New computation method for stratification pipes of solar storage tanks

The efficiency of low-flow solar systems is strongly influenced by the quality of the thermal stratification in the storage tank. The better a thermal stratification can be generated and maintained, the higher can be the yield of the solar system. Fluid mechanical charge systems are often used for this purpose, which cause, however, undesirable sucking effects. Therefore, the knowledge of the appearing fluid flows as well as the knowledge of the consequences of constructive changes are very important for the design of such charge systems. However, simulations with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) are very costly and time-consuming. In this article a new and much simpler computation method is introduced making the determination of the individual fluid flows and the estimation of the effects of constructive changes possible. The computations can be carried out within short time. The comparison with CFD gives a qualitatively good agreement for a simple charge system. The results of a constructive modification of the charge system reducing the sucking effect are discussed. The remaining quantitative differences result from the discrepancies between the non-ideal behaviour of the real fluid and the model assumptions and point out improvement potentials.