Numerical Analysis of Flow Distributors to Improve Temperature Stratification in Storage Tanks

Abstract

Different flow distributors have been studied to improve the temperature stratification in cylindrical enclosures. Numerical investigations have been carried out to describe the velocity and temperature fields inside a storage tank with different flow distributors in the case of upper inflow configuration. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of the flow distributors to increase the temperature stratification. Finite-volume formulation was applied to solve the governing transport equations. The developed code was validated by measurements carried out for a simple flat-plate diffuser. The numerical calculation predicts with reasonable accuracy the experimental results in the case of the plate diffuser. Different geometric parameters of the flow distributor were examined from a temperature stratification point of view.

The authors thank G. Stoyan for suggestions on numerical techniques of computational fluid dynamic. We thank F. Szlivka for useful references and discussions of applied heat and mass transfer problems, J. Tóth for the reading and reviewing the manuscript from a mathematical point of view. We especially thank S. Furbo and K. Vajen for valuable suggestions about the problem of model validation. The experiments were carried out with N. K. Vejen's valuable help. The present work has partially been supported by MÖB (Eötvös Grant).