Heat Storage, Buffering, and Recovery
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Heat storage systems are used in situations where the
heat energy produced by a heating plant is in excess of the current
heating demand. For greenhouse operations, heat storage is often used for
daytime CO2 generation from natural gas or propane, and in other
situations such as combined heat and power generation (cogen) where the
heat energy created to produce electricity occurs at a time when it is not
needed. The reservoir of hot water that accumulates is typically used at
night when the greenhouse requires heat. Without a managed storage system in place, the heat
generated by these processes would otherwise be wasted since it is not
immediately required. Therefore, a properly engineered heat storage system
has the potential to generate considerable energy savings.
- (Click on thumbnail images for a
larger view)
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Heat Storage System
- Boiler Operation,
no storage
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Heat Storage System
- Recovery Mode
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Heat Storage System
- Storage Mode
(no greenhouse demand)
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Legend
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The Argus system can manage the somewhat complex
equipment management required to store and recover surplus heat
efficiently. This includes precision management of zone heating, heat
storage, & heat recovery as well as intelligent transitioning between
these operational phases. To accomplish this, the Argus control system can
coordinate the operation of multiple equipment systems according to the
specific engineering of each application:
- CO2 extraction
and optional condenser heat recovery
- Cogeneration heat
extraction
- Boiler operation (storage
& heating modes)
- Heating system supply and
return valves
- Hot water storage mixing
control
- Hot water storage pump
control
- Hot water recovery mixing
valve control
- Hot water storage tank
status & stratification monitoring
- Monitoring and data
recording of all storage system sensors and relays
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