Impact of Tube Bundle Placement on the Thermal Charging of a Latent Heat Storage Unit

Mohammad Ghalambaz, Amir Hossein Eisapour, Hayder I. Mohammed, Mohammad S. Islam, Obai Younis, Pouyan Talebizadeh Sardari and Wahiba Yaïci
Additional contact information
Mohammad Ghalambaz: Metamaterials for Mechanical, Biomechanical and Multiphysical Applications Research Group, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City 758307, Vietnam
Amir Hossein Eisapour: Department of Energy and Aerospace Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7193616548, Iran
Hayder I. Mohammed: Department of Physics, College of Education, University of Garmian, Kurdistan, Kalar 46021, Iraq
Mohammad S. Islam: School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Obai Younis: Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering at Wadi Addwaser, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Wadi Addwaser 11991, Saudi Arabia
Pouyan Talebizadeh Sardari: Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Wahiba Yaïci: Canmet Energy Research Centre, Natural Resources Canada, 1 Haanel Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 1M1, Canada

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: The melting process of a multi-tube’s thermal energy storage system in the existence of free convection effects is a non-linear and important problem. The placement of heated tubes could change the convective thermal circulation. In the present study, the impact of the position of seven heat exchanger tubes was systematically investigated. The energy charging process was numerically studied utilizing liquid fraction and stored energy with exhaustive temperature outlines. The tubes of heat transfer fluid were presumed in the unit with different locations. The unit’s heat transfer behavior was assessed by studying the liquid fraction graphs, streamlines, and isotherm contours. Each of the design factors was divided into four levels. To better investigate the design space for the accounted five variables and four levels, an L16 orthogonal table was considered. Changing the location of tubes could change the melting rate by 28%. The best melting rate was 94% after four hours of charging. It was found that the tubes with close distance could overheat each other and reduce the total heat transfer. The study of isotherms and streamlines showed the general circulation of natural convection flows at the final stage of melting was the most crucial factor in the melting of top regions of the unit and reduces the charging time. Thus, particular attention to the tubes’ placement should be made so that the phase change material could be quickly melted at both ends of a unit.

Keywords: phase change material; melting; latent heat thermal energy storage; heat tube placement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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