater than the
of the stratified tank E:
exergy for the same storage when it is fully mixed, even
E Em (9.75) though the energy content does not change.
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 143

Tk
Height, h

0 T2
Tb Tt
Temperature, T
T1
FIGURE 9.4 A vertically stratified storage with a linear temperature
distribution.
FIGURE 9.5 A vertically stratified storage with a stepped temperature
distribution.
9.5.2.1 Linear Temperature-Distribution Model
The linear temperature-distribution model (see Figure 9.4) Since the TES-fluid density r and the horizontal TES cross-
varies linearly with height h from Tb, the temperature at the sectional area A are assumed constant, but the vertical
bottom of the TES (i.e., at h 0), to Tt, the temperature at thickness of zone j, hj  hj1, can vary from zone to zone:
the top (i.e., at h H), and can be expressed as follows:  
mj rVj rA hj  hj1 (9.87)
Tt  Tb and
h Tb
T L h (9.81)
H
m rV rAH (9.88)
By substituting Equation 9.81 into Equations 9.73 and 9.77,
it can be shown that where Vj and V denote the volumes of zone j and of the
entire TES, respectively. Substitution of Equations 9.87 and
Tt Tb 9.88 into Equation 9.86 yields the following:
TmL (9.82)
2
hj  hj1
which is the mean of the temperatures at the top and bottom xj (9.89)
H
of the TES, and that
  With Equations 9.73, 9.77, 9.84, and 9.89 it can be shown
Tt ln Tt  1  Tb ln Tb  1 that
TeL exp (9.83)
Tt  Tb X
k
Tms xj Tj (9.90)
j1
9.5.2.2 Stepped Temperature-Distribution
Model which is the weighted mean of the zone temperatures,
where the weighting factor is the mass fraction of the zone,
The stepped temperature-distribution model (see and that
Figure 9.5) consists of k horizontal zones, each of which is " #
at a constant temperature, and can be expressed as follows: Xk Y k
x
Te exp
S
xj ln Tj Tj j (9.91)
8
>
> T1 ; h 0  h  h1 j1 j1
<
T2 ; h 1 < h  h2 Simplified forms of the expressions for Tm and Te can be
T h
2
(9.84)
>
> . written for the multizone temperature-distribution models
:
Tk ; hk1 < h  hk when all zone vertical thicknesses are the same, since in
where the heights are constrained as follows: this special case, the mass fractions for each of the k zones
are the same (i.e., xj 1/k for all j).
0 h0  h1  h2 ..  hk H (9.85)
It is convenient to introduce here xj, the mass fraction for 9.5.2.3 Continuous-Linear
zone j: Temperature-Distribution Model
mj The continuous-linear temperature distribution consists of k
xj h (9.86)
m horizontal zones, in each of which the temperature varies
144 Exergy

linearly from the bottom to the top, and can be expressed as h3 H


follows: 8 C
>
> f1 h; h0  h  h1 Zone 3
>
>
< fC h; h < h  h
2 1 2
T C h (9.92)
>
> .:
>
>

Height, h
: C h2
fk h; hk1 < h  hk Zone 2

h1
where fCj (h) represents the linear temperature distribution
in zone j: Zone 1

Tj  Tj1 hj Tj1  hj1 Tj


fCj h h (9.93) h0
hj  hj1 hj  hj1 T0 T1 T2 T3
Temperature, T

The zone height constraints in Equation 9.85 apply here. FIGURE 9.6 General three-zone temperature-distribution model.
The temperature varies continuously between zones.
With Equations 9.73, 9.89, 9.92, and 9.93 it can be where fCj (h) represents the temperature distribution (linear)
shown that in zone j (see Eq. 9.93), and where the heights are con-
Xk strained as in Equation 9.85 with k 3.
TmC xj Tm j (9.94) Expressions for the temperatures Tm and Te can be
j1
obtained for the general three-zone model with the expres-
where (Tm)j is the mean temperature in zone j, that is, sions for Tm and Te for the continuous-linear model with k 3:
X
3  
Tj Tj1 TmT xj TmC j (9.99)
Tm j (9.95)
2 j1
" #
and that X
3   3

Y xj
" #
X
k Y
k TeT exp xj ln TeC j TjC (9.100)
x j
TeC exp xj ln Te j Te j j (9.96) j1 j1
j1 j1
where
where (Te)j is the equivalent temperature in zone j, that is,  C Tj Tj1
8
Tm j (9.101)
     2
>
< exp Tj ln Tj  1  Tj1 ln Tj1  1 ; if Tj s Tj1
>
8
Te j Tj  Tj1     
>
>
>
: T;  C < exp Tj ln Tj  1  Tj1 ln Tj1  1 ;
>
if Tj s Tj1
j if Tj Tj1 Te j Tj  Tj1
>
>
: T; if Tj Tj1
j

(9.97)
(9.102)
9.5.2.4 General Three-Zone The linear temperature-distribution model is simple to
Temperature-Distribution Model utilize but not flexible enough to fit the wide range of actual
The general three-zone temperature-distribution model is temperature distributions possible, while the stepped and
a subset of the continuous-linear model in which there are continuous-linear distribution models are flexible and, if the
only three horizontal zones (i.e., k 3). The temperature zones are made small enough, can accurately fit any actual
varies linearly within each zone, and continuously across temperature distribution. The general three-zone tempera-
each zone. The temperature distribution for the general ture-distribution model strives for a balance between such
three-zone model is illustrated in Figure 9.6, and can be factors as accuracy, computational convenience, and phys-
expressed as follows: ical insight. The three-zone model simulates well the strat-
8 C ification distribution in many actual TES fluids, which
> f1 h; h0  h  h1
>
> possess lower and upper zones of slightly varying or
>
>
< fC h; h1 < h  h2 approximately constant temperature, and a middle zone (the
2
T h
T
(9.98) thermocline region) in which temperature varies substan-
>
> .:
>
> tially. The intermediate zone, which grows as thermal
>
: C
f3 h; h2 < h  hk diffusion occurs in the tank being modeled, accounts for the
irreversible effects of thermal mixing.
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 145

9.5.3 Increasing TES Exergy Storage Specifically, the following characterizing parameters are
Capacity Using Stratification varied to achieve the different temperature-distribution
cases considered:
The increase in exergy capacity of a thermal storage
through stratification is described. For a range of realistic l The mixed-storage temperature Tm is varied for a range
storage-fluid temperature profiles, the relative increase in of temperatures characteristic of storages for heating
exergy content of the stratified storage compared to the and cooling capacity.
same storage when it is fully mixed is evaluated. Temper- l The size of zone 2, which represents the thermocline
ature profiles are considered having various degrees of region, is allowed to vary from as little as zero to as
stratification, as represented by the magnitude and sharp- great as the size of the overall storage, that is, 0  x2
ness of the spatial temperature variations.  1. A wide range of temperature profiles can thereby
be accommodated, and two extreme cases exist: (1)
9.5.3.1 Analysis a single-zone situation with a linear temperature
distribution when x2 1, and (2) a two-zone distri-
Thermal storages for heating and cooling capacity, having bution when x2 0.
numerous temperature-distribution profiles, are considered. l The maximum and minimum temperatures in the
The general three-zone model is utilized to evaluate storage storage, which occur at the top and bottom of the storage,
energy and exergy contents. For each case, the ratio of the respectively, are permitted to vary about the mixed-
exergy of the stratified storage Ex to the exergy of the same storage temperature Tm by up to 15 C.
storage when fully mixed Exm is evaluated. Using Equa-
tions 9.72, 9.76, and 9.78 this ratio can be expressed, after Using the zone numbering system in Figure 9.6, and the
simplification, as follows: symmetry condition introduced earlier, the following
expressions can be written for the temperatures at the top
Ex Tm =To  1  lnTe =To and bottom of the storage, respectively, as follows:
(9.103)
Exm Tm =To  1  lnTm =To
T3 Tm DTst and T0 Tm  DTst (9.104)
This ratio increases, from as low as unity when the storage
is not stratified, to a value greater than one as the degree of while the following equations can be written for the
stratification present increases. The ratio in Equation 9.103 temperatures at the top and bottom of zone 2, respectively,
is independent of the mass m and specific heat c of the as follows:
storage fluid. The ratio is also useful as an evaluation, T2 Tm DTth and T1 Tm  DTth (9.105)
analysis, and design tool, as it permits the exergy of
a stratified storage to be conveniently evaluated by multi- where the subscripts th and st denote thermocline region
plying the exergy of the equivalent mixed storage (a (zone 2) and overall storage, respectively, and where
quantity straightforwardly evaluated) by the appropriate DT h jT  Tm j (9.106)
exergy ratio determined here.
Several assumptions and approximations are utilized According to the last bullet above, 0  DTth  DTst
throughout this subsection: 15 C. Also, DTth is the magnitude of the difference, on
either side of the thermocline region (zone 2), between the
l Storage horizontal cross-sectional area is fixed. temperature at the outer edge of zone 2 and Tm, while DTst
l The environmental temperature To is fixed at 20 C, is the magnitude of the difference, on either side of the
whether the case involves thermal storage for heating or overall storage, between the temperature at the outer edge
cooling capacity. of the storage and Tm. That is,
l One-dimensional gravitational (i.e., vertical) tempera- DTth DT1 DT2 and DTst DT0 DT3
ture stratification is considered.
(9.107)
For simplicity, only temperature distributions that are
rotationally symmetric about the center of the storage, where the DT parameters in the above equations are defined
according to Equation 9.80, are considered. This symmetry using Equation
9.106 as follows:
implies that zone 2 is centered about the central horizontal DTj h Tj  Tm j; for j 0; 1; 2; 3 (9.108)
axis of the storage, and that zones 1 and 3 are of equal size,
that is, x1 x3 (1  x2)/2. In the analysis, two main
relevant parameters are varied realistically: 9.5.3.2 Effects of Varying Stratification
Parameters
l The principal temperatures (e.g., mean, maximum,
minimum), and Effect of varying Tm. The variation of thermal-storage
l Temperature-distribution profiles (including changes in exergy with storage temperature for a mixed storage is
zone thicknesses). illustrated in Figure 9.7. For a fixed storage total heat
146 Exergy

