Thermal Stratification of a Hot Water Tank

1240 Words3 Pages

For many years, the standard for residential household hot water systems has been an oil, gas, or electrical hot water tank that provides a reliable supply of water at a set temperature. The temperature gradient within the tank was thought to have little significance, as long as the output temperature was constant. It wasn’t until Sharp and Loehrke’s report [36] on the topic was published in 1979 followed by Hollands and Lightstone [37] ten years later that the potential rewards of thermal stratification became apparent. Thermal stratification of a hot water tank entails maintaining the temperature in the upper region at an elevated temperature for use as domestic hot water, while the temperature at the base of the tank is kept at a lower temperature. This allows domestic hot water to be drawn from the top of the tank at the required temperature while water being sent through the solar collection system can be drawn from the lower region of the tank at a temperature closer to the ambient temperature, increasing the efficiency of the solar thermal collectors [38]. Thermal stratification increases system efficiency by 5 to 15% [36, 37], primarily from a decrease in thermal losses from the storage tank and an increase in solar collector efficiency. The downside of thermal stratification, as will be discussed in this review, is that the cooler region of stratified tanks provides an excellent environment for the growth of Legionella pneumophila. Though thermal stratification results in a significant increase in efficiency, an energy efficient method of eliminating the resulting risk of Legionella growth must be implemented to maintain resident safety while maintaining a net increase in domestic hot water system efficiency.

Legionella ...

... middle of paper ...

...e HSE [20], especially when using heat eradication in conjunction with another form of Legionella disinfection. Evans [17,18] suggested thermal eradication methods for single coil auxiliary preheating solar thermal tanks as well as dual coil solar thermal tanks with an upper electric coil that were devised to be energy efficient while maximizing the effect on Legionella cultures. Evans [17] also recommended that in cases where water above 60ºC cannot be pumped to the very bottom of storage tanks another systemic disinfection method be used in conjunction with thermal eradication. Greenskies Solar Systems [19] added to Evans’ work, recommending that the hour long thermal eradication be done between the hours of 4 pm and 5 pm. From these reports a clear conclusion can be drawn for minimizing Legionella growth in thermally stratified solar thermal hot water systems.

Open Document