Some aspects of the use of water-filled heat stores in gas-fired central-heating systems

Abstract

Water-filled heat stores present a convenient, relatively inexpensive means of optimising the use of diminishing gas stocks for the central-heating of buildings. The British Gas Corporation recently launched a series of central-heating units with storage, for use in the domestic sector, whose benefits include: - reduced boiler size, more efficient boiler operation, load-levelling at the hours of peak gas demand. This thesis is divided into three parts. Part I examines the inherent advantage of a with-storage, domestic, central-heating system over a conventional system, by means of two simple computer-simulation programs. A minimum efficiency advantage of about 5% is anticipated; the variation of this advantage with the values of certain key parameters has been assessed. Part II is an interim report of a full-scale field trial in the commercial sector; a large (3.3m3) store was fitted in the heating system of a London school, and its performance during the first weeks of its operation is presented here. Returning to the domestic sector, Part III presents a study of the use of two integral heat exchangers in the storage vessels of the above domestic units, whereby hot water can be drawn instantaneously. An attempt to optimise this domestic hot-water facility has been made.