FIGURE 9.7 Variation with the mixed-storage temperature 14


Tm of the modified exergy quantity Exm/mc (where m and c are To = 20C
constant) for a mixed storage. When Tm equals the environ-
ment temperature To 20 C, Exm 0. 12

10

Exm/mc (K)
8

0
15 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Tm (C)

capacity (mc), storage exergy increases, from zero when DTth increases) for all cases. Second, the percentage
the temperature Tm is equal to the environment increase in storage exergy, relative to the mixed-
temperature To, as the temperature increases or storage exergy at the same Tm, is greatest when Tm
decreases from To. This general trend, which is illus- To, and decreases both as Tm increases from To (see
trated here for a mixed storage, normally holds for Figure 9.8) and decreases from To (see Figure 9.8).
stratified storages since the effect on storage exergy of The main reason for the second observation relates to
temperature is usually more significant than the effect the fact that the absolute magnitude of the mixed
of stratification. exergy for a thermal storage is small when Tm is near
Effect of varying minimum and maximum temper- To, and larger when Tm deviates significantly from To
atures for a linear profile. A linear temperature profile (see Figure 9.7). In the limiting case where Tm To,
across the entire storage occurs with the three-zone the ratio Ex/Exm takes on the value of unity when DTth
model when x2 1. Then, the upper and lower 0 and infinity for all other values of DTth. Hence,
boundaries of zone 2 shift to the top and bottom of the the relative benefits of stratification as a tool to
storage, respectively, and correspondingly the temper- increase the exergy-storage capacity of a thermal
ature deviation DTth occurs at those positions. For storage are greatest at near-environment temperatures
a linear temperature profile, the ratio Ex/Exm is illus- and less for other cases.
trated in Figure 9.8 for three temperature regimes, Effect of varying thermocline-size parameter x2.
respectively: The variation of the ratio Ex/Exm with the zone 2
size parameter and the temperature deviation at the
l High-temperature thermal storage for heating
zone 2 boundaries, DTth, is illustrated in Figure 9.9
capacity, that is, Tm  60 C
for a series of values of the mixed-storage temper-
l Low-temperature thermal storage for heating
ature Tm. For a fixed value of DTth at a fixed value
capacity, that is, 20 C  Tm  60 C
of Tm, the ratio Ex/Exm increases as the zone 2 size
l Thermal storage for cooling capacity, that is, Tm 
parameter x2 decreases. This observation occurs
20 C
because the stratification becomes less smoothly
The temperature range considered is above the envi- varying and more sharp and pronounced as x2
ronment temperature To 20 C for the first two decreases.
cases, and below it for the third. Two key points are Effect of varying temperature-distribution profile.
demonstrated in Figure 9.8. First, for a fixed mixed- The temperature-distribution profile shape is varied, for
storage temperature Tm, storage exergy content a fixed value of Tm, primarily by varying values of the
increases as level of stratification increases (i.e., as parameters x2 and DTth simultaneously. The behavior of
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 147

Tm 60 C
(a) 1.040 Tm 60 C

1.035

1.030

1.025

Ex/Exm 1.020 75 C

1.015
90 C
1.010
105 C
1.005 120 C

1.000
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0

(b) 1.8
20 C Tm 60 C
Tm 30 C
1.7

1.6

1.5

Ex/Exm 1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1 45 C
60 C
1.0
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0

(c) 4.5
Tm 20 C
Tm 15 C
4.0

3.5

3.0
Ex/Exm
2.5

2.0

1.5
0C
15 C
1.0
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0

Tth ( C)
FIGURE 9.8 Illustration of the variation of the ratio of the exergy values for stratified and fully mixed storages, Ex/Exm, for three ranges of values of the
mixed-storage temperature Tm (each corresponding to a different graph).

Ex/Exm as x2 and DTth are varied for several Tm values is of unity at x2 1 and DTth 0, as x2 decreases and DTth
shown in Figure 9.9. For all cases considered by varying increases. Physically, these observations imply that, for
these parameters at a fixed value of Tm (except for Tm a fixed value of Tm, storage exergy increases as strati-
To), the ratio Ex/Exm increases, from a minimum value fication becomes more pronounced, both through
148 Exergy

11
1.016 X2 0.0 Tm 15 C X2 0.0
Tm 120 C
1.014 0.1 Tst 15 C 0.1
Tst 15 C 0.2 9 0.2
1.012 0.3 0.3
0.4 0.4
1.010 0.5 7 0.5

Ex/Exm
Ex/Exm

0.6 0.6
1.008 0.7 0.7
0.8 0.8
5
1.006 0.9 0.9
1.0 1.0
1.004
3
1.002

1.000 1
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0

Tth ( C) Tth ( C)

1.12 X2 0.0 1.7


Tm 60 C 0.1 Tm 0C
0.2
X2 0.0
Tst 15 C 1.6 Tst 15 C
1.10 0.1
0.3
0.2
0.4 1.5 0.3
1.08 0.5 0.4
0.6 0.5

Ex/Exm
Ex/Exm

1.4
0.7 0.6
1.06
0.8 0.7
0.9 1.3 0.8
1.04 1.0 0.9
1.2 1.0

1.02 1.1

1.00 1.0
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0

Tth ( C) Tth ( C)

3.5 1.25
Tm 30 C Tm 15 C
X2 0.0 X2
Tst 15 C Tst 15 C 0.0
3.0 0.1 1.20 0.1
0.2 0.2
0.3 0.3
0.4 0.4
2.5 1.15
Ex/Exm

0.5
Ex/Exm

0.5
0.6 0.6
0.7 0.7
2.0 0.8 1.10 0.8
0.9 0.9
1.0 1.0
1.5 1.05

1.0 1.00
0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0 0.0 2.5 5.0 7.5 10.0 12.5 15.0
Tth ( C) Tth ( C)
FIGURE 9.9 Illustration for a series of values of the mixed-storage temperature Tm (each corresponding to a different graph) of the variation of the ratio
of the exergy values for stratified and fully mixed storages, Ex/Exm, with temperature deviation from Tm at the upper and lower boundaries of the
thermocline zone (zone 2), DTth, and with the zone-2 mass fraction x2. The magnitude of the temperature deviation from Tm at the top and bottom of the
storage, DTst, is 15 C for all cases.

increasing the maximum temperature deviation from a quantitative measure of the advantage provided by
the mean storage temperature, and increasing the stratification. Also, the exergy content (or capacity) of
sharpness of temperature profile differences between a TES increases as the degree of stratification increases,
storage zones. even if the energy remains fixed. The use of stratification
can therefore aid in TES analysis, design, and optimi-
The results clearly show that TES exergy values, unlike zation as it increases the exergy storage capacity of
energy values, change due to stratification, giving a thermal storage.
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 149

