Abstract
Latent heat thermal energy storage systems can effectively fill the gap between energy storage and application, and phase-change materials (PCMs) are crucial media for storing thermal energy. Therefore, how to maximize the utilization efficiency of PCMs has attracted widespread attention. In this study, the thermal behavior of two thermal storage units employing a spiral tube and straight tube as heat transfer tubes was experimentally researched and comprehensively compared. Stefan numbers were used to investigate the impact of the heat transfer fluid temperature on the PCM melting process. The temperature distribution of PCMs, temporal evolution of the melting front, and temperature variations of measurement points in both tanks were compared. The average temperature and energy storage of PCMs were calculated to evaluate the thermal performance of different configurations. The results indicate that compared to cylinder B (with a straight tube), the energy storage in cylinder A (with a spiral tube) increased by 78.8%, 38.5%, and 19.6% at Stefan numbers of 1.08, 1.28, and 1.48, respectively. Moreover, the increase in the Stefan number simultaneously ascended the average temperature and energy storage of PCMs in containers A and B, causing the shortening of the melting time. When the Stefan number was increased from 1.28 to 1.48, the storage capacity was raised from 3233.18 to 3463.8 kJ, and the total melting time was decreased by 34.2% from 547.5 to 360 min after the PCM was loaded in cylinder A. The research results lay a certain foundation for a deeper study of enhanced heat transfer in spiral tubes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
He W, Tao L, Han L, et al. Optimal analysis of a hybrid renewable power system for a remote island. Renew Energy, 2021, 179: 96–104
He W, Guo R, Liu S, et al. Temperature gradient characteristics and effect on optimal thermoelectric performance in exhaust power-generation systems. Appl Energy, 2020, 261: 114366
He Z Z, Dong C H, Liang D, et al. A weighted-sum-of-gray soot-fractal-aggregates model for nongray heat radiation in the high temperature gas-soot mixture. J Quantitative Spectr Radiative Transfer, 2021, 260: 107431
Chen K, Guo L J, Wang H. A review on thermal application of metal foam. Sci China Tech Sci, 2020, 63: 2469–2490
Huang Y, Tang Y, Yuan W, et al. Challenges and recent progress in thermal management with heat pipes for lithium-ion power batteries in electric vehicles. Sci China Tech Sci, 2021, 64: 919–956
Yang L, Jin X, Zhang Y, et al. Recent development on heat transfer and various applications of phase-change materials. J Cleaner Production, 2021, 287: 124432
He W, Zhang J, Li H, et al. Optimal thermal management of server cooling system based cooling tower under different ambient temperatures. Appl Thermal Eng, 2022, 207: 118176
Mao Q J. Recent developments in geometrical configurations of thermal energy storage for concentrating solar power plant. Renew Sustain Energy Rev, 2016, 59: 320–327
Mao Q J, Zhang Y M. Thermal energy storage performance of a three-PCM cascade tank in a high-temperature packed bed system. Renew Energy, 2020, 152: 110–119
Mao Q J, Li Y, Li G Q, et al. Study on the influence of tank structure and fin configuration on heat transfer performance of phase change thermal storage system. Energy, 2021, 235: 121382
Joshi V, Rathod M K. Experimental and numerical assessments of thermal transport in fins and metal foam infused latent heat thermal energy storage systems: A comparative evaluation. Appl Thermal Eng, 2020, 178: 115518
Chen C Q, Diao Y H, Zhao Y H, et al. Thermal performance of a thermal-storage unit by using a multichannel flat tube and rectangular fins. Appl Energy, 2019, 250: 1280–1291
Seddegh S, Wang X, Henderson A D. A comparative study of thermal behaviour of a horizontal and vertical shell-and-tube energy storage using phase change materials. Appl Thermal Eng, 2016, 93: 348–358
Ardahaie S S, Hosseini M J, Ranjbar A A, et al. Energy storage in latent heat storage of a solar thermal system using a novel flat spiral tube heat exchanger. Appl Thermal Eng, 2019, 159: 113900
Wang F Q, Dong Y, Li Y, et al. Numerical study on the thermal performance of packed-bed latent heat thermal energy storage system with biomimetic alveoli structure capsule. Sci China Tech Sci, 2021, 64: 1544–1554
Elbahjaoui R, Qarnia H E. Thermal analysis of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material solidification in a rectangular latent heat storage unit including natural convection. Energy Buildings, 2017, 153: 1–17
