Systems and methods of thermal energy storage
AssigneeElement 16 Technologies, Inc.
InventorsHamarz Aryafar, Karthik Nithyanandam, Parker Wells
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Abstract
Thermal energy storage systems are disclosed in this application. Systems of the inventive subject matter are designed to reduce maintenance requirements by sequestering, for example, corrosive fluids that might otherwise damage difficult-to-fix internal components are kept out of those components by introducing a non-corrosive heat transfer fluid to facilitate heat transfer between a thermal energy storage medium (e.g., molten sulfur) and a potentially corrosive working fluid. Thus, the potentially corrosive fluid is kept out of a thermal energy storage tank containing the thermal energy storage medium, which, by design, is difficult to repair when internal components corrode or otherwise require maintenance.
Claims6
A method of storing thermal energy comprising the steps of:
- pumping a working fluid through a heat exchanger;
- pumping a heat transfer fluid through the heat exchanger;
- pumping the heat transfer fluid into a plurality of tubes disposed within a thermal energy storage tank;
- wherein the thermal energy storage tank contains a thermal energy storage medium;
- wherein heat is exchanged between the heat transfer fluid and the thermal energy storage medium;
- and
- pumping the heat transfer fluid back to the heat exchanger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.