9.6 ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSES b


Charging Storing Discharging
c
OF COLD TES SYSTEMS
In many countries, cold thermal energy storage (CTES) is
an economically viable technology used in many thermal
systems, particularly building cooling. In many CTES
applications, inexpensive off-peak electricity is utilized a d
during the night to produce with chillers a cold medium,
which can be stored for use in meeting cooling needs Ql
during the day when electricity is more expensive. Time
Energy analysis is inadequate for CTES evaluation
because it does not account for the temperatures at which FIGURE 9.10 The three processes in a general CTES system: (1)
charging (left), (2) storing (middle), and (3) discharging (right). The heat
heat (or cold) is supplied and delivered. Exergy analysis leakage into the system Ql is illustrated for the storing process, but can
overcomes some of this inadequacy in CTES assessment. occur in all three processes.
Also, exergy analysis conceptually is more direct than
energy analysis, since it treats cold as a valuable
commodity. In this section, exergy and energy analyses are a complete cycle (i.e., the initial and final storage-fluid
presented for CTES systems, including sensible and latent states are identical).
storages. Several CTES cases are considered, including The energy transfer associated with the charging fluid
storages that are homogeneous or stratified, and some that can be expressed as follows:
undergo phase changes. A full cycle of charging, storing, Hb  Ha ma ca Tb  Ta (9.111)
and discharging is considered for each case.
where ma is the mass flow of heat-transfer fluid at point
a (and at point b), and ca is the specific heat of the heat
9.6.1 Energy Balances transfer fluid, which is assumed constant. A similar
Consider a cold storage consisting of a tank containing expression can be written for Hc  Hb. The energy content
a fixed quantity of storage fluid and a heat-transfer coil of a storage, which is homogeneous (i.e., entirely in either
through which a heat-transfer fluid is circulated. Kinetic the solid or the liquid phase), is as follows:
and potential energies and pump work are neglected. An
E mu  uo (9.112)
energy balance for an entire CTES cycle can be written in
terms of cold as follows: which, for sensible heat interactions only, can be written as
follows:
Cold input  Cold recovered Cold loss
E mcT  To (9.113)
Cold accumulation (9.109)
where, for the storage fluid, c denotes the specific heat
Here, cold input is the heat removed from the storage (assumed constant), m the mass, u the specific internal
fluid by the heat-transfer fluid during charging; cold energy, and T the temperature. Also, uo is u evaluated at the
recovered is the heat removed from the heat transfer environmental conditions.
fluid by the storage fluid; cold loss is the heat gain For a mixture of solid and liquid, the energy content of
from the environment to the storage fluid during the solid and liquid portions can be evaluated separately
charging, storing, and discharging; and cold accumula- and summed as follows:
tion is the decrease in internal energy of the storage
fluid during the entire cycle. The overall energy balance E m1  Fus  uo Fut  uo  (9.114)
for the simplified CTES system illustrated in Figure 9.10
becomes the following: where us and ut are the specific internal energies of the solid
and liquid portions of the storage fluid, respectively, and F
Hb  Ha  Hc  Hd Ql  DE (9.110) is the melted fraction (i.e., the fraction of the storage fluid
mass in the liquid phase).
where Ha, Hb, Hc, and Hd are the enthalpies of the flows at For a storage fluid that is thermally stratified with
points a, b, c, and d in Figure 9.10; Ql is the total heat gain a linear temperature profile in the vertical direction, the
during the charging, storing, and discharging processes; energy content can be shown with Equations 9.72 and 9.82
and DE is the difference between the final and initial to be as follows:
storage-fluid internal energies. The terms in square brackets  
Tt Tb
in Equations 9.109 and 9.110 represent the net cold E mc  To (9.115)
output from the CTES, and DE 0 if the CTES undergoes 2
150 Exergy

where Tt and Tb are the storage fluid temperatures at the The change in TES exergy content can expressed as in
top and bottom of the linearly stratified storage tank, Equation 9.10.
respectively.
The change in CTES energy content from the initial (i)
to the final state ( f ) of a process can be expressed as in 9.6.3 Efficiencies
Equation 9.4.
For a general CTES undergoing a cyclic operation the
overall energy efficiency h can be evaluated as in Equation
9.6.2 Exergy Balances 9.16, with the word energy replaced by cold for under-
standing. Then, following Figure 9.10, the charging-period
An exergy balance for a CTES undergoing a complete cycle
energy efficiencies can be expressed as in Equation 9.22.
of charging, storing, and discharging can be written as in
Energy efficiencies for the storing and discharging
Equations 9.6 and 9.7. The exergy content of a flow of heat
subprocesses can be written respectively as follows:
transfer fluid at state k (where k a, b, c, or d in Figure 9.10)
can be expressed as in Equation 9.11. The exergy transfers DE1 Ql
h2 (9.120)
associated with the charging and discharging of the storage DE1
by the heat-transfer fluid can be expressed by Equations 9.12 Hc  Hd
and 9.13, respectively. h3 (9.121)
DE3
The exergy loss associated with heat infiltration during
the three storage periods can be expressed as in Equation where DE1 and DE3 are the changes in CTES energy
9.15. The thermal exergy terms are negative for sub- contents during charging and discharging, respectively.
environment temperatures, as is the case here for CTESs, The exergy efficiency for the overall process can be
indicating that the heat transfer and the accompanying expressed as in Equation 9.17, and for the charging, storing,
exergy transfer are oppositely directed. That is, the losses and discharging processes, respectively, as in Equations
associated with heat transfer are due to heat infiltration into 9.26, 9.35, and 9.45.
the storage when expressed in energy terms, but due to Exergy analysis provides more meaningful and useful
a cold loss out of the storage when expressed in exergy information than energy analysis about efficiencies, losses,
terms. and performance for CTES systems. The loss of low
The exergy content of a homogeneous storage can be temperature is accounted for in exergy-based, but not in
expressed as follows: energy-based, measures. Furthermore, the exergy-based
information is presented in a more direct and logical
Ex mu  uo  To s  so  (9.116) manner, as exergy methods provide intuitive advantages
where s is the specific entropy of the storage fluid and so is s when CTES systems are considered. Consequently, exergy
evaluated at the environmental conditions. If only sensible analysis can assist in efforts to optimize the design of CTES
heat interactions occur, Equation 9.116 can be written with systems and their components, and to identify appropriate
Equation 9.66 as the following: applications and optimal configurations for CTES in
general engineering systems. The application of exergy
Ex mcT  To  To ln T=To  (9.117) analysis to CTES systems permits mismatches in the
quality of the thermal energy supply and demand to be
For a mixture of solid and liquid, the exergy content can be
quantified, and measures to reduce or eliminate reasonably
written as follows:
avoidable mismatches to be identified and considered. The
advantages of the exergy approach are more significant for
Ex m1  Fus  uo  To ss  so 
CTES compared to heat storage due to the manner in which
(9.118)
cold is treated as a resource.
Fut  uo  To st  so 

where ss and st are the specific entropies of the solid and 9.7 EXERGY ANALYSIS OF AQUIFER TES
liquid portions of the storage fluid, respectively. SYSTEMS
The exergy content of a storage that is linearly
Underground aquifers are sometimes used for TES (Jenne,
stratified can be shown with Equations 9.76 and 9.83 as
1992). The storage medium in many aquifer TES (ATES)
follows:
systems remains in a single phase during the storing cycle,
  so that temperature changes are exhibited in the store as
Tt ln Tt  1  Tb ln Tb  1
Ex E  mcTo  ln To thermal energy is added or removed.
Tt  Tb In this section, the application of exergy analysis to the
(9.119) ATES systems is described. For an elementary ATES
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 151

model, expressions are presented for the injected and Charging Discharging

Temperature, T
recovered quantities of energy and exergy and for effi- Tc
ciencies. The impact of introducing a threshold tempera- Td(0)
ture below which residual heat remaining in the aquifer
water is not considered worth recovering is examined. To
ATES exergy efficiencies are demonstrated to be more 0 tc 0 tf
useful and meaningful than energy efficiencies because Time, t Time, t
the former account for the temperatures associated with
FIGURE 9.11 Temperature-time profiles assumed for the charging and
thermal energy transfers and, consequently, assess how
discharging periods in the ATES model are considered.
closely ATES systems approach ideal thermodynamic
performance. ATES energy efficiencies do not provide main types of thermodynamic losses that occur in ATES
a measure of approach to ideal performance and, in fact, systems are accounted for in the model:
are often misleadingly high because some of the thermal
l Energy losses. Energy injected into an ATES that is not
energy can be recovered at temperatures too low for useful
recovered is considered lost. Thus, energy losses
purposes.
include energy remaining in the ATES and energy
injected into the ATES that is convected in a water flow
or is transferred by conduction far enough from the
9.7.1 ATES Model discharge point that it is unrecoverable.
Charging of the ATES occurs over a finite time period tc l Mixing losses. As heated water is pumped into an ATES,
and after a holding interval discharging occurs over it mixes with the water already present (which is usually
a period td. The working fluid is water, having a constant cooler), resulting in the recovered water being at a lower
specific heat c, and assumed incompressible. The temper- temperature than the injected water. In the present
ature of the aquifer and its surroundings prior to heat model, this loss results in the discharge temperature Td
injection is To, the reference-environment temperature. being at all times less than or equal to the charging
Only heat stored at temperatures above To is considered, temperature Tc, but not below the reference-environment
and pump work is neglected. temperature To (i.e., To  Td(t)  Tc for 0  t  N).
During charging, heated water at a constant temperature 9.7.2 Energy and Exergy Analyses
Tc is injected at a constant mass flow rate m_ c into the ATES.
After a storing period, discharging occurs, during which The energy and exergy injected into the ATES during
water is extracted from the ATES at a constant mass flow charging and recovered during discharging are evaluated.
rate m_ d . The fluid discharge temperature is taken to be The energy flow associated with a flow of liquid at
a function of time, that is, Td Td(t). The discharge a constant mass flow rate m;_ for an arbitrary period of time
temperature after an infinite time is taken to be the with T a function of t, is written as follows:
temperature of the reference-environment, that is, Td(N) Z

To, and the initial discharge temperature is taken to be E E_ t dt (9.123)
between the charging and reference-environment temper- t
atures, that is, To  Td(0)  Tc. where the integration is performed over the time period,
Many discharge temperature-time profiles are possible. and the energy flow rate at time t is expressed as follows:
Here, the discharge temperature is taken to decrease line-  
arly with time from an initial value Td(0) to a final value To. _ mc
Et _ Tt  To (9.124)
The final temperature is reached at a time tf and remains
Here, c denotes the specific heat of the liquid. Combining
fixed at To for all subsequent times, that is,
Equations 9.123 and 9.124 for constant m; _ c; and To,
Z
 
