Melting assessment on the angled fin design for a novel latent heat thermal energy storage tubeShow others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Renewable energy, ISSN 0960-1481, E-ISSN 1879-0682, Vol. 183, p. 406-422Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Latent heat thermal energy storage was widely used to solve the problem of the intermittency in time and space for solar energy systems. To improve the energy storage efficiency, metal fins were typically further added to the shell side to increase thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs). However, the positive effect of metal fins on enhancing heat transfer has not been fully utilized. In this paper, a novel design on angled fins was proposed to improve the thermal transport for PCMs in a shell-and-tube thermal storage unit. A numerical model was built and verified by comparing with experimental observations on the melting front evolution and temperature history. Bending angles for fins ranging from 0 degrees to 75 degrees were designed upwardly and downwardly and quantified on the melting front shape and location, melting time, and temperature field. Results demonstrated that melting rates were improved for the angled-fin cases other than cases with large bending angles. The case with a 10 degrees downward angle exhibited as much as 55.41% reduction in full melting time. Simultaneously, the temperature uniformity can be improved by 20.00%. The novel design strategy on fin angles engendered a promising solution to enhancing thermal storage for emerging engineering applications.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD , 2022. Vol. 183, p. 406-422
Keywords [en]
Latent heat thermal energy storage, Phase change materials, Heat transfer enhancement, Angled fins, Shell-and-tube heat exchanger
National Category
Energy Systems
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-56730DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.11.007ISI: 000722817200005Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85118890173OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-56730DiVA, id: diva2:1619878
2021-12-142021-12-142022-02-02Bibliographically approved