Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Enhancement by Arc-Shaped Fins in a Shell-Tube Thermal Energy Storage Unit

Qicheng Chen, Junting Wu, Kanglong Sun and Yingjin Zhang ()
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Qicheng Chen: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China
Junting Wu: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China
Kanglong Sun: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China
Yingjin Zhang: School of Automation Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-23

Abstract: Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) technology can alleviate the mismatch between the supply and demand of solar energy and industrial waste heat, but the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) is an issue that needs to be solved. In this work, the effects of the bifurcated fins on melting and solidification are studied, and local and global entropy generation are discussed. The radial lag time and the circumferential lag time were defined to evaluate thermal penetration and thermal uniformity. Subsequently, a novel arc-shaped fin configuration was proposed to further enhance the heat transfer. The results showed that attaching the bifurcated fins could effectively reduce the global entropy generation. Increasing the trunk fin length was beneficial to enhance the thermal uniformity and promote the melting process, while increasing the branch fin was more effective in the solidification process. Overall, thermal uniformity determined the phase change process. More importantly, the concentric arc-shaped fins significantly reduced the heat transfer hysteresis region, showed better thermal performance than straights fins, and the energy storage and release time were reduced by 52.7% and 51.6%, respectively.

Keywords: latent heat storage units; bifurcated fins; arc-shaped fins; entropy generation; heat transfer enhancement; Fluent (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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