Td 0  Td 0  To t tf ; 0  t  tf _
E mc Tt  To dt (9.125)
Td t
To ; tf  t  N t

(9.122) The corresponding exergy flow becomes


Z

Ex Ex _ t dt (9.126)
The simple linear discharge temperature-time profile is
sufficiently realistic, yet simple. t
The temperature-time profiles considered in the present where the exergy flow rate at time t is written as follows:
model for the fluid flows during the charging and dis-    
_
Ext _ Tt  To  To ln Tt=To
mc (9.127)
charging periods are summarized in Figure 9.11. The two
152 Exergy

Combining Equations 9.126 and 9.127, and utilizing Here,


Equation 9.125 results in
Ztd Ztd
Z  
ln Td t=To dt ln at b dt
_
Ex mc Tt  To  To ln Tt=To dt
t0 t0
t
Z aq b=a ln aq b
_ o
E  mcT ln Tt=To dt (9.128)
 q  b=a lnb (9.134)
t
where
  
9.7.2.1 Charging and Discharging a To  Td 0 To tf (9.135)
The energy input to the ATES during charging, for b Td 0=To (9.136)
a constant water injection rate m_ c and over a time period When td  tf, the expression for the integral in Equation
beginning at zero and ending at tc, is expressed by Equation 9.134 reduces to the following:
9.125 with T(t) Tc. That is,
Ztd  
Ztc Td 0 Td 0
ln Td t=To dt tf ln 1
Ec m_ c C Tc  To dt m_ c ctc Tc =To (9.129) Td 0  To To
t0
t0
(9.137)
The corresponding exergy input is expressed by Equation
9.128, with the same conditions as for Ec. Thus, after
integration, 9.7.2.2 Balances and Efficiencies
An ATES energy balance taken over a complete charging-
Exc m_ c ctc Tc  To  To ln Tc =To 
discharging cycle states that the energy injected is either
Ec  m_ c ctc To ln Tc =To (9.130) recovered or lost. A corresponding exergy balance states
that the exergy injected is either recovered or lost, where
The energy recovered from the ATES during discharging, lost exergy is associated with both waste exergy emissions
for a constant water recovery rate m_ d and for a time period and internal exergy consumptions due to irreversibilities.
starting at zero and ending at td, is expressed by Equation If f is defined as the fraction of injected energy Ec that
9.125 with T(t) as in Equation 9.122. Thus, can be recovered if the length of the discharge period
approaches infinity (i.e., water is extracted until all recov-
Ztd erable energy has been recovered), then
Ed m_ d c Td t  To dt Ed td /N f Ec (9.138)
t0
It follows from the energy balance that (1  f )Ec is the
m_ d cTd 0  To q2tf  q=2tf (9.131) energy irretrievably lost from the ATES. Clearly, f varies
between zero for a thermodynamically worthless ATES to
where unity for an ATES having no energy losses during an
8 infinite discharge period. But mixing in, the ATES can still
< td ; 0  td  tf
q (9.132) cause exergy losses even if f 1. Since Ec is given by
: tf ; tf  td  N Equation 9.129 and Ed(td / N) by Equation 9.131 with
q tf, Equation 9.138 may be rewritten as follows:
The corresponding exergy recovered is expressed by    
m_ d c Td 0  To tf =2 f m_ c c Tc  To tc (9.139)
Equation 9.128, with the same conditions as for Ed. Thus,
or
Ztd  
tf m_ d Td 0  To
Exd m_ d c Td t  To  To lnTd t=To dt f (9.140)
2tc m_ c Tc  To
t0
Ztd For either energy or exergy, efficiency is the fraction, taken
over a complete cycle, of the quantity input during charging
Ed  m_ d cTo ln Td t=To dt
that is recovered during discharging, while loss is the
t0 difference between input and recovered amounts of
(9.133) the quantity. Hence, the energy loss as a function of the
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 153

discharge time period is given by [Ec  Ed(td)], while the temperatures too low to be useful. The use of an appropriate
corresponding exergy loss is given by [Exc  Exd(td)]. threshold recovery temperature can partially avoid the most
Energy losses do not reflect the temperature degradation misleading characteristics of ATES energy efficiencies.
associated with mixing, while exergy losses do.
The energy efficiency h for an ATES, as a function of
9.8 EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDIES
the discharge time period, is given by the following:
  9.8.1 Inappropriateness of Energy Efficiency
Ed td m_ d Td 0  To q 2tf  q
htd (9.141) for TES Evaluation
Ec m_ c Tc  To 2tf tc
A simple example demonstrates that energy efficiency is an
and the corresponding exergy efficiency j by inappropriate measure of TES performance. Consider
a perfectly insulated TES containing 1000 kg of water,
jtd Exd td =Exc (9.142) initially at 40 C. The ambient temperature is 20 C.
A quantity of 4200 kJ of heat is transferred to the
The energy efficiency in Equation 9.141 simplifies when
storage through a heat exchanger from an external body of
the discharge period td exceeds tf, that is, h(td  tf) f.
100 kg of water cooling from 100 C to 90 C [i.e., with
In practice, it is not economically feasible to continue
Equation 9.111, (100 kg)(4.2 kJ/kg K)(100  90) C
the discharge period until as much recoverable heat as
4200 kJ]. This heat addition raises the storage temperature
possible is recovered. As the discharge period increases,
from 1.0 C to 41 C [i.e., (4200 kJ)/((1000 kg)(4.2 kJ/kg
water is recovered from an ATES at ever-decreasing
K)) 1.0 C]. After a period of storage, 4200 kJ of heat is
temperatures (ultimately approaching the reference-envi-
recovered from the storage through a heat exchanger that
ronment temperature To), and the energy in the recovered
delivers it to an external body of 100 kg of water, raising the
water is of decreasing usefulness. Exergy analysis reflects
temperature of that water from 20 C to 30 C [i.e., with
this phenomenon, as the magnitude of the recovered exergy
Equation 9.111, DT (4200 kJ)/((100 kg)(4.2 kJ/kg K))
decreases as the recovery temperature decreases. To
10 C]. The storage is returned to its initial state at 40 C.
determine the appropriate discharge period, a threshold
The energy efficiency, the ratio of the heat recovered
temperature Tt is often introduced, below which the
from the storage to the heat injected, is 4200 kJ/4200 kJ
residual energy in the aquifer water is not considered worth
1, or 100%. Yet the recovered heat is at only 30 C, and of
recovering from an ATES. For the linear temperature-time
little use, having been degraded. With Equation 9.117, the
relation used here (see Equation 9.122), it is clear that no
exergy recovered is evaluated as (100 kg)(4.2 kJ/kg K)[(30
thermal energy could be recovered over a cycle if the
 20) C  (293 K) ln (303/293)] 70 kJ, and the exergy
threshold temperature exceeds the initial discharge
supplied as (100 kg)(4.2 kJ/kg K)[(100  90) C  (293 K)
temperature, while the appropriate discharge period can be
ln (373/363)] 856 kJ. Thus, the exergy efficiency, the
evaluated using Equation 9.122 with Tt replacing Td(t) for
ratio of the thermal exergy recovered from storage to that
the case where To  Tt  Td(0). Thus,
injected, is 70/856 0.082, or 8.2%, a much more mean-
8 ingful expression of the achieved performance of the
< Td 0  Tt t ; To  Tt  T 0
> storage cycle.
f d
td Td 0  To (9.143)
>
:
0; Td 0  Tt
9.8.2 Comparing Thermal Storages
In practice, a threshold temperature places an upper limit Consider two different thermal storages, each of which
on the allowable discharge time period. Utilizing undergoes a similar charging process in which heat is
a threshold temperature usually has the effect of decreasing transferred to a closed thermal storage from a stream of 1000
the difference between the corresponding energy and kg of water that enters at 85 C and leaves at 25 C (see
exergy efficiencies. Figure 9.12). Consider Cases A and B, representing two
Nonetheless, ATES performance measures based on different modes of operation. For Case A, heat is recovered
exergy are more useful and meaningful than those based on from the storage after one day by a stream of 5000 kg of
energy. Exergy efficiencies account for the temperatures water entering at 25 C and leaving at 35 C. For Case B, heat
associated with heat transfers to and from an ATES, as well is recovered from the storage after 100 days by a stream of
as the quantities of heat transferred, and consequently 1000 kg of water entering at 25 C and leaving at 75 C. In
provide a measure of how closely ATES systems approach both cases the temperature of the surroundings remains
ideal performance. Energy efficiencies account only for constant at 20 C and the final state of the storage is the same
quantities of energy transferred, and can often be mislead- as the initial state. Water is taken to be an incompressible
ingly high, for example, in cases where heat is recovered at fluid having a specific heat at constant pressure of
154 Exergy

Charging (Cases A and B)


85 C

1000 kg

Tsurr  20 C 25 C Tsurr  20 C

35 C 75 C

 83%  83%
5000 kg 1000 kg
 27%  73%

25 C 25 C
Discharging after 1 day Discharging after 100 days
(Case A) (Case B)
FIGURE 9.12 An example in which two cases are considered. Shown are the charging process, which is identical for Cases A and B (top), the dis-
charging process for Case A (bottom left), and the discharging process for Case B (bottom right).

