Energy Storage in a Fluidized Bed

An experimental study was performed to investigate the possible use of a compound that undergoes solid-to-solid phase transformation for energy storage in a fluidized bed configuration, and to determine the heat transfer characteristics of this system. It was shown that the heat transfer coefficients from a surface immersed in the fluidized bed are a function of the bed temperature and of the temperature of the immersed surface. The heat transfer process is enhanced by the phase transformation by as much as a factor of four relative to the heat transfer in the same material without phase transformation. The experimental results suggest the possible existence of a thermal resistance between the surface immersed in the fluidized bed and the particles, which is responsible for the particular experimentally observed thermal behavior.