Thermal Energy Storage

• TES (Thermal energy storage) is one of the highlighted technologies

to achieve this aim, and its integration in buildings is of much interest
to achieve a better final user acceptance of the technology.
• The main advantage of using TES in solar systems for buildings is the
success of converting an intermittent energy source in meeting the
demand, which may be intermittent and/or have a time shift.
• TES can also be used for free-cooling of buildings
– The advantage here is the use of a natural resource for air conditioning
in buildings.
• Advantages of using TES in an energy system are the increase of the
overall efficiency and reliability, but it can also lead to better
economic feasibility, reducing investment and running costs, and less
pollution of the environment and less CO2 emissions

• Three thermal energy storage methods existing

– Sensible heat storage
– Latent heat storage
– Thermo-chemical energy
• Sensible heat storage
– is the most common method of heat and cold storage.
– Here energy is stored by changing the temperature of a storage medium
(such as water, air, oil, rock beds, bricks, concrete, or sand).
– The method consists of transferring heat to the storage medium that will
increase its temperature and store that heat.
– The potential of this method mainly depends on the heat capacity of the
storage material, the mass and the thermal gradient to which the storage
is exposed.

• Latent heat storage

– when a material stores heat through a phase transition.
– Usually the solid–liquid phase change is used because of its high enthalpy
and lack of pressure problems.
– Upon melting, as heat is transferred to the storage material, the material
maintains a constant temperature constant at the melting temperature,
also called phase change temperature.
– The amount of heat stored can be calculated by

– where Δh is the phase change enthalpy, also called as melting enthalpy or

heat of fusion, and m is the mass of storage material.
• Thermo-chemical system
– Any chemical reaction with high heat of reaction can be
used for TES if the products of the reaction can be stored
and if the heat stored during the reaction can be released
when the reverse reaction takes place.
– The energy density during chemical changes is relatively
higher than for a physical change such as phase change.
– For chemical reactions it is important to find the
appropriate reversible chemical reaction for the
temperature range of the energy source
• Basic properties of materials
– Thermal conductivity
– Density
– Specific heat
• Basic properties of building elements
– Thermal resistance (R value) or Thermal transmittance (U
value) and heat capacity
• Will control the heat flow
• Will determine their impact on the thermal performance of building
• Func (basic properties of materials, thickness of layers)
• Will create specific composite thermal properties of elements
– TTC (thermal time constant)
– DHC (Diurnal Heat capacity)
 Thermal time constant (TTC)
• Is the main property of envelop element in un-air conditioned
buildings
• Determines the effect of this element on the damping of the
indoor temperature swing, relative to the outdoor swing.
• Capability of building to store heat
• Thermal resistance x heat capacity of envelop elements
• It is the sum of the products of heat capacity, Q, and the
resistance, R, of the different layers in the elements – ie the sum
of the Q x R values
• Depends on the organisation (sequence) of the layers of which the
element is composed
• Representative of the effective thermal capacity of the building
• A high TTC indicates a high thermal inertia of the building and
results in a strong suppression of the interior temperature swing.
• Glazed areas are assumed to have a TTC of 0.
 Example TTC Calculations

Thermal inside
outside
mass

TTC = 43.8

Thermal
outside inside
mass

TTC = 7.8

Source: Givoni
 Diurnal Heat Capacity (DHC)
• Determines the capacity of the interior thermal mass to absorb solar energy
penetrating through the windows, thus by passing the modifying effect of the
walls and the roof, and to release the heat to the interior during the night
hours.
• Also determines the effective capacity of a building ventilated at night and
closed during daytime hours to store nocturnal “cold energy”

• These effects depend mainly on the properties of the layer directly exposed to
the interior air
• Expresses the effective product of heat capacity of that exposed layer and the
conductivity of that materials
• the layers which are farther away from interior space have small effect
• DHC is of particular importance in direct gain passive solar heating and in night
ventilative cooling of buildings.
• Unit is Wh/C or Btu/F
•Higher density matrials have
larger values for DHC for
comparable thickness

•For each material, DHC reaches a

maximum at some thickness and
then asymptotically reduces
•If a material layer becomes
too thick, some of heat
transferred to the surface will
be lost to the interior rather
than returning to the room
 TTC and DHC Examples

Building which is externally insulated with internal exposed mass.

•both TTC and DHC are high.
•Heat can be absorbed during the day (ventilation closed during
the day)
•If ventilated, released during the night
•Best for hot-dry regions.
 Contd..

Building with mass insulated internally.

• both the TTC is and DHC are low.
• Internal insulation minimises the effect of mass on indoor
temperature
• Unvented buildings will be determined mainly by thickness of
the mass layer
• When building is ventilated, its response is very close to that
of lightweight building
• High mass building with thermal characteristics of a low mass
building is of particular interest in humid regions which are
subjected to strong storms, hurricanes and typhoons
 Contd..

Building with high mass insulated externally and

internally.
• The building has a high TTC
• but a negligible DHC
– as the interior insulation separates the mass from the
interior.
– When the building is closed and the solar gain is
minimized, the mass will dampen the temperature swing
– but if the building is ventilated, the effect of the mass will
be negated.
– With solar gain, the inside temperature will rise quickly, as
the insulation prevents absorption of the energy by the
mass.
 Contd..