cp 4.18 kJ/kg K, and heat exchanges during charging and The energy efficiency of storage is (see Equation 9.16) as
discharging are assumed to occur at constant pressure. follows:
Several observations can be made from the data. First,
the inlet and outlet temperatures for the charging and dis- Heat recovered Hd  Hc A 209; 000 kJ
hA
charging fluids imply that a stratified temperature profile Heat input Ha  Hb 250; 800 kJ
exists in the TES after charging. Second, the higher dis- 0:833
charging fluid temperature for Case B implies that a greater
degree of stratification is maintained during the storing The heat lost to the surroundings during storage is (see
period for Case B (or that greater internal mixing occurs for Equation 9.3 with DE 0) as follows:
Case A). Third, the quantities of discharging fluid and the
QAl Ha  Hb  Hc  Hd A
associated temperatures imply that the discharging fluid is
circulated through the TES at a greater rate for Case A than 250; 000 kJ  209; 000 kJ 41; 800 kJ
for Case B. For Case B, the heat recovered during discharging, the
Energy and exergy analyses of the overall processes are energy efficiency and the heat lost to the surroundings can
performed for both cases, using superscripts A and B to be evaluated similarly:
denote Cases A and B, respectively. This example is based
on the material in Section 9.3. Hd  Hc B 1000 kg  4:18 kJ=kg K  75  25K
209; 000 kJ
9.8.2.1 Energy Analysis for the Overall Process
209; 000 kJ
The net heat input to the storage during the charging period hB 0:833
250; 800 kJ
for each case is as follows:
QBl 250; 800 kJ  209; 000 kJ 41; 800 kJ
Ha  Hb m1 cp Ta  Tb
1000 kg  4:18 kJ=kg K  85  25 K
9.8.2.2 Exergy Analysis for the Overall Process
250; 800 kJ
The net exergy input during the charging period (Exa 
For Case A, the heat recovered during the discharging
Exb) can be evaluated with Equation 9.12. In that
period is as follows:
expression, the quantity (Ha  Hb) represents the net
Hd  Hc A 5000 kg  4:18 kJ=kg K  35  25K energy input to the store during charging, evaluated as
250,800 kJ in the previous subsection. Noting that the
209; 000 kJ difference in specific entropy can be written assuming
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 155

incompressible substances having a constant specific heat and for Case B is as follows:
as follows:
Exd  Exc B 19; 050 kJ
Ta kJ 358 K jB 0:728
sa  sb cp ln 4:18  ln Exa  Exb 26; 157 kJ
Tb kg K 298 K
kJ which is considerably higher than for Case A.
0:7667 The exergy losses (total) can be evaluated with Equa-
kgK
tion 9.7 (with DEx 0) as the sum of the exergy loss
the quantity To(Sa  Sb), which represents the unavailable associated with heat loss to the surroundings and the exergy
part of the input heat, is as follows: loss due to internal exergy consumptions. That is,
To Sa  Sb To m1 sa  sb Xl IA Exa  Exb  Exd  Exc A
293 K  1000 kg  0:7667 kJ=kg K 26; 157 kJ  6; 977 kJ 19; 180 kJ
224; 643 kJ
Xl IB Exa  Exb  Exd  Exc B
where m1 denotes the mass of the transport fluid cooled
26; 157 kJ  19; 050 kJ 7; 107 kJ
during the charging period. Then, the net exergy input is as
follows: The individual values of the two exergy loss parameters can
Exa  Exb 250; 800 kJ  224; 643 kJ 26;1517 kJ be determined if the temperature at which heat is lost from
the TES is known.
The net exergy output during the discharging period
(Exd  Exc) can be evaluated using Equation 9.13 and,
denoting the mass of the transport fluid circulated during 9.8.2.3 Comparison
the discharging period as m3, in a similar three-step fashion The two cases are compared in Table 9.3. Although the
for Cases A and B. For Case A: same quantity of energy is discharged for Cases A and B,
TdA kJ 308K a greater quantity of exergy is discharged for Case B. In
sd  sc A cp ln 4:18  ln addition, Case B stores the energy and exergy for a greater
TcA kg K 298K
duration of time.
kJ
0:1379
kg K
TABLE 9.3 Comparison of the Performance
To Sd  Sc A To mA3 sd  sc A of a TES for Two Cases

293 K  5000 kg  0:1379 kJ=kg K Case A Case B

202; 023 kJ General parameters


Storing period (days) 1 100
Exd  Exc A 209; 000 kJ  202; 023 kJ 6; 977 kJ
Charging-fluid temperatures 85/25 85/25
For Case B: (in/out) ( C)
TdB kJ 348K Discharging-fluid temperatures 25/35 25/75
sd  sc B cp ln B
4:18  ln (in/out) ( C)
Tc kg K 298K
kJ Energy parameters
0:6483
kg K Energy input (kJ) 250,800 250,800

To Sd  Sc B To mB3 sd  sc B Energy recovered (kJ) 209,000 209,000


Energy loss (kJ) 41,800 41,800
293 K  1000 kg  0:6483 kJ=kg K
Energy efficiency (%) 83.3 83.3
189; 950 kJ
Exergy parameters
Exd  Exc B 209; 000 kJ  189; 950 kJ 19; 050 kJ
Exergy input (kJ) 26,157 26,157

Thus, the exergy efficiency (see Equation 9.17) for Case A Exergy recovered (kJ) 6,977 19,050
is as follows: Exergy loss (kJ) 19,180 7,107
B
Exd  Exc 6; 977 kJ Exergy efficiency (%) 26.7 72.8
jA 0:267
Exa  Exb 26; 157 kJ
156 Exergy

9.8.3 Thermally Stratified TES


TABLE 9.4 Specified General Data for the Example
In this example, based on material in Section 9.5, several
Temperatures (K)
energy and exergy quantities are determined using the
general three-zone model, for a thermal storage using water At TES top, T(h H) 353
as the storage fluid, and having a realistic stratified At TES bottom, T(h 0) 313
temperature distribution. The use as a design tool of the
Reference environment, To 283
material covered in Section 9.5 is also illustrated.
The actual temperature distribution considered is based TES fluid parameters
on the general three-zone model and shown in Figure 9.13 Height, H (m) 4
along with the general three-zone model distribution used
Mass, m (kg) 10,000
to approximate the actual distribution. Specified general
data are listed in Table 9.4. Specific heat, c (kJ/kg K) 4.18
The results of the example (see Table 9.5) demonstrate
that, for the case considered, the ratio Ex/Exm 180.7/
165.4 1.09. This implies that the exergy of the stratified
storage is about 9% greater than the exergy of the mixed
storage. In effect, therefore, stratification increases the 9.8.4 Cold TES
exergy storage capacity of the storage considered, relative
Energy and exergy analyses of four different CTES cases
to its mixed condition, by 9%.
are performed based on the material in Section 9.6. In each
The ratio Ex/Exm can be determined using the expressions
case, the CTES has identical initial and final states, so that
in Section 9.5 or read from figures such as those in Figure 9.9
the CTES operates in a cyclic manner, continuously
(although the case here of Tm 60 C, x2 0.1, and DTth
charging, storing, and discharging. The main characteris-
20 C falls slightly outside of the range of values covered in
tics of the cold storage cases are as follows:
Figure 9.9 for the case of Tm 60 C). Then, such diagrams
can serve as design tools from which one can obtain a ratio l Sensible heat storage, with a fully mixed storage fluid
that can be applied to the value of the exergy of the mixed l Sensible heat storage, with a linearly stratified storage
storage to obtain the exergy of the stratified storage. fluid

Temperature (K)
313 323 333 343 353
4
Temperature-distribution model
General-linear
Linear
Continuous-linear
3 Stepped (20 zones)
Stepped (2 zones)
Height, h (m)

Actual temperature
distribution

0
40 50 60 70 80
Temperature ( C)
FIGURE 9.13 The realistic vertically stratified temperature distribution considered in the example and some of the temperature-distribution models
used to approximate it (linear, continuous-linear, general-linear, stepped with two zones, and stepped with 20 zones). The shown continuous-linear
distribution is equivalent to a general three-zone distribution.
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 157

TABLE 9.5 Results for the Stratification Example

Temperature-distribution model

Stepped

General- Continuous- Results from numerical


Linear linear k 200 k 20 k2 linear* integration
Temperatures (K)
Tm 333.000 333.000 333.000 333.000 333.000 333.000 333.000
Tc 332.800 332.540 332.550 332.560 332.400 332.570 332.550
Energy values (MJ)
E 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000

Em 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000 2090.000


E  Em 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Exergy values (MJ)
X 172.500 181.800 181.400 181.000 186.700 180.700 181.400
Xm 165.400 165.400 165.400 165.400 165.400 165.400 165.400
X  Xm 7.100 16.400 16.000 15.600 21.300 15.300 16.000

Percentage errors
In values of Te 0.075 0.030 0.000 0.003 0.045 0.006 d
In values of X 4.900 2.000 0.000 0.200 2.900 0.400 d
In values of 55.600 22.500 0.000 2.500 33.100 4.400 d
X  Xm

*This case is also a general three-zone temperature-distribution model.

