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A zeolite-water adsorption module, which has been originally constructed for an adsorption heat pump, has been experimentally investigated as an adsorptive thermal energy storage unit. The adsorber/desorber heat exchanger contains 13.2 kg of zeolite 13X and is connected to an evaporator/condenser heat exchanger via a butterfly valve. The flow rate of the heat transfer fluid in the adsorber/desorber unit has been changed between 0.5 and 2.0 l min-1, the inlet temperature to the evaporator between 10 and 40°C. It turned out that the higher the flow rate inside the adsorber/desorber unit the faster and more effective is the discharge of heat. However, at lower flow rates higher discharge temperatures are obtained. Storage capacities of 2.7 and 3.1 kWh have been measured at the evaporator inlet temperatures of 10 and 40°C, respectively, corresponding to thermal energy storage densities of 80 and 92 kWh m-3 based on the volume of the adsorber unit. The measured maximum power density increases from 144 to 165 kWh m-3 as the flow rate in the adsorber increases from 0.5 to 2 l min-1. An internal insulation in form of a radiation shield around the adsorber heat exchanger is recommended to reduce the thermal losses of the adsorptive storage. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of using thermal energy storage (TES) in the form of ice or chilled water to cool gas turbine inlet air is evaluated for a remote oil field location in the Sultanate of Oman using local hourly typical meteorological year weather data. It is found that under the conditions investigated seasonal TES in chilled water storage tanks or ice bins for the location considered is prohibitively expensive and thus not recommended. Application of partial TES option shows that the cool storage does not result in any noticeable reduction in the chiller size. Hence, TES whether seasonal, partial, or full storage is not a viable option for the considered location, especially in the absence of time-of-use utility rate structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]