Lu Y W, Yu Q, Du W B, et al. Natural convection heat transfer of molten salt in a single energy storage tank. Sci China Tech Sci, 2016, 59: 1244–1251
Singh R P, Xu H, Kaushik S C, et al. Charging performance evaluation of finned conical thermal storage system encapsulated with nano-enhanced phase change material. Appl Thermal Eng, 2019, 151: 176–190
Gao Z S, Yao Y P, Wu H Y. A visualization study on the unconstrained melting of paraffin in spherical container. Appl Thermal Eng, 2019, 155: 428–436
Patel J R, Joshi V, Rathod M K. Thermal performance investigations of the melting and solidification in differently shaped macro-capsules saturated with phase change material. J Energy Storage, 2020, 31: 101635
Martinelli M, Bentivoglio F, Caron-Soupart A, et al. Experimental study of a phase change thermal energy storage with copper foam. Appl Thermal Eng, 2016, 101: 247–261
Yang J, Yang L, Xu C, et al. Experimental study on enhancement of thermal energy storage with phase-change material. Appl Energy, 2016, 169: 164–176
Hassan A K, Abdulateef J, Mahdi M S, et al. Experimental evaluation of thermal performance of two different finned latent heat storage systems. Case Studies Thermal Eng, 2020, 21: 100675
Sun Z Q, Fan R J, Zheng N B. Thermal management of a simulated battery with the compound use of phase change material and fins: Experimental and numerical investigations. Int J Thermal Sci, 2021, 165: 106945
Korti A I N, Tlemsani F Z. Experimental investigation of latent heat storage in a coil in PCM storage unit. J Energy Storage, 2016, 5: 177–186
Robak C W, Bergman T L, Faghri A. Enhancement of latent heat energy storage using embedded heat pipes. Int J Heat Mass Transfer, 2011, 54: 3476–3484
Rahimi M, Ranjbar A A, Ganji D D, et al. Analysis of geometrical and operational parameters of PCM in a fin and tube heat exchanger. Int Commun Heat Mass Transfer, 2014, 53: 109–115
Lu B H, Zhang Y X, Sun D, et al. Experimental investigation on thermal behavior of paraffin in a vertical shell and spiral fin tube latent heat thermal energy storage unit. Appl Thermal Eng, 2021, 187: 116575
Modi N, Wang X L, Negnevitsky M, et al. Melting characteristics of a longitudinally finned-tube horizontal latent heat thermal energy storage system. Sol Energy, 2021, 230: 333–344
Abdi A, Shahrooz M, Chiu J N, et al. Experimental investigation of solidification and melting in a vertically finned cavity. Appl Thermal Eng, 2021, 198: 117459
Pourakabar A, Darzi A A R. Enhancement of phase change rate of PCM in cylindrical thermal energy storage. Appl Thermal Eng, 2019, 150: 132–142
Rahimi M, Hosseini M J, Gorzin M. Effect of helical diameter on the performance of shell and helical tube heat exchanger: An experimental approach. Sustain Cities Soc, 2019, 44: 691–701
Chen C X, Zhang H, Gao X N, et al. Numerical and experimental investigation on latent thermal energy storage system with spiral coil tube and paraffin/expanded graphite composite PCM. Energy Convers Manage, 2016, 126: 889–897
Zheng X J, Xie N, Chen C X, et al. Numerical investigation on paraffin/expanded graphite composite phase change material based latent thermal energy storage system with double spiral coil tube. Appl Thermal Eng, 2018, 137: 164–172
Mahdi M S, Mahood H B, Campbell A N, et al. Experimental study on the melting behavior of a phase change material in a conical coil latent heat thermal energy storage unit. Appl Thermal Eng, 2020, 175: 114684
Cai H C, Zhai Y L, Chen Y, et al. Numerical study on uniformity of temperature difference field in a spiral tube heat exchanger. Appl Thermal Eng, 2020, 190: 116798
Zhang G W, Hu P, Liu M H. Thermal performances of non-equidistant helical-coil phase change accumulator for latent heat storage. Sci China Tech Sci, 2017, 60: 668–677
Seddegh S, Wang X, Joybari M M, et al. Investigation of the effect of geometric and operating parameters on thermal behavior of vertical shell-and-tube latent heat energy storage systems. Energy, 2017, 137: 69–82
Kline S J, McClintock F A. Describing uncertainty in single-sample experiments. Mech Eng, 1953, 75: 3–8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51876147).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mao, Q., Cao, Y. & Li, T. Comparative investigation on the heat transfer performance of an energy storage system with a spiral tube and straight tube: An experimental approach. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 66, 71–85 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2058-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2058-x