Patent ID: 7222659

Claim:
A heat or cold storage multistage tower comprising: a housing provided with inlet and outlet connections for feeding and withdrawal of a heat transfer fluid (HTF) from said heat or cold storage multistage tower; a distributor of said HTF, which is mounted in the upper section of said housing; a multistage arrangement of flat rigid containers in said housing, wherein a top of each of said flat rigid containers is open, wherein said containers are filled with a phase change material (PCM), and wherein said flat rigid containers are fabricated from ceramics, glass, glass ceramics or sulfur concrete; a plurality of support plates, said support plates being installed in said housing on a plurality of supporting rings, said support plates being located below said flat rigid containers, wherein each support plate comprises a set of parallel longitudinal recesses with openings for mounting the lower sections of said flat containers and for drainage of said HTF; a plurality of auxiliary plates, which are installed in said housing, with a set of parallel longitudinal openings for holding said flat rigid containers, wherein said openings of said auxiliary plates permit flow of said HTF downwards in the form of thin films.