Welcome to the TRNSYS Users Forum.
The forum is a place where people can interact and have discussions about different topics involving the use of the TRNSYS software package. Here you can post topics for discussion or questions on using TRNSYS and get advice from other users or TRNSYS experts. This forum is not intended for detailed technical support. Users should contact their distributor’s hotline for such assistance.
Some tips for success on using the forum:
- Follow the Forum Rules posted in Forum Administration.
- There are categories for different types of topics and questions. Post your topic or question into the proper category.
- Before posting a topic or question search the existing topics (and the TRNSYS Users listserv archive or Post archive) to see if a similar topic or question has already been answered.
- Use a descriptive topic name. Don’t use attention getting subjects, they don’t get attention and only annoy people.
- State the version of TRNSYS and which add-ons your are using.
- Include enough specific details for your topic of question to be answered. Just posting “Why am I getting an error?” without describing the specific error and what you are trying to do when you get the error will not receive a response that fixes your issue.
- Remember when people help you, they are doing you a favor. Be patient, help people out by posting good descriptions of what you need help with, and be polite even if a response does not solve your issue.
- Moderators may edit your post for clarity or move your topic to a more appropriate category.
Hello fellow users & TRNSYS experts,
I am a TRNSYS beginner and I have been working on modelling a solar thermal installation with evacuated tube collectors coupled with a HEX-inside horizontal storage tank.
Type533 was interesting for my case because of the array of possible configurations allowed by the TESS plug-in ( the "magic wand" button at the bottom left corner of the configuration window). On the other hand, I was suprised that basic parameters like tank volume, diameter and dimensions of HEX are not available on the basic configuration window.
At first, I encountred an error with the .ocx dependency (comdlg32.ocx). I was not able to launch the plug-in. I got this fixed by following the instructions in this link :
At this level I could access the plug-in. the model runs if I leave the default configuration. there's a default example provided with the TESS library that runs fine. But once I modify any parameter value, I get this error :
AN ILLEGAL PARAMETER VALUE HAS BEEN REPORTED BY THE MODEL. The model has reported that parameter 6 is the problem.
I understood that this stems from a discordance between the .dat file and the .tpf.
It seems that whatever I modify on the configuration plug-in doesn't get modified in the .dat file. I wanted to modify the .dat file directly but I could not identify the parameters.
I would appreciate if someone could help me overcome the plug-in problem or write a correct .dat file.
I will attach the .tpf file of the model, the .dat file, the TESS example, and a screenshot of the error
if it might help, i am working on a MS-WIN 10.x64 Virtual Machine on Linux.
Thanks for you all,
Mehdi_S Topic starter
24/04/2023 2:31 pm
attached files are under this google drive link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ecGnwGex-JAPhaUMPlADhOpd2WkXQU7J/view?usp=share_link
Hello,
You didn't indicate which version of TRNSYS or the TESS libraries you are using? All of the tank models were updated with TESSLibs18, and Type 533 was replaced by Type 1533. If you have access to TESSLibs18, I would recommend using Type 1533 instead. You can check which versions of the TESSLibs you have available by looking at the file names in your TRNSYS/Userlib/ReleaseDLLs folder; TESSLibs18 .dlls will have "v18" appended, while prior versions will have "v17" appended. (Note: you / your institution might still be using the v17 version of the TESS Libs, even if you are using TRNSYS18; TESSLibs18 was made available some time after TRNSYS18 and was a paid upgrade).
The plug-in for Type 533 seems to be working for me, but you have to be VERY careful to update associated values when changing quantities like the number of tank nodes, number of heat exchanger nodes, number of miscellaneous flows, etc. For example, if you change the number of heat exchanger nodes from 5 to 10, then look at the heat exchanger placement parameters for HX node #6 ('Placement Parameters', bottom right of wizard window), you'll see that it autofills 0 for the tank node for HX node 6, which is an illegal value for that parameter. Similarly, if you change the number of immersed heat exchangers from 1 to 2 (upper right of wizard window), then select Heat Exchanger #2, you'll see that all of its default values are 0.
