Author : Shamla A. Mulane and Sanjay N. Havaldar

The paper discusses about rock bed Thermal Energy Storage System (TES).Solar energy fluctuations are so much that it cannot be used continuously i.e. availability of solar energy varies in summer and winter. Integration of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) with solar energy has the potential to make solar energy available on demand. In TES heat can be stored using rocks in a packed bed. During charging of rock bed, temperature stratification takes place in the bed. For the thermally stratified systems, the quantity of heat extracted depends on whether it is used immediately or not. This paper reviews the technology involved in heat extraction from a charged bed. The effect of heat flow rate on quantity of heat stored and extracted.

Keywords: Thermal Energy Storage (TES), heat extraction, rock bed, temperature stratification, air flow rate