HARBIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (HIT)

READING REPORT ON SOLAR HEAT PUMP HEATING

SYSTEM WITH SEASONAL LATENT HEAT STORAGE

Presented by: BINAMA Maxime

Major: Fluid Mechanics
School: Municipal and Environmental Engineering
Date: April 27th, 2013

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 2013 年 秋 季学期研究生课程考核

考 核 科 目: 数值分析

学 生 所 在 院: 市政及环境工程学院
（ 系 ）

学 生 所 在 学 科: 流体力学

学 生 姓 名: 马西[BINAMA MAXIME]

学 号: 13SF27002

学 生 类 别: 工程研究

考 核 结 果 阅卷人

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1. INTRODUCTION

The use of solar energy system is a promising mean of both reducing the consumption of fossil
fuels and reducing the CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. However, the availability of solar
energy is intermittent, and the demand for heat supply is at maximum in winter when the
availability of solar energy is minimal. On the other hand, the supply of solar energy is abundant
in summer when there is little demand for heating. This makes heat storage an indispensable
element in a solar energy based building thermal system. The basic idea of seasonal storage for
solar energy is to compensate the seasonal discrepancy between solar energy supply and the
demand of heating.

The idea of seasonal storage of thermal energy was firstly proposed in the US in 1960s. In the
late 1970s, researchers in the north European countries also began investigating seasonal solar
thermal storage systems. Breger et al. (1992) developed a database of the locations and
characteristics of the applications of heating systems with seasonal thermal storage around the
world from 1979 to 1992. Most large scaled solar systems in Europe were mainly built in
Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark (Heller, 2000). Eight central solar heating
demonstration plants with seasonal energy storage were built in Germany. For central solar
heating systems, there existed a number of different types of seasonal thermal storage, such as
hot-water, gravel-water, duct and aquifer thermal storage. The total seasonal storage volumes
used in the solar heating systems were 4500 m3 in Hamburg; 12,000 m3 in Friedrichshafen and
2750 m3 in Hannover, respectively (Schmidt et al.,2004). The storage temperature and the
efficiency of collectors in heating systems with seasonal thermal storage using an underground
thermal storage tank were also investigated (Yumrutas and Unsal, 2000a,b; Esen et al., 1998;
Inalli). Chung et al. (1998) simulated a central solar heating system with seasonal thermal
storage used in Korea and concluded that the system was promising and Cheju Island was best
suited in Korea for solar energy utilization, satisfying about 38.5% of the total heating demand.
Compared to using water as storage medium, the use of latent heat thermal storage was
particularly attractive and at the time, there have been so many studies on the performance of
heat pump based solar heating systems experimentally and theoretically which by the end
concluded that a parallel heat pump system saved more energy. However, all these were for daily
storage rather than seasonal storage. It can therefore be seen that previous investigations on solar
energy storage focused on using water as seasonal storage medium or using Phase Change
Materials (PCM) as daily energy storage, Description and performance of a solar heat pump
heating system with seasonal latent heat thermal storage is presented in this report.

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2. SYSTEM DESCRIPTIONS

A solar heat pump system for space heating with seasonal latent heat thermal storage here down
presented, mainly consists of solar collectors, a thermal storage tank, a heat pump unit, circuiting
pumps and valves, etc., as shown in Fig. 1. The flat plate solar collectors are installed in parallel.

3. SYSTEM FUNCTION

During summer, the heat transfer fluid (HTF) that received the energy from the solar collectors
flows to the energy storage tank, and charged the energy to the PCM in the storage tank. After
that it went back to solar collectors. In winter operation, the HTF extracts the energy stored in
the PCM in the storage tank and then flows to the evaporator in the heat pump unit so as to
provide the heat source for space heating.

Fig. 1. Schematic of solar heat pump heating system with seasonal latent heat storage. (1)Solar collector, (2) storage
tank, (3) evaporator, (4) thermal expansion valve, (5) condenser, (6) compressor, (7) pump, (8,11) three-way valve,
(9,10,13) valve, (12) heat exchanger, (14) heated space

An energy storage cell is an important component in a solar heat pump heating system with
seasonal latent thermal storage. It is usually in two different forms: rectangular and cylindrical
(Esen et al., 1998). In this report, a cylindrical energy storage cell filled with the PCM is used.
The configurations of storage tank units which houses storage cell are shown in Fig. 2a. There
are seven storage cells in one storage tank unit. As shown in Fig. 2b, each cell is made of two
concentric cylindrical shells. The PCM, CaCl2 . 6H2O, are embedded inside the space between
the two shells and the HTF flows inside the void of the inner cylindrical shell.

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Fig. 2. Schematic of PCM storage tank unit and storage cell.

4. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

The advantages of using latent heat thermal storage with phase change materials (PCM) include
a higher energy storage density, the ability to provide thermal energy at a constant temperature
and a smaller storage volume. Compared to a central solar heating system with seasonal storage
using water, the storage volume of a SHPH–SLHTS system can be much smaller. However,
there are also a number of disadvantages for a SHPH–SLHTS system. Firstly its cost is
inevitably higher due to the high cost of a PCM. Secondly, its storage tank is more complex
since a large number of PCM storage units are needed to be installed inside the storage tank.

5. CONCLUSION

In this report, the configuration of a solar heat pump heating system with seasonal latent heat
thermal storage (SHPH–SLHTS system) is firstly described with all its parts. This was followed
by the description of its functioning procedure in brief and by the way, the report stated some
related advantages and disadvantages of the system where it has been stated that despite its high
efficiency in energy storage, but its cost appears to be high.

6. References
Breger, D.S., Bankston, C.A., Sunderland, J.E., 1992. Central solar heating plants with seasonal tank. J.
ASHRAE 34 (5), 27–33
Heller, A., 2000. 15 years of R&D in central solar heating in Denmark. J. Sol. Energ. 69 (6), 437–447.
Schmidt, T., Mangold, D., Muller, S.H., 2004. Central solar heating plants with seasonal storage in
Germany. J. Sol. Energ. 76, 165–174
Chung, M., Park, J.U., Yoon, H.K., 1998. Simulation of a central solar heating system with seasonal
storage in Korea. J. Sol. Energ. 64 (4–6), 163–178
Esen, M., 2000. Thermal performance of a solar-aided latent heat store used for space heating by heat pump.
J. Sol. Energ. 69 (1), 15–25.