A high-voltage electric heater (HVEH) is often used to manage fluctuations in renewable energy sources. The HVEH offers several advantages such as high electro-thermal power of thousands of kilowatts, low investment compared to its high thermal power and no need for transformers thanks to the direct supply from electric power net. However, it is difficult to predict thermal power capacity in the design step because it depends on the temperature, velocity and specific resistance of fluid.
In order to decrease the thermal power to hundreds of kilowatts and to guarantee operation safety, the whole electrical resistance of a heater should be increased. This can be realized through innovation of the internal structure of electric heater and some adjustment to its operation parameters because increasing only the electrical resistance of liquid is limited.
In order to solve this problem, Jang Ki Ho, a section head at the Faculty of Thermal Engineering, proposed HVEH of new structure, i.e. 10kV HVEH with PTF insulation tubes, and investigated the influence of fluid flow, temperature field and electrical field on thermal power in the design stage.
He presented a mathematical model representing the combination field of heat, fluid and electricity, and calculated it at a velocity of 0.1-0.5m/s and the temperature range of 20-80℃ with COMSOL. Then, he compared the predicted thermal power with a high-voltage electric heater under the identical operating conditions.
The results showed that the thermal power is acceptable below 650kW and the insulation tube is appropriate with a geometrical size of φ 0.17m×L 0.5m.