Building with core insulation inside two layers of mass.

• TTC is a function of mostly the interior mass and the
amount of insulation
• DHC is a function of the interior mass.
• The external mass influences heat loss
• Gain by affecting the delta T across the insulation.
• Approximately similar to first case
 Sol – Air temperature
• To correct for radiation, it is customary to replace the external temperature with the sol-sir
temperature
• Theoretical external air temperature which produces the same thermal effects on the given
envelope element as the existing combination of incident radiation and ambient air
conditions Ie, it would produce the same external surface temperature, heat flow into and
across the element and internal temperatures
• Artificial, calculated temperature
• Used in the calculation of steady and transient heat transfers into the building from the
continually changing hot external climate
• Solar heat gains to opaque, solid building components (due to their radiation absorptivity)
raise the temperature of solids
– Heated surface transmits low temperature, long wave radiation to nearby cooler surfaces and to
sky in proportion to its emissivity
Tsa = Ta + al / ho - LWR

Tsa - Sol-air temperature

Ta - Outdoor air temperature
a - Absorptivity of the external surface, which depends on its color
l - Intensity of incident solar radiation on the surface
ho - Overall external surface coefficient, which depends on wind velocity
LWR – temperature drop due to long-wave radiation to the sky
For a roof :
about 6o C (11oF) in an arid climate with clear sky
4oC (7oF) in an humid climate with clear sky
Zero under cloudy sky conditions
• ho, external surface coefficient, represents the combined effect of the long
wave radiation and convective heat loss from the surface to the environment.
• The magnitude of ho depends on the wind speed near the surface
– 20 W/ m2 C for the wind speed of 3.5 m/s
– 13 W/ m2 C for the wind speed of 1.8 m/s
• A wall exposed to a low wind speed, having a given color and exposed to a
given intensity of solar radiation, will have much higher surface temperature,
resulting in a higher heat gain than a wall facing the external environment

1. Consider a dark wall with absortivity a = 0.70, exposed to solar radiation I = 600 W/m2
(190 Btu/hr sq ft), an outdoor air temperature Ta = 30oC (86oF) and wind speed of 3.5
m/s (700fpm) under a clear sky in an arid region (LWR = 2oC [3.6oF]). Find sol-air temp.
ans 49, 120

Repeat for dark wall with wind speed of 1.8 m/s. Find sol-air temp. ans 60C, 140

2. Consider a white wall with absortivity a = 0.25, exposed to solar radiation I = 600 W/m2
(190 Btu/hr sq ft), an outdoor air temperature Ta = 30oC (86oF) and wind speed of 3.5
m/s (700fpm) under a clear sky in an arid region (LWR = 2oC [3.6oF]). Find sol-air temp.
ans 35.5

Repeat for white wall with wind speed of 1.8 m/s. Find sol-air temp. ans 39.5
 Time lag and decrement factor
• Diurnal variation produce an approximately repetitive 24 hr cycle of increasing and
decreasing temperature
• Effect – in hot period, heat flows from the environment into the building (where some of it is
stored) and in night, the heat flow is reversed – periodic heat flow
• In morning, heat enter the outer surface (wall)
• Wall absorbs certain heat – depends on specific heat capacity
• Increase of internal temperature will be delayed – time lag
• Before reaching the maximum of outdoor temperature, wall starts dissipating heat to the
outside – decrement factor
 Thermal lag
• Thermal lag describes a material's thermal mass in terms of
time.
• A material with high thermal mass (high heat capacity and low
conductivity) will have a high thermal lag.
• In effect the addition of (or removal of) energy from one side
of the mass 'lags' with respect to the other side.
• Thermal lag can be a useful feature, as for instance an outer
brick wall on the Sunny Sunset side of a house in Winter
would radiate its heat into the property in the evening, aiding
with heating.
•
• Temperature damping is a characteristic of mass construction that describes the way exterior
temperatures and heat flows affect the interior of a building. For example, in the summertime, the
temperature on the outside surface of a wall fluctuates widely, from a high temperature during the
sunny midday to a low temperature in the middle of the night. This can be thought of as a
temperature "wave." The inside surface of the wall, however, will experience a much smaller
temperature fluctuation or wave. The wall "damps," or reduces, the amplitude of the temperature
wave. The narrower temperature fluctuation on the interior means that the cooling loads are
lower, and the inside of the building is more comfortable. The damping depends on both the
insulation and the heat capacity of the construction. For two walls with the same insulation, the
more massive wall will display greater temperature damping characteristics.

• Another result of thermal mass is that the time of peak temperatures and heat gains on the
interior is delayed, compared to the peak times on the exterior. This phenomenon is called thermal
lag. With concrete and masonry walls, the time of highest interior temperature will be three to
eight or more hours later than the time of highest exterior temperatures. As a result, peak cooling
loads are delayed to cooler times of the day when the air conditioning equipment operates more
efficiently, or when the building is unoccupied and not air conditioned at all.

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