Solar Space Heating Storage Tank Size [RE-wrenches]

Sat Mar 6 14:49:11 PST 2004

HI dan 
When I copied and published the idea in 1993, I copied
a paper by someone else, who I think copied another. 
University of Wisconsin at Madison has also published
on the topic.  

Daryl

--- Dana Orzel <dana at solarwork.com> wrote:
> Hey there Travis,
> 
> How about pouring a 4" to 6" Insulated slab with
> WIRSBO or eq. radiant heat
> tube in the slab, viwalah - NO TANK REQUIRED. You
> are already pouring a slab
> why not put it to work for you twice. Contact me off
> list or call to
> discuss. This concept I call SDI - Solar Direct
> Injection PV pumped solar
> heated water from a shw collector direct into the
> slab with a backup heat
> source paralleled into the slab. I wish I could take
> credit for the concept
> and origination but Bristol Stickney in NM is the
> man to whom I credit with
> this.
> 
> Responsible Technologies for Responsible People.
> Great Solar Works, Inc.
> dana at solarwork.com - 970.626.5253
> Ridgway, CO, USA
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Travis Creswell, Ozark Solar"
> <ozsolar at ipa.net>
> To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
> Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 9:41 AM
> Subject: Solar Space Heating Storage Tank Size
> [RE-wrenches]
> 
> 
> > Hello All,
> >
> > I am designing a storage tank (atmospheric) for
> the radiant in floor
> heating
> > system for my new shop.  The office portion the
> shop will be constructed
> of
> > Insulated Concrete Forms (IFC's) with a concrete
> roof.  This will allow it
> > to be also be used as storm shelter.  Three
> tornados missed us by less
> than
> > 5 miles last spring.
> >
> > These same forms will make a great tank as they
> are plenty strong and well
> > insulated.  One wall of the storage tank can be
> shared with the office
> > reducing the number of forms needed for the tank
> and the concrete pump
> trunk
> > will already be on site for the office walls. 
> I've had an engineer look
> it
> > over and he has given it his blessing to build a
> tank up to 8' tall!
> >
> > Of course I will have to line the tank, which is
> easy enough with EPDM.  A
> > reasonably tight insulated lid will need to be
> constructed as well.
> >
> > I'll have 400 ft2 of liquid flat plates and a very
> efficient wood
> > gasification boiler rated at 140,000 Btu's output.
>  Does 600 Btu's/ft2/per
> > day sound right for the solar thermal array?  I'm
> thinking that is safe as
> > here in Southwest Missouri our average winter
> daytime temps are reasonably
> > mild.
> >
> > My main questions are the size and shape of the
> tank.  I can build the
> tank
> > in any size or shape (tall and skinny vs. short
> and wide for example).  In
> > looking over some of my dated solar books, 2
> gallons per sq ft seems to be
> > the maximum ratio of thermal collector to storage.
>  I assume that "rule of
> > thumb" was long before the widespread use of
> radiant in-floor heating.
> > Since radiant in-floor requires lower temps than
> baseboards or forced air
> is
> > it acceptable (or required) to use a larger
> storage tank?
> >
> > I've built a very detailed spreadsheet that allows
> me to see how long it
> > will take to "recharge" various sizes of tanks
> with the solar thermal
> array
> > and the wood boiler.  The most efficient operation
> of the boiler is to be
> > fill it with wood then run wide open until the
> wood is gone.  If the tank
> is
> > not large enough then the boiler will shut down
> and smolder thus lowering
> > the efficiency of the burn cycle.  The spreadsheet
> shows me that one
> firing
> > of the boiler will easily charge up to a 1500
> gallon tank.  But this size
> of
> > tank amounts to nearly 4 ft2 of thermal per gallon
> of storage.  One idea
> is
> > to build a tall skinny tank.  I could place the
> solar heat exchanger
> higher
> > in the tank so it has less water to heat.  This is
> assuming that
> > stratification will keep all that heated water up
> near the top.  Can
> anyone
> > confirm if this is a reasonable expectation?  The
> space heating tanks that
> > I've seen are very short but that might have been
> for structural reasons.
> >
> > Does anyone have a source for the finned copper
> coils that were commonly
> > used in these systems?  I'd rather use them than
> make my own coils.
> >
> > Any thought and suggestions are appreciated.  I'd
> be glad to share the
> > spreadsheet and the system diagram should anyone
> want it.
> >
> > Thanks in advance!
> >
> > Travis Creswell
> > Ozark Energy Services, Inc.
> >
> > - - - -
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> 
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