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Numerical investigation on the melting of nanoparticle-enhanced PCM in latent heat energy storage unit with spiral coil heat exchanger

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  • Building Systems and Components
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Abstract

Latent heat storage units are widely used in building heating systems due to its high energy storage density, whereas the practical performances of them are limited by the low thermal conductivities of phase change materials. In this paper, copper nanoparticles were added into paraffin to enhance the heat transfer rate of a latent heat storage unit using a coil heat exchanger. A three-dimensional numerical model was built to simulate the melting process of phase change material, and it was well validated against the experimental data. The simulation results showed that the nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material saved 19.6% of the total melting time consumed by the pure phase change material. In addition, the dispersion of nanoparticles significantly alleviated the temperature non-uniformity in the unit. Moreover, for the unit using nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material, the flow rate of heat transfer fluid was not recommended higher than 0.75 m3/h. The dispersion of nanoparticles could enlarge the optimum heat transfer fluid temperature range to 60–70 °C compared with that of pure phase change material (60–65 °C). Therefore, the application of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material in the latent heat storage unit can significantly enhance heat transfer, and the proposed optimum inlet heat transfer fluid temperature range could contribute to higher energy efficiency.

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Acknowledgements

This research is financially supported by the Science and Technology Ministry of China (No. 2016YFC0700406), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51576023), the 111 Project (No. B13041) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 106112016CDJCR211221).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for International Research of Low-Carbon and Green Buildings, Ministry of Science & Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China

    Ruiqing Du, Wenxin Li, Xun Yang & Yong Wang

  2. Joint International Research Laboratory of Green Buildings and Built Environments, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400045, China

    Ruiqing Du, Wenxin Li, Xun Yang & Yong Wang

  3. Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117566, Singapore

    Teng Xiong & Kwok Wei Shah

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  1. Ruiqing Du
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  2. Wenxin Li
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  3. Teng Xiong
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  4. Xun Yang
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  5. Yong Wang
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  6. Kwok Wei Shah
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Correspondence to Yong Wang.

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Du, R., Li, W., Xiong, T. et al. Numerical investigation on the melting of nanoparticle-enhanced PCM in latent heat energy storage unit with spiral coil heat exchanger. Build. Simul. 12, 869–879 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-019-0527-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-019-0527-3

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