Water Adsorption on Zeolites for Solar Heat Storage: Modelling and Parametric Analysis of the Reactor
Abstract
This paper presents a study of the evolution of a zeolite sorption vessel for heat storage, using a 1D mathematical model and an experimental bench. The test bench and the main model hypothesis and equations are presented in this paper. The model involves coupled heat and mass transfers inside the reactive porous bed and is used to study the humidity and the temperature of the flowing air at the reactor outlet during both charging and discharging phases. The simulation results fit correctly the experimental results, thus this model could be used to simulate the reactor evolution. The results show that the temperature reached by the air exiting the storage reactor (>55°C) under typical operating conditions that could be observed in a building are appropriate for building heating. The desorption of the reactor at a temperature as low as 120°C is possible, thus the use of solar collectors to heat up the reactor during the charging phase is possible, even though a desorption at a temperature higher than 150°C will allow a higher storage density of the system.
Keywords
Sorption, Zeolite, Storage, Modeling, Experimentation.