Thermal performance of naturally stratified water storage tank in a power plant: a comparative study

Thermal storage is one of the key technology in the transformation of thermal power flexibility. A model of naturally stratified water storage tank is established, and CFD analysis of heat release process is made. As can be seen from experimental results in a power plant, in the thermocline thickness in the tank increased from 0.43 m to 0.66 m, with an average hourly thickness of 0.06m, which has well agreement with the CFD analysis results. The effective height of the tank is 29.836m, from which we can calculate that its thermal storage efficiency is as high as 96.7%.