Tank-Type LHTS System Using Medium Temperature Water Developed

stick type ecojoule®
Copyright JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.

Japan's Obayashi Corp., a major construction company, and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (former Japan Energy Corp.), a major oil refining company, announced on May 18, 2010, that they had jointly developed a tank-type latent heat thermal storage (LHTS) system of medium temperature cold water for building air conditioning using ecojoule®, an LHTS medium made mainly of paraffin. The new system will be installed in the Techno Station, the new main building of the Obayashi Corporation Technical Research Institute.

By storing the heat of relatively high temperature cold water between 13 and 19 degree Celsius which increases efficiency of refrigerators in ecojoule®, the system can be compact and reduce carbon dioxide emissions and running costs of the system. The system can be used together with the air conditioner that divides latent heat and sensible heat such as a desiccant dehumidifier or a radiation type that cools the human body thanks to the difference between surface temperatures of human body and the ceiling or the floor.

LHTS media have the property to store or emit heat when changing their phase from liquid to solid or from solid to liquid. Specifically ecojoule® can change its phase at any temperature set between three and thirty degree Celsius within the range of temperatures in daily life, and has features such as a large storage capacity and long and stable performance.

In the property test for solidification and melting as well as review of the simulation of the tank-type latent heat thermal storage (LHTS) system of medium temperature cold water, Professor Motoi Yamaha, Chubu University cooperated with the companies.

Obayashi Corp. official website
http://www.obayashi.co.jp/english/
JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. official website
http://www.noe.jx-group.co.jp/english/

Posted: 2010/08/29 06:00:15 AM

TAG Energy , Non-manufacturing industry , Technology , University/Research institute