Synopsis, rte. d'Olmet, F- 34700 Lodève.

Phone: +33(0)467440410
Fax: +33(0)467440601,
Mail: synopsis@wanadoo.fr.
Web: www.synopsis.org

Monitoring of the ground storage at "l'Aubier de Cybèle"

Michael Grupp, Hannelore Bergler

27/03/2004

1. Framework and method

Monitoring of the ground storage began in June 2003 and is still going on. It concerns recording
of:

• the ground temperatures at 12 different points in the storage, depth 1 m and 2 m

• the ground temperatures at 2 different points outside the storage, depth 1 m and 2 m.

In parallel, the system behaviour under cooling and heating load was studied:

• the air flow rate was measured

• the global heat transfer coefficients were determined

• the inlet-outlet air temperatures and relative humidities were recorded for different system
states

• thermal power was determined for different system states.

First results for the cooling mode were presented in memos dated 25/06/03 and 21/07/03.
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For the heating mode, temperatures were recorded at the following locations:

admission
T1 selector
valve

ground back-up T3 mess

T2 hall
storage heating /
cooling

direct
admission

Figure 1

Total thermal power Ptot was calculated using:

Ptot = m * cp * (T3-T1)

with m being the air mass flow, cp the air specific heat at constant pressure. The back-up thermal
power Pbu and the ground storage thermal power Pes are calculated in the same way:

Pbu = m * cp * (T3-T2)

and:

Pes = m * cp * (T2-T1).

The relative contribution of the ground storage is:

Pes / Ptot = (T2-T1) / (T3-T1).

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2. Results

2.1 Ground storage temperatures

Storage temperatures over time

30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23 Control 1m
22 Control 2m
21
T(°C)

20 total averages
19 2 m averages
18
17 1 m averages
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
18/07/03
01/08/03
15/08/03
29/08/03
12/09/03
26/09/03
10/10/03
24/10/03
07/11/03
21/11/03
05/12/03
19/12/03
02/01/04
16/01/04
30/01/04
13/02/04
27/02/04
12/03/04

Figure 2
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2.2 Air temperatures and power

Typical cooling results are shown below.

Air temperatures and power

40 35
35 30
30 25
25 20
Tin

P(kW)
T(°C)

20 15 Tout
15 10 P (kW)

10 5
5 0
0 -5
860 870 880 890 900 910 920
hours

Fig.3: Three-day temperature and thermal power at low fan setting

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Temperatures in the heating mode are shown in Fig 4:

40
35
30
25 T1

20 T2
T3
15
10
5
0
10/3 11/3 12/3 13/3 14/3 15/3 16/3 17/3 18/3 19/3

Fig 4

On 13/3 and 14/3, admission is direct, the rest of the time through the ground storage. The
corresponding data for heating power are shown in Fig 5.
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40
35
30
25 Ppc
20 Pch
15
10
5
0

10/3 11/3 12/3

20

15

10

0
15/3 16/3 17/3 18/3
-5
Fig 5: Heating power in kW from ground storage (red) and back-up (blue)

Average heating contribution of the ground storage is 17%.

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2.3 Determination of heat transfer coefficients

Tab. 1 high fan setting low fan setting

air flow rate 2.0 m3/s 1.0 m3/s
air temperature difference intake – outlet 7°C 9.5°C
instantaneous cooling power 14.8 kW 9.9 kW
wall – air temperature difference 6°C 4°C
wall – air heat transfer coefficient 14 W/m²K 14 W/m²K