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Effect of porosity and the inlet heat transfer fluid temperature variation on the performance of cool thermal energy