A Pore Scale Study on Heat Transfer Characteristics of Integrated Thermal Protection Structures with Phase Change Material

Ziyuan Huang, Hongming Zhang, Chao Zhang, Wei Tang (), Guangming Xiao () and Yanxia Du
Additional contact information
Ziyuan Huang: State Key Laboratory of Environment-Friendly Energy Materials, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
Hongming Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, China
Chao Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, China
Wei Tang: State Key Laboratory of Environment-Friendly Energy Materials, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang 621010, China
Guangming Xiao: State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, China
Yanxia Du: State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: Phase change material (PCM) are characterized by their high latent heat and low density. Combining PCM with building walls, aircraft fuselages, and other structures can significantly enhance the thermal sink capability of these structures. In order to address the issue of low heat storage efficiency resulting from the low thermal conductivity of PCM, a novel integrated thermal protection structure (ITPS) architecture with a supportive structure based on a porous lattice has been designed. Experimental and numerical methods were employed to investigate the thermal response characteristics of the ITPS with and without PCM, the melting behavior of PCM within the porous lattice, and the effects of lattice configuration and pore size on the PCM melting rate. The current ITPS study includes evaluation of two types of lattice configurations and three different pore sizes. The results indicate that the inclusion of PCM reduces the internal panel temperature of the ITPS by approximately 15%. The melting of PCM occurs primarily at the central region of the porous lattice and gradually spreads towards the periphery until complete melting is achieved. Specifically, the Gibson–Ashby lattice configuration enhances the PCM melting rate by 43.5%, while the tetradecahedron lattice configuration yields a 53.1% improvement. Furthermore, for PCM with different pore sizes, smaller pores exhibit faster melting rates during the early and intermediate stages, whereas larger pores exhibit faster melting rates in the later stages as the proportion of liquid PCM increases. The conclusions of this study provide valuable insights for the application of PCM in the field of thermal management.

Keywords: phase change material; porous lattice; numerical simulation; heat conduction; natural convection (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/465/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/465/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:2:p:465-:d:1321276

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().