l Latent heat storage, with a fully mixed storage fluid of the heat transfer fluid, respectively. The subscripts 1, 2,
l Combined latent and sensible heat storage, with a fully and 3 indicate the temperature of the storage fluid at the
mixed storage fluid beginning of charging, storing, or discharging, respectively.
Also, t indicates the liquid state and s indicates the solid
state for the storage fluid at the phase change temperature.
9.8.4.1 Assumptions and Specified Data In addition, for all cases, the inlet temperatures are fixed
The following assumptions are made for each of the cases: for the charging-fluid flow at Ta 10 C and for the
discharging-fluid flow at Tc 20 C. For cases involving
l Storage boundaries are nonadiabatic.
latent heat changes (i.e., solidification), F 10%. The
l Heat gain from the environment during charging and
specific heat c is 4.18 kJ/kg K for both the storage and
discharging is negligibly small relative to heat gain
heat-transfer fluids. The phase-change temperature of the
during the storing period.
storage fluid is 0 C. The configuration of the storage tank
l The external surface of the storage tank wall is at
is cylindrical with an internal diameter of 2 m and internal
a temperature 2 C greater than the mean storage-fluid
height of 5 m. Environmental conditions are 20 C and
temperature.
1 atm.
l The mass flow rate of the heat transfer fluid is controlled
to produce constant inlet and outlet temperatures.
l Work interactions, and changes in kinetic and potential 9.8.4.2 Results and Discussion
energy terms, are negligibly small.
The results for the four cases are listed in Table 9.7 and
Specified data for the four cases are presented in Table 9.6 include overall and subprocess efficiencies, input, recov-
and relate to the diagram in Figure 9.10. In Table 9.6, Tb ered cold quantities, and energy and exergy losses. The
and Td are the charging and discharging outlet temperatures overall and subprocess energy efficiencies are identical for
158 Exergy

heat infiltration). The exergy-based cold losses during


TABLE 9.6 Specified Temperature Data for the Cases storage are due to both cold losses and internal exergy
in the CTES Example losses (i.e., exergy consumptions due to irreversibilities
Case within the storage). For the present cases, in which the
exterior surface of the storage tank is assumed to be 2 C
Temperature ( C) I II III IV warmer than the mean storage-fluid temperature, the exergy
Tb 4.0 15 1 1 losses include both external and internal components.
Alternatively, if the heat transfer temperature at the storage
Td 11.0 11 10 10
tank external surface is at the environment temperature, the
T1 10.5 19/2* 0 (t) 8 external exergy losses would be zero and the total exergy
T2 5.0 17/7* 0 (s) 8 losses would be entirely due to internal consumptions. If
heat transfer occurs at the storage-fluid temperature, on the
T3 6.0 18/6* 0 (t&s) 0 (t&s)
other hand, more of the exergy losses would be due to
*When two values are given, the storage fluid is vertically linearly stratified external losses. In all cases, the total exergy losses, which
and the first and second values are the temperatures at the top and bottom
of the storage fluid, respectively. are the sum of the internal and external exergy losses,
remain fixed.
The four cases demonstrate that energy and exergy
analyses give different results for CTES systems. Both
Cases I and II and for Cases III and IV. In all cases, the energy and exergy analyses account for the quantity of
energy-efficiency values are high. The different and lower energy transferred in storage processes. Exergy analyses
exergy efficiencies for all cases indicate that energy anal- take into account the loss in quality of cold energy, and thus
ysis does not account for the quality of the cold energy, as more correctly reflect the actual value of the CTES.
related to temperature, and considers only the quantity of In addition, exergy analysis is conceptually more direct
cold energy recovered. when applied to CTES systems because cold is treated as
The input and recovered quantities in Table 9.7 indicate a useful commodity. With energy analysis, flows of heat
the quantity of cold energy and exergy input to and rather than cold are normally considered. Thus, energy
recovered from the storage. The energy values are much analyses become convoluted and confusing as one must
greater than the exergy values because, although the energy deal with heat flows, while accounting for the fact that cold
quantities involved are large, the energy is transferred at is the useful input and product recovered for CTES
temperatures only slightly below the reference-environ- systems. Exergy analysis inherently treats any quantity that
ment temperature, and therefore is of limited usefulness. is out of equilibrium with the environment (be it colder or
The cold losses during storage, on an energy basis, are hotter) as a valuable commodity, and thus avoids the intu-
entirely due to cold losses across the storage boundary (i.e., itive conflict in the expressions associated with CTES

TABLE 9.7 Energy and Exergy Quantities for the Cases in the CTES Example

Energy quantities Exergy quantities

Period or quantity I II III IV I II III IV


Efficiencies (%)
Charging (1) 100 100 100 100 51 98 76 77
Storing (2) 82 82 90 90 78 85 90 85

Discharging (3) 100 100 100 100 38 24 41 25


Overall 82 82 90 90 15 20 28 17
Input, recovered, and lost quantities (MJ)
Input 361.1 361.1 5,237.5 6,025.9 30.9 23.2 499.8 575.1
Recovered 295.5 295.5 4,713.8 5,423.3 4.6 4.6 142.3 94.7
Loss (external) 65.7 65.7 523.8 602.6 2.9 2.9 36.3 48.9

Loss (internal) d d d d 23.3 15.6 321.2 431.4


Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 159

energy analysis. The concept that cold is a valuable kg/m3, m_ c 18.4 kg/s, and m_ d 18.1 kg/s. Also, the
commodity is both logical and in line with ones intuition reference-environment temperature is fixed at the ambient
when applied to CTES systems. temperature, that is, To 11 C 284 K.
During charging, it can be shown using Equations 9.129
and 9.130, with tc 5.24 days 453,000 s and Tc 89.4 C
9.8.5 Aquifer TES 362.4 K, so that
In this case study, which is based on the material in Section
9.7, energy and exergy analyses are performed on an ATES Ec 18:4 kg=s4:2 kJ=kg K453; 000 s
using experimental data from the first of four short-term  89:4 C  11 C
ATES test cycles for the Upper Cambrian Franconia- 2:74  109 kJ
Ironton-Galesville confined aquifer. The test cycles were
performed at the University of Minnesotas St. Paul campus and
from November 1982 to December 1983 (Hoyer et al.,
Exc 2:74  109 kJ  18:4 kg=s4:2 kJ=kgK
1985). During the test, water was pumped from the source
well, heated in a heat exchanger and returned to the aquifer  453; 000 s284K ln 362:4 K=284K
through the storage well. After storage, energy was 0:32  109 kJ
recovered by pumping the stored water through a heat
exchanger and returning it to the supply well. The storage During discharging, the value of the time tf is evaluated
and supply wells are located 255 m apart. using the linear temperatureetime relation of the present
For the test cycle considered here, the water temperature model and the observations that Td(t 5.24 days) 38 C
and volumetric flow rate vary with time during the injection and Td(0) 77 C 350 K. Then, using Equation 9.122
and recovery processes as shown in Figure 9.14. The storage with t 5.24 days,
period duration (13 days) is also shown. Charging occurred
38 C 77 C  77 C  11 C 5:24 d=tf
during 5.24 days over a 17 day period. The water tempera-
ture and volumetric flow rate were approximately which can be solved to show that tf 8.87 days. Thus, with
constant during charging, and had mean values of 89.4 C the present linear model, the discharge water temperature
and 18.4 L/s, respectively. Discharging also occurred over would reach To if the discharge period was lengthened to
5.24 days, approximately, with a constant volumetric flow almost 9 days. In reality, the rate of temperature decline
rate of water and linearly decreasing temperature with time. would likely decrease, and the discharge temperature
The mean volumetric flow rate during discharging was 18.1 would asymptotically approach To.
L/s, and the initial discharge temperature was 77 C, while The value of the fraction f can be evaluated with
the temperature after 5.24 days was 38 C. The ambient Equation 9.140 as follows:
temperature was reported to be 11 C.
8:87 d18:1 kg=s77 C  11 C
f 0:701
9.8.5.1 Simplifications, Analysis, and Results 25:24 d18:4 kg=s89:4 C  11 C
Thus, the maximum energy efficiency achievable is
In subsequent calculations, mean values for volumetric
approximately 70%. With these values and Equations 9.135
flow rates and charging temperature are used. Also, the
and 9.136, it can be shown that
specific heat and density of water are both taken to be fixed,
at 4.2 kJ/kg K and 1000 kg/m3, respectively. Since the a 11 C  77 C=284 K  8:87 d
volumetric flow rate (in liters/second) is equal to the mass
flow rate (in kilograms/second) when the density is 1000 0:0262 d1 and b 350 K=284 K 1:232

Charging Discharging FIGURE 9.14 Observed values for the


rate, (I/s)
Vol. flow

20 20 temperature and volumetric flow rate of water


18 18 as a function of time during the charging and
16 16 discharging periods, for the experimental test
150 150 cycles used in the ATES case study.
Temperature,

100 100
T ( C)

