• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.168-185
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• 2015

The thermal-hydrological-mechanical (T-H-M) behavior of rock mass surrounding a large-scale high-temperature cavern thermal energy storage (CTES) at a shallow depth has been investigated, and the effects of hydrological conditions such as water table and rock permeability on the behavior have been examined. The liquid saturation of ground water around a storage cavern may have a small impact on the overall heat transfer and mechanical behavior of surrounding rock mass for a relatively low rock permeability of $10^{-17}m^2$. In terms of the distributions of temperature, stress and displacement of the surrounding rock mass, the results expected from the simulation with the cavern below the water table were almost identical to that obtained from the simulation with the cavern in the unsaturated zone. The heat transfer in the rock mass with reasonable permeability ${\leq}10^{-15}m^2$ was dominated by the conduction. In the simulation with rock permeability of $10^{-12}m^2$, however, the convective heat transfer by ground-water was dominant, accompanying the upward heat flow to near-ground surface. The temperature and pressure around a storage cavern showed different distributions according to the rock permeability, as a result of the complex coupled processes such as the heat transfer by multi-phase flow and the evaporation of ground-water.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.201-211
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• 2014

In the present study, the thermal performance of multiple rock caverns for large-scale thermal energy storage (TES) was numerically investigated for different separation distances between the caverns through heat transfer analysis using a computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT. The thermal performance of multiple caverns was assessed in terms of the thermal stratification within the caverns and the heat loss to the surroundings, and the heating characteristics of the rock around the caverns were investigated. The results of numerical simulation showed that there was little difference in thermal performance between multiple TES caverns with different separation distances when the surrounding rock was less heated and it reached thermal steady-state, which represent the thermal states of the surrounding rock at the early and long-term operational stages of the TES caverns, respectively. However, as the separation distance decreased, the rock between the caverns reached thermal steady-state more quickly, and thus the heat loss from the caverns tended to converge rapidly to the value of heat loss occurred under thermal steady-state conditions in the surrounding rock. This result implies that the operating cost of heating the surrounding rock (i.e., rock heating) can be reduced with a reduction in the separation distance between multiple caverns, and suggests that the separation distance should be determined by considering the operating cost of rock heating as well as the construction cost of the caverns.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.241-259
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• 2013

A packed bed thermal energy storage (TES) consisting of solid storage medium of rock or concrete through which the heat transfer fluid is circulated is considered as an attractive alternative for high temperature sensible heat storage, because of the economical viability and chemical stability of storage medium and the simplicity of operation. This study introduces the technologies of packed bed thermal energy storage, and presents a numerical model to analyze the thermal energy balance and the performance efficiency of the storage system. In this model, one dimensional transient heat transfer problem in the storage tank is solved using finite difference method, and temperature distribution in a storage tank and thermal energy loss from the tank wall can be calculated during the repeated thermal charging and discharging modes. In this study, a high temperature thermal energy storage connected with AA-CAES (advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage) was modeled and analyzed for the temperature and the energy balance in the storage tank. Rock cavern type TES and above-ground type TES were both simulated and their results were compared in terms of the discharging efficiency and heat loss ratio.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.308-318
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• 2013

Thermal stratification in heat stores is essential to improve the efficiency of energy storage systems and deliver more useful energy on demand. It is generally well known that the degree of thermal stratification in heat stores varies depending on the aspect ratio (the height-to-width ratio) and size of the stores. The present study aims to investigate the effect of the aspect ratio and storage volume of rock caverns for storing hot water on thermal stratification in the caverns and heat loss to the surroundings. Heat transfer simulations using a computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT were performed at different aspect ratios and storage volumes of rock caverns. The variation of thermal stratification with respect to time was examined using an index to quantify the degree of stratification, and the heat loss to the surroundings was evaluated. The results of the numerical simulations demonstrated that the thermal stratification in rock caverns was improved by increasing the aspect ratio, but this effect was not remarkable beyond an aspect ratio of 3-4. When the storage volume of rock caverns was large, a higher thermal stratification was maintained for a relatively longer time compared to caverns with a small storage volume, but the difference in thermal stratification between the two cases tended to decrease as the aspect ratio became larger. In addition, the numerical results showed that the heat loss to the surrounding rock tended to increase with an increase in aspect ratio because the surface area of rock caverns increased as the aspect ratio became larger. The total heat loss from multiple small caverns with a reduced storage volume per cavern was larger compared to a single cavern with the same total storage volume as that of the multiple caverns.