Modeling a Large Thermal Energy Storage System Using RANS Turbulence Models and High-Resolution Measurement Data

– A novel approach to model sensible Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Systems has been developed. Three separate models are used to model the overall system. High-resolution isothermal models are used to simulate the flow around the inlet and outlet diffusers. Velocity data is then used to provide accurate boundary conditions for a simplified non-isothermal model to model the temperature distribution and flow in the main body of the TES. In this short paper, a laminar model is compared with 2 turbulent models and measurement data. Analysis shows the need for further work as the thermocline width increases much faster in all numerical models than seen in the measurement data.