|
|
re: latent heat energy storage
27 feb 2001
wrote:
>i heard recently about an alternative to 'sensible' heat storage (ie. hot
>water tank). rather than increasing the temperature of a medium, you use
>it's latent heat and maintain a constant-temperature heat source...
>my first thought was of a solar water heater that circulated the hot water
>through a 'wall of wax'...
another thought involves the evaporation and condensation of water.
a desiccant tank could store as much heat as a sensible water tank
with about 5% of the volume and no loss of energy over time.
one canadian study is said to have shown that a 1 m^3 zeolite box was
sufficient for solar heat storage... let's see. that's about 2190 lb
of water times 1000 btu/lb, or 2.2 million btu...
we might use a solar still to evaporate water and concentrate the
desiccant, and recover the latent heat by condensing the vapor in
a still. how do we recover this heat efficiently at night or on a
cloudy day? maybe something involving a basement floor for a heat
source and a vacuum to speed up the process...
nick
|
|
