Patent ID: 11920871
Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE NORTH AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Thermal processes and apparatus (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  G | IPC F  G

Claim 4:
5. A method of determining a capacity of a thermal battery, comprising:
transferring heat to and/or from a phase change material in a vessel via a heat exchanger;
detecting an indication of a plurality of temperatures corresponding to a plurality of volumes of the phase change material with a plurality of temperature sensors;
determining a real-time heat duty of the phase change material from the indication of the temperatures corresponding to the volumes of the phase change material with temperature sensors and by determining a real-time heat duty for each of the volumes of the phase change material based on a heat transfer area and thermal resistance at locations in the heat exchanger associated with the volumes and by summing the real-time heat duty for each of volumes.