50 50

0 0
0 2 8 14 16 0 2 4 6 8
Time, t (days) Time, t (days)
160 Exergy

Consequently, expressions dependent on discharge time discharging fluid flows. As the discharging time increases,
period td can be written and plotted (see Figure 9.15) for Ed, the deviation between these two efficiencies increases
Exd, h and j using Equations 9.131e9.133, 9.141, and 9.142, (Figure 9.15) because the temperature of recovered heat
and for the energy loss (Ec  Ed) and exergy loss (Exc  Exd). decreases (Figure 9.14). In this case, the energy efficiency
reaches approximately 70% and the exergy efficiency of
40% by the completion of the discharge period, even
9.8.5.2 Discussion though the efficiencies are both 0% when discharging
Both energy and exergy efficiencies in Figure 9.15 increase commences.
from zero to maximum values as td increases. Further, the To further illustrate the importance of temperature,
difference between the two efficiencies increases with a hypothetical modification of the present case study is
increasing td. This latter point demonstrates that the exergy considered. In the modified case, all details are as in the
efficiency gives less weight than the energy efficiency to original case except that the temperature of the injection
the energy recovered at higher td values, since it is recov- flow during the charging period is increased from 89.4 to
ered at temperatures nearer to the reference-environment 200 C (473 K), while the duration of the charging period is
temperature. decreased from its initial value of 5.24 days (453,000 s) so
Several other points in Figure 9.15 are worth noting. that the energy injected does not change. By equating the
First, for the conditions specified, all parameters level off as energy injected during charging for the original and
td approaches tf, and remain constant for td  tf. Second, as modified cases, the modified charging-period duration tc0
td increases toward tf, the energy recovered increases from can be evaluated as a function of the new injection flow
zero to a maximum value, while the energy loss decreases temperature T c0 as follows:
from a maximum of all the input energy to a minimum (but Tc  To 89:4 C  11 C
non-zero) value. The exergy recovery and exergy loss tc0 tc 453; 000 s
0
Tc  To 200 C  11 C
functions behave similarly qualitatively, but exhibit much
lower magnitudes. 188; 000 s
The difference between energy and exergy efficiencies The modified exergy input during charging can then be
is due to temperature differences between the charging and evaluated as follows:

Ex0c 2:74  109 kJ  18:4 kg=s4:2 kJ=kg K


Energy and exergy quantities (109 kJ)

td tf
 188; 000 s284 K ln 473 K=284 K
2 0:64  109 kJ
Energy loss
This value is double the exergy input during charging for
the original case. So, since the discharging process remains
unchanged in the modified case, the exergy efficiency (for
1 any discharging time period) is half that for the original
Energy recovery, Ed case. The altered value of exergy efficiency is entirely
Exergy loss attributable to the new injection temperature, and occurs
Exergy recovery, Exd
despite the fact that the energy efficiency remains
0 unchanged.
100 If a threshold temperature is introduced and arbitrarily
set at 38 C (the actual temperature at the end of the
Energy efficiency,
Efficiencies (%)

experimental discharge period of 5.24 days), then the data


in Figure 9.15 for td 5.24 days apply and one can see that
50
1. The exergy recovered (0.127  109 kJ) is almost all
(91%) of the exergy recoverable in infinite time (0.139
Exergy efficiency,  109 kJ), while the energy recovered (1.60  109 kJ) is
not as great a portion (83%) of the ultimate energy
0
0 5 10 recoverable (1.92  109 kJ).
Discharge time period, t d (days) 2. The exergy loss (0.19  109 kJ) exceeds the exergy loss
FIGURE 9.15 Variation of several calculated energy and exergy quan- in infinite time (0.18  109 kJ) slightly (by 5.5%), while
tities and efficiencies as a function of discharge time period for the ATES the energy loss (1.14  109 kJ) exceeds the energy loss
case study. in infinite time (0.82  109 kJ) substantially (by 39%).
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 161

3. The exergy efficiency (40%) has almost attained the 9.8.6.1 System Description
exergy efficiency attainable in infinite time (43.5%),
The campus considered in this exergy assessment is the
while the energy efficiency (58%) is still substantially
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Ontario,
below the ultimate energy efficiency attainable (70%).
Canada. The campus includes seven buildings, most of
To gain confidence in the model and the results, some of the which are designed to be heated and cooled using GSHPs in
quantities calculated using the linear model can be conjunction with the BTES, with the aim of reducing energy
compared with the same quantities as reported in the resource use, environmental emissions, and financial costs.
experimental paper (Hoyer et al., 1985): However, the analyses in this case study consider only 10
buildings since the whole system was designed for that
1. The previously calculated value for the energy injection
many buildings. This university BTES field is the largest and
during charging of 2.74  109 kJ is 1.1% less than the
deepest in Canada, and the geothermal well field is one of
reported value of 2.77  109 kJ.
the largest in North America (Dincer and Rosen, 2011). The
2. The energy recovered at the end of the experimental
system in cooling mode is illustrated in Figure 9.16.
discharge period of td 5.24 days can be evaluated with
The total cooling load of the campus buildings is about
Equation 9.131 as follows:
7000 kW. Test drilling programs were carried out to
Ed 5:24 d 18:14:277  115:24 2  8:87 determine the feasibility of thermal storage in the over-
 5:24=2  8:87 86; 400 s=d burden and bedrock formations at the site. Using the
thermal conductivity test results, it was determined that
1:60  109 kJ a field of 370 boreholes, each 200 m in depth, would be
which is 1.8% less than the reported value of 1.63  109 kJ. required to meet the energy demand. The Swedish practice
3. The energy efficiency at td 5.24 days can be evaluated of water-filled BHEs was utilized instead of the North
with Equation 9.141 as follows: American practice of grouted BHEs.
The universitys central plant provides a cooling and
h 5:24 d 1:60  109 kJ2:74  109 kJ 0:584 heating system for the campus, utilizing the BTES. Chillers
which is 1.0% less than the reported value of 0.59 are used to provide energy and pumps convey the working
(referred to as the energy recovery factor). fluid between the buildings and the BTES. Additional heat
pump modules assist in cooling. Chilled water is supplied
from two multistack chillers, each having seven modules,
and two sets of heat pumps each with seven modules.
9.8.6 Borehole TES Chillers are variable displacement centrifugal units with
Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems have received magnetic bearings that allow for excellent part-load perfor-
increasing attention in recent years for residential and mance. The condenser water enters the borehole field, which
commercial heating and cooling applications due to their retains the heat from the condensers for use in the winter
ability to provide environmental advantages, to reduce (when the heat pumps reverse) and provides low-temperature
electricity demand and use, and to facilitate demand-side hot water for the campus (Dincer and Rosen, 2011).
management. GSHPs have been widely used in Europe, A glycol solution, encased in polyethylene tubing,
Asia, and North America. A GSHP with a borehole heat circulates through an interconnected, underground network.
exchanger (BHE) uses the ground as a heat source or sink A 15% glycol solution is the source that is circulated
or storage medium. The ground is a useful heat source and through the BHE mounted in the ground. Inlet and outlet
heat sink and energy storage medium since its temperature temperatures of solution to and from the ground are 29.4 C
is nearly constant throughout the year except for the upper and 35 C, respectively. The glycol solution concentration is
5 to 10 m. The space between borehole wall and the 30% and is circulated between the system and buildings to
ground can be filled with groundwater or grout. Over the transfer heat. Inlet and outlet temperatures of the solution to
decade, several exergy-based studies have been carried out and from the fan coils are 5.5 C and 14.4 C, respectively.
on borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) systems. For During the winter, fluid circulating through tubing extended
instance, Hepbasli (2005) found that for a GSHP system into the wells collects heat from the earth and carries it into
with a U-tube ground heat exchanger for district heating, the buildings. In the summer, the system reverses to extract
the heating coefficient of performance of the heat pump is heat from the buildings and transmits it to the ground.
2.85 and the exergy efficiencies for the heat pump and
overall system are 66.8% and 66.6%, respectively. In this
9.8.6.2 Analysis Assumptions
case study, an exergy assessment of a BTES system to
meet the cooling load of a university campus is carried out In the analysis, the refrigerant R507A is taken to be used
using actual cooling load data for the system. in the chiller system and R407C in the heat pump system.
162 Exergy

A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10

21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48

20 22 23 25 26 28 29 31 32 34 35 3 38 40 41 43 44 46 47 49

5
1

13 14 15 16 17 18

1 4 5 8 9 12
Chillers Heat Pumps 1 Heat Pumps 2
7240 kW 7176 kW 7176 kW
2 3 6 7 10 11

52 51 54 53 56 55

62 68 74
60 61 66 67 72 73

57 Cooling 63 Cooling 69 Cooling


Tower 1 Tower 1 Tower 1

58 59 64 65 70 71

Borehole Heat Exchangers


370 200 m

FIGURE 9.16 Flow diagram of the GSHP/BTES system at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, in the cooling mode. (Modified from
Kizilkan and Dincer, 2012).

