CFD optimization of large water storages for efficient cooling of high power intermittent thermal loads

The design optimization of water basins for the refrigeration of intermittent high-power heat sources, by mean of CFD simulations, is presented. A case study of an experimental facility is considered, that foreseen two large water basins as thermal storage, with volume of 315m3 and 500m3 respectively, and an installed nominal cooling power around 25MW for the cooling of an intermittent load, with peak power of around 65MW. A strong horizontal stratification has been looked after in the preliminary design, which include a labyrinth of walls and weirs, and water inlet/outlet plugs positioned at the opposite side of the basins. The intensity and the role of this stratification have been explored using a CFD software, simulating both winter and summer sceneries. Some variants to the original design have been studied, in order to optimize the stratification of water temperatures. Itis shown that a large water storage with an optimal design could help very much in reducing cooling power demand in case of intermittent thermal load.