Investigation on the Melting Performance of a Phase Change Material Based on a Shell-and-Tube Thermal Energy Storage Unit with a Rectangular Fin Configuration

Meng Yu (), Xiaowei Sun, Wenjuan Su, Defeng Li, Jun Shen, Xuejun Zhang and Long Jiang
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Meng Yu: Special Equipment Safety Supervision Inspection Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210036, China
Xiaowei Sun: Special Equipment Safety Supervision Inspection Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210036, China
Wenjuan Su: Special Equipment Safety Supervision Inspection Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210036, China
Defeng Li: Special Equipment Safety Supervision Inspection Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210036, China
Jun Shen: Special Equipment Safety Supervision Inspection Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210036, China
Xuejun Zhang: Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Long Jiang: Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-15

Abstract: A case study on the melting performance of a shell-and-tube phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage unit with a novel rectangular fin configuration is conducted in this paper. Paraffin wax and circulated water are employed as the PCM and heat transfer fluid (HTF), respectively. It can be observed that the melting performance could be significantly improved by using rectangular fins. Melting photographs demonstrate that the melting of the PCM is firstly dominated by heat conduction; then, the melting rate is improved further due to natural convection. Moreover, the results illustrate that the influence of the inlet HTF temperature on the melting performance is significantly greater than that of the inlet HTF flow rate. The liquid fraction of paraffin wax in the PCM unit with a higher inlet HTF temperature is always higher than that with a lower inlet HTF temperature at the same time. The total charging time is reduced by 62.38% and the average charging rate is increased by 165.51% when the inlet HTF temperature is increased from 57 °C to 68 °C. As a result, a higher value of the inlet HTF temperature and a lower value of the HTF flow rate are able to improve the energy efficiency of the PCM unit with a rectangular fin configuration.

Keywords: phase change material; shell-and-tube thermal energy storage unit; rectangular fin configuration; melting performance (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 (1)

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