Heat transfer to the system and work transfer from the 9.8.6.3 Exergy Balances and Efficiencies
system are positive, and the reference-environment
temperature and pressure are 24 C and 98.825 kPa, Exergy balances, which allow exergy destruction rates and
respectively. It is assumed that processes are at steady- exergy efficiencies to be determined, follow for the main
state and steady-flow conditions; the isentropic efficien- components of the GSHP/BTES system in Figure 9.16, that
cies of the chiller and heat pumps are 85% and 80%, is, the compressor (Comp), condenser (Con), expansion
respectively; the compressor is adiabatic and has valve (ExpV), evaporator (E), fan-coil (FanCoil), BHE, and
mechanical and electrical efficiencies of 80% and 84%, circulating pump (Pump), respectively:
respectively; the circulating pumps have mechanical and _ Comp;in  Ex
_ dest;Comp Ex _ comp;out W_ Comp
Ex (9.144)
electrical efficiencies of 85% and 88%, respectively;
power inputs to the fan-coil fans and potential and kinetic   
Ex _ Con;in  Ex
_ dest;Con Ex _ BW;in
_ Con;out Ex
energy effects are negligible; and there are no chemical or 
nuclear reactions. _ BW;out
 Ex (9.145)
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 163

_ dest;ExpV Ex
_ ExpV;in  Ex
_ ExpV;out and exergy data for R507A, R407C, and the glycol solution
Ex (9.146)
are given for the state points in Figure 9.16.
    The exergy destruction rate, the relative irreversibility,
Ex _ E;in  Ex
_ dest;E Ex _ CW;in  Ex
_ out Ex _ CW;out
and the exergy efficiency are listed for the overall system
(9.147) and each of its components in Table 9.8. The exergy effi-
  ciency for the BTES system on a product/fuel basis is found
_ dest;FanCoil Ex
Ex _ CW;out Q_ FanCoil
_ CW;in  Ex to be 62% and the overall exergy destruction rate is found to
  be 1346 kW. The greatest exergy destruction rates in the
T0
 1 (9.148) BTES system occur in the compressors of the chiller and
TFanCoil
heat pumps, followed by the condenser, the expansion
  valve, and the evaporator.
  T0
_ _ _ _
Exdest;BHE ExBW;in  ExBW;out  QBHE 1  The inlet glycol solution temperature is an important
TBHE
and representative parameter of the BTES system. The
(9.149) glycol solution temperature entering the refrigeration
system (i.e., condenser) is higher than the earth temperature
Ex _ pump;in  Ex
_ dest;pump Ex _ pump;out W_ pump (9.150) in summer conditions because of heat rejection from the
circulating glycol solution to the ground. It is shown in
Corresponding exergy efficiencies of BTES system Figure 9.17 that exergy destruction rate increases as the
components are as follows: entering glycol solution temperature decreases.
The overall exergy destruction rate of the system is
_ Comp;out  Ex
Ex _ Comp;in shown in Figure 9.18 as evaporator temperature varies and
jComp (9.151)
_
W Comp in Figure 9.19 as condenser temperature varies. The
overall exergy destruction rate decreases and the overall
_ BW;out  Ex
Ex _ BW;in exergy efficiency increases with increasing of evaporator
jCon (9.152) temperature and decreasing of condenser temperature. The
_ Con;in  Ex
Ex _ Con;out
variations are almost linear.
_ ExpV;out The results of GSHP/BTES exergy analysis are some-
Ex
jExV (9.153) what sensitive to variations in reference-environment
_ ExpV;in
Ex properties and in glycol solution concentration, as shown in
previous analyses (Kizilkan and Dincer, 2012).
_ CW;in  Ex
Ex _ BW;out
jE (9.154)
_ _ Con;in
ExCon;out  Ex
9.9 CONCLUDING REMARKS
_ CW;out  Ex
Ex _ CW;in This chapter has demonstrated that the use of exergy
jFanCoil _
(9.155) analysis is important for developing a sound understanding
_ Q
Ex FanCoil of the thermodynamic behavior of TES systems, and for
rationally assessing, comparing, and improving their effi-
_ BW;in  Ex
Ex _ BW;out
jBHE (9.156) ciencies. Exergy analysis suggests measures to improve
_ Q_
Ex TES systems such as:
BHE
_ pump;out  Ex
Ex _ pump;in l Reducing thermal losses (heat leakage from hot TESs
jpump (9.157) and heat infiltration to cold TESs) by improving insu-
W_ pump
lation levels and distributions.
For the overall system, the exergy efficiency can be written l Avoiding temperature degradation by using smaller heat-
as follows: exchanger temperature differences, ensuring that heat
P Q_ flows of appropriate temperatures are used to heat cooler
_ out
Ex _ FanCoil
Ex
jsys P P (9.158) flows, and increasing heat-exchanger efficiencies.
_
Exin _
W Comp W_ pump l Avoiding mixing losses by retaining and taking advan-
tage of thermal stratification.
l Reducing pumping power by using more efficient
9.8.6.4 Performance Assessment pumps, reduced-friction heat-transfer fluids, and
appropriate heat-recovery threshold temperatures.
The performance of the BTES system is described here,
based on an earlier analysis (Kizilkan and Dincer, 2012). In The development of a standard TES evaluation method-
that work the university data, temperature, mass flow rate, ology accounting for the thermodynamic considerations
164 Exergy

TABLE 9.8 Exergy-Based Performance Parameters for the GSHP/BTES System and Its Components

Component Exergy destruction rate (kW) Relative irreversibility (%) Exergy Efficiency (%)
Compressor 1 78.28 5.816 86.62
Compressor 2 56.64 4.208 87.33

Compressor 3 56.64 4.208 87.33


Condenser 1 126.6 9.402 29.68
Condenser 2 103.4 7.684 27.68
Condenser 3 103.4 7.684 27.68
Expansion valve 1 146.8 10.91 86.06
Expansion valve 2 81.96 6.089 86.05

Expansion valve 3 81.96 6.089 86.05


Evaporator 1 90.70 6.738 49.66
Evaporator 2 99.75 7.410 39.68
Evaporator 3 99.75 7.410 39.68
Fan coil A1 7.209 0.535 69.28
Fan coil A2 7.213 0.535 69.28

Fan coil A3 6.931 0.514 69.28


Fan coil A4 7.209 0.535 69.28
Fan coil A5 7.209 0.535 69.28
Fan coil A6 6.119 0.454 69.28
Fan coil A7 5.005 0.371 69.28
Fan coil A8 13.98 1.039 69.28

Fan coil A9 3.389 0.251 69.28


Fan coil A10 3.532 0.262 69.28
BHE 1 27.31 2.029 41.86
BHE 2 20.24 1.504 41.86
BHE 3 20.24 1.504 41.86
Cooling tower 1 28.15 2.091 54.58

Cooling tower 2 20.86 1.550 54.57


Cooling tower 3 20.86 1.550 54.57
Fan coil pump A1 0.747 0.055 6.97
Fan coil pump A2 1.301 0.096 6.97
Fan coil pump A3 1.827 0.135 6.97
Fan coil pump A4 1.218 0.090 6.97

Fan coil pump A5 1.467 0.109 6.97


Fan coil pump A6 0.883 0.065 6.97
Fan coil pump A7 0.457 0.033 6.97
Fan coil pump A8 0.866 0.064 6.97
Fan coil pump A9 0.468 0.034 6.97
Chapter | 9 Exergy Analysis of Thermal Energy Storage Systems 165

TABLE 9.8 Exergy-Based Performance Parameters for the GSHP/BTES System and Its Componentsdcontd
Component Exergy destruction rate (kW) Relative irreversibility (%) Exergy Efficiency (%)
Fan coil pump A10 0.627 0.046 6.97
BHE pump 1 0.034 0.002 3.25
BHE pump 2 0.030 0.002 3.25
BHE pump 3 0.030 0.002 3.25
Cooling tower pump 1 2.537 0.188 3.25
Cooling tower pump 2 1.092 0.081 3.25

Cooling tower pump 3 1.092 0.081 3.25


Overall 1346.15 - 62.07

2200 FIGURE 9.17 Variation of exergy destruction


rate and exergy efficiency with inlet glycol
0.76
solution temperature.
2000
0.72
1800
Exdest,tot (kW)

0.68
1600
sys
0.64
sys
1400

Exdest,tot 0.6
1200

1000 0.56

800 0.52
28 29 30 31 32 33 34
TBW,in (C)

1400 0.67 FIGURE 9.18 Variation of exergy destruction


rate and exergy efficiency with evaporator
temperature.
Exdest,tot

1300 0.66
Exdest,tot (kW)

sys

1200 0.65

1100 0.64

sys

1000 0.63
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
TE (C)
166 Exergy

FIGURE 9.19 Variation of exergy destruction 3000 0.66


rate and exergy efficiency with condenser
temperature.
2600
0.64

Exdest,tot (kW)
2200

sys
0.62

1800

Exdest,tot sys 0.6


1400

1000 0.58
40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
TC(C)

discussed in this chapter would be worthwhile. The use of 9.3 What is the effect of storage temperature on the energy
exergy is important because it clearly takes into account the and exergy efficiencies of a TES system?
loss of availability and temperature of heat in storage 9.4 What is the effect of stratification on the energy and
operations, and hence more correctly reflects the thermo- exergy efficiencies of a TES system?
dynamic and economic value of the storage operation. The 9.5 Identify the operating parameters that have the greatest
development of better assessment methodologies will effects on the exergy performance of a TES system.
ensure effective use of energy resources by providing 9.6 For which TES system are the advantages of the
a basis for identifying the more productive directions for exergy approach more significant: cold storage or heat
development of TES technology, and identifying the better storage? Explain.
systems without the lengthy and inefficient process of 9.7 Is a solar water heating system using collectors a TES
waiting for them to be sorted out by competitive economic system? How can you express the energy and exergy
success in the marketplace. efficiency of such a system? What are the causes of
exergy destructions in solar water heating systems?
9.8 Obtain a published article on exergy analysis of TES
PROBLEMS
systems. Using the operating data provided in the
9.1 How are the energy and exergy efficiencies of article, perform a detailed exergy analysis of the system
a thermal storage system defined? and compare your results to those in the original article.
9.2 Identify the sources of exergy loss in TES systems and Also, investigate the effect of varying important oper-
propose methods for reducing or minimizing them. ating parameters on the system exergetic performance.

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