An inlet system for a thermal storage vessel

Abstract

A fluid inlet to a stratified thermal heat store is designed retain a heated fluid such as water with strata or layers at different temperatures. Ideally any injected heated water to replace out flows from a thermal store defining the heat store should be injected at the strata or layer at or close to the temperature of the injected fluid. A common fluid at a common temperature will have the same density so by providing a flexible sleeve with an outlet which can ‘float’ such that the mean density of the unsupported flexible sleeve with injected fluid flowing through it is substantially with the same as the density of the strata of the fluid in the thermal store at the level where the outlet ‘floats’ then the inflow will be injected at the correct temperature strata with little turbulence.

1 . An inlet system for a stratified vessel containing fluid in use with a vertical temperature gradient, the system comprising one or more flexible sleeves which connect a fixed point through which fluid entering the vessel passes and the remote end(s) of the said sleeve(s) through which the fluid enters the body of the vessel are free to move up and down at the remote end(s) such that they will float to a level where the vertical forces acting on each remote end will be in balance as determined by the relative densities of the fluid within the vessel and that of the fluid passing through the sleeve, the flexibility of each sleeve being such that the sleeve can deform as freely as possible under the dynamics of the fluid flows whilst preventing the fluid entering the vessel from mixing with the fluid within the body of the vessel until it reaches the remote end(s) where the temperatures will be equal or nearly equal thus preserving the temperature stratification within the body of the vessel and minimising any increase in the entropy of the system and the cross sectional area of the said sleeves is sufficiently large, at least towards the remote end, that the emerging fluid will be moving sufficiently slowly so as not to cause turbulence within the body of the vessel such that the stratification would be degraded. 
     
     
         2 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the flexible sleeve is formed from a flexible plastics and/or elastomeric tube to provide the constraint from mixing and the flexible sleeve is configured to be substantially flaccid at pre-determined temperatures. 
     
     
         3 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the remote end has an element to facilitate movement to the layer within the vessel. 
     
     
         4 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the flexible sleeve includes at least one element to facilitate movement to the layer within the vessel. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the flexible sleeve is attached and extends through or from a wall of a thermal store at an angle perpendicular to the wall of the thermal store. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . (canceled) 
     
     
         9 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 6  wherein the angle provides an angled or inclined orientation for the flexible sleeve relative to the wall of the thermal store. 
     
     
         10 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the flexible sleeve has a substantially consistent cross-section along its length. 
     
     
         11 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the flexible sleeve has a variable cross-section along its length. 
     
     
         12 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the variable cross-section tapers to narrow towards the outlet. 
     
     
         13 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the variable cross-section bells out to broaden towards the outlet. 
     
     
         14 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein a remote end is perforated with apertures and/or holes and/or slits. 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the remote end has a closure to at least inhibit fluid flow out of the outlet until the position in use of the end of the outlet is stabilised. 
     
     
         17 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the closure is a purse string arrangement. 
     
     
         18 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the closure is biased to close unless there is substantially balanced density between the outlet and surrounding fluid. 
     
     
         19 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the closure is opened by a pre-determined pressure differential between the fluid in the flexible sleeve and fluid held in the vessel into which the inlet system projects such as due to an out flow of fluid from the vessel. 
     
     
         20 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the inlet system has a plurality of flexible sleeves with respective outlets in a thermal store. 
     
     
         21 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the flexible sleeve has a surface configured to inhibit turbulence in movement through the fluid contained within the vessel. 
     
     
         22 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 2  wherein the flexible sleeve has differential weighting and/or buoyance across parts of the sleeve for orientation and/or stabilisation of the sleeve and the outlet in the fluid contained within the vessel. 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein elements are included to assist the spread of fluid entering the vessel with minimal disturbance to the fluid in the vessel where the fluid entering the vessel exits the remote end of the sleeve. 
     
     
         25 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein elements at or near the fixed end of the sleeve are included to prevent the sleeve being pulled back into the fixed end in the event of a reversal of flow into the vessel. 
     
     
         26 . An inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  wherein elements are included to prevent the remote end from being drawn into the outlets of the vessel or other elements within the vessel. 
     
     
         27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A fluid stratified thermal store with an inlet system as claimed in  claim 1  and is associated with a respective source of heated fluid for the flexible sleeve. 
     
     
         30 . (canceled) 
     
     
         31 . (canceled) 
     
     
         32 . (canceled)