Effect of New Mesh Fins on the Heat Storage Performance of a Solar Phase Change Heat Accumulator
Zihan Zhao,
Jingzhi Jiang () and
Jingzhou An
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Zihan Zhao: School of Metallurgical and Energy Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
Jingzhi Jiang: College of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang 050018, China
Jingzhou An: College of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang 050018, China
Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-25
Abstract:
In view of the problems of slow heat storage process and uneven temperature distribution in the existing phase change heat accumulator, a new type of mesh fin heat accumulator was designed and developed which increased the contact area between the phase change material (PCM) and the fins, enhanced the apparent thermal conductivity of the PCM, improved the heat storage efficiency of the heat accumulator, blocked the PCM, improved the natural convection erosion of the PCM on the upper and lower parts of the heat accumulator, and melted the PCM in each area more evenly. Fluent15.0 was used to numerically simulate the heat storage process of the mesh fins heat accumulator with the finite volume method. The composite PCM prepared by adding 10% mass fraction of expanded graphite to paraffin wax was used as the heat storage material. A 2D, non-steady-state model, incompressible fluid, and the pressure-based solution method were selected. The energy model and the solidification and melting model based on the enthalpy method were used to simulate and calculate the phase change process of PCM. The PISO algorithm was used. The influences of the structural parameters of the mesh fins on the heat storage condition of the heat accumulator were investigated by numerical simulation. The results showed that with the increase in the radius R of the mesh fin, the heat storage time decreased first and then increased. With the increases in vertical fin thickness c , mesh fins thickness δ, and vertical fins number N , the heat storage time decreased. The optimal mesh fin structure parameters were R = 33.5 mm, c = 3 mm, δ = 3 mm, and N = 8, and the heat storage time was 8086 s, which is 47.8% shorter than that of the concentric tube heat accumulator. Otherwise, with the increases in vertical fin thickness c , mesh fins thickness δ, and vertical fins number N , the PCM volume decreased, which shortened PCM melting time.
Keywords: phase change heat storage; mesh fins; heat transfer enhancement; natural convection; numerical simulation (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: 2025
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