1.1 TCM reactor system

A parametric study was carried out for a TCM system for seasonal storage. A schematic layout of this system is shown in Fig. 2. A 200 liter water tank was added to the system in order to lower the power demands for the TCM storage. In this way, the water tank is used to supply peak power (e. g. shower peaks), while the TCM storage can recharge the water tank afterwards at a lower power level. The collector system is designed in such a way that the water tank is preferentially loaded. Only if the water tank has reached its maximum temperature, the TCM storage is charged with the excess heat of the solar array. The TCM storage consists of 3 vessels: vessel C containing the hydrated salt, vessel B containing the dehydrated salt and vessel A containing the water vapour (in condensed form). On charging the storage, the hydrated salt from container C is fed to a dissociation reactor that is heated by a vacuum collector array, whereby the water vapour is released from the salt. The hot dehydrated salt is fed to B and the water vapour to A, where it condenses. On discharging the storage, the dehydrated salt is fed to an association reactor, where water vapour is again absorbed and the released heat is transferred to a water storage. The water vapour is produced by evaporating the water in tank A by means of heat from the borehole.