An insulated hot water storage tank contains a volume V of water at an initial temperature T.
Is there a simple model for how this cools and stratifies over time and assuming a certain loss of heat?
Any directions for further understanding would be most helpful.
hello,
i think, you can make your own model, using the T variation with time and T of envirement
good luck
a good way is to use a 1D discrete model with an inversion mixing algorithm or a mixing with mean to represent natural convection
if you want to model it in a object oriented way, here is a step by step approach:
1/ discritize your tank in a number N of elementary volumes
2/ Write your energy balance over an elementary volume as an open system:
internal energy variation= heat loss+conduction+ convection + enthalpy variation from draw offs
for an element i you get:
heat loss[i]= -UA*(T_element[i]-T_air), where UA is the overall heat loss coef of the element
the conduction term is the simple intra element conduction that you can get from the water conduction coef and the elementary height
and the convection term you can write it as followed:
convection[i]=if Telement[i+1]
Kevin: Are you aware of any open source model for a storage tank in a suitable open source physical simulator? TRNSYS?My goal is to do simple modelling of heat retention, energy loss, performance of tank insulation etc.
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