Electrical energy storage will play a key role in the transition to a low carbon energy network. Liquid air energy storage (LAES) is a thermal–mechanical energy storage technology that converts electricity to thermal energy. This energy is stored in three ways: as latent heat in a tank of liquid air, as warm sensible heat in a hot tank and as cold sensible heat in a packed bed regenerator (PBR), which is the focus of this paper. A PBR was selected because the temperature range (−196 °C to 10 °C) prohibits storage in liquid media, as most fluids will undergo a phase change over a near 200 °C temperature range. A change of phase in the storage media would result in exergy destruction and loss of efficiency of the LAES device. Gravel was selected as the storage media, as (a) many gravels are compatible with cryogenic temperatures and (b) the low cost of the material if it can be used with minimal pre-treatment. PBRs have been extensively studied and modelled such as the work by Schumann, described by Wilmott and later by White. However, these models have not been applied to and validated for a low temperature store using gravel. In the present research, a comprehensive modelling and experimental program was undertaken to produce a validated model of a low-temperature PBR. This included a study of the low-temperature properties of various candidate gravels, implementation of a modified Schumann model and validation using a laboratory scale packed bed regenerator. Two sizes of gravel at a range of flow rates were tested. Good agreement between the predicted and measured temperature fields in the PBR was achieved when a correlation factor was applied to account for short circuiting of the storage media through flow around the interface between the walls of the regenerator and storage media.
New refrigerants are required for cooling systems due to the fact that refrigerants like R134a are about to be phased out. This paper presents a comparison between the flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop results of refrigerants R245fa and R134a. The experiments with R245fa were conducted in a vertical cold drawn stainless steel tube with an inner diameter of 1.1 mm and heated length of 150 mm. Experimental conditions include: mass flux range 100–400 kg/m2s, heat flux range 10–60 kW/m2, pressures of 8 and 10 bar and 1.9 and 2.5 bar for R134a and R245fa corresponding to saturated temperatures 31 °C and 39 °C and exit vapour quality range 0–0.95. The data for R134a were obtained earlier using the same experimental facility at the same experimental conditions and with the same test tube. The results demonstrated that refrigerant properties have a significant effect on heat transfer and pressure drop. The pressure drop of R245fa is higher by up to 300% compared to that of R134a at similar conditions. In addition, the effect of mass flux and heat flux on the local flow boiling heat transfer coefficient was different. Heat transfer coefficients of R245fa showed a greater dependence on vapour quality. The agreement with past heat transfer correlations is better with R134a than with R245fa.
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