Below is an annotated version of the Example_533.dat file that should help you interpret what's in the data file and where which numbers go. The number of lines in the file will vary with the number of nodes and with which fluids and heat exchanger types are selected, so make sure you're aware of those spots if you choose to edit the file on your own. (I'm not sure what the values are below the asterisks, but I don't see any indication in the source code that they're ever read or modified).
TRNSYS16 TESSLIBS2.0 V1 5 1 1 0 !Number of tank nodes, number of ports, number of immersed heat exchangers, number of miscellaneous flows - Parameters 2 through 5 of the proforma 0.3 !Tank volume, m3 1 !Tank length, m 1 !Fluid type indicator; 0=user-provided parameters, 1=water, 2=propylene glycol, 3=ethylene glycol. If fluid=0, the next 5 lines will be the user-provided values for fluid specific heat (kJ/kg-K), density (kg/m3), thermal conductivity (kJ/hr-m-K), viscosity (kg/m-hr), and beta (1/K). If fluid = 2 or 3, the next line will be the percentage, by volume, of additive in the solution (%). 5 !Heat loss coefficient, left side of tank, kJ/hr-m2-K 5 !Heat loss coefficient, edge of tank node 1, kJ/hr-m2-K 5 !Heat loss coefficient, edge of tank node 2, kJ/hr-m2-K 5 !Heat loss coefficient, edge of tank node 3, kJ/hr-m2-K 5 !Heat loss coefficient, edge of tank node 4, kJ/hr-m2-K 5 !Heat loss coefficient, edge of tank node 5, kJ/hr-m2-K 5 !Heat loss coefficient, right side of tank, kJ/hr-m2-K 0 !Additional conductivity between nodes, kJ/hr-m-K 1 !Inlet mode for port 1; 1 = user provides inlet and outlet node locations, 2 = user provides fraction of flow inlet to each node and location of outlet node, 3 = temperature-seeking mode 1 !Node for port 1 inlet 5 !Node for port 1 outlet 0 !Flue loss coefficient [kJ/hr-K] for node 1 0 !Flue loss coefficient [kJ/hr-K] for node 2 0 !Flue loss coefficient [kJ/hr-K] for node 3 0 !Flue loss coefficient [kJ/hr-K] for node 4 0 !Flue loss coefficient [kJ/hr-K] for node 5 4 !Type of heat exchanger for immersed heat exchanger 1; 1 = horizontal tube bank, 2 = vertical tube bank, 3 = coiled heat exchanger, 4 = serpentine tube 5 !Number of heat exchanger nodes for immersed heat exchanger 1 2 !Heat exchanger 1 fluid indicator; see full description (including data file lines that follow this one) for 'Fluid type indicator', above 20 !Percent additive in fluid in immersed heat exchanger 1, % 1 !Multiplier for natural convection correlation, heat exchanger 1 0.25 !Exponent for Rayleigh number, heat exchanger 1 1 !Geometry factor, heat exchanger 1 0 !Geometry factor exponent, heat exchanger 1 0.01 !Heat exchanger 1 tube inner diameter, m 0.015 !Heat exchanger 1 tube outer diameter, m 900 !Heat exchanger 1 tube thermal conductivity, kJ/hr-m-K 1 !Heat exchanger 1 tube length, m 50 !Heat exchanger 1 number of tubes 0.01 !Heat exchanger 1 header volume, m3 0.005 !Heat exchanger 1 cross-sectional area, m2; if it's a coiled heat exchanger, the next two lines will be the coil diameter (m) and coil pitch (m) 5 !Tank node for heat exchanger 1, node 1, If it's a horizontal tube bank, the next N lines are just the fraction of the heat exchanger tube in each of the N nodes of the tank 0.2 !Fraction of heat exchanger length in this node 4 !Tank node for heat exchanger 1, node 2 0.2 !Fraction of heat exchanger length in this node 3 !Tank node for heat exchanger 1, node 3 0.2 !Fraction of heat exchanger length in this node 2 !Tank node for heat exchanger 1, node 4 0.2 !Fraction of heat exchanger length in this node 1 !Tank node for heat exchanger 1, node 5 0.2 !Fraction of heat exchanger length in this node ****************************************** 20 0 20 0 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 -1 0 55 0 50 0 45 0 40 0 35
