Theoretical modeling and experimental study of auxiliary concrete accumulator for solar heating systems

This article presents the issue of the use of the control-volume finite-elements method (CVFEM) to solve transient heat conduction problem in the ceramic or concrete structure of heat storage system. The system can be used as auxiliary storage in solar based domestic hot water (DHW) and heating installations. The storage system consists of modular symmetric components forming parallel air channels. The modular design and symmetry of cross section enables to build a simple numerical model using a coarse mesh of finite volumes. It allows solving the problem using the simple algorithm. Analyzed method of modeling provides a short computation time while maintaining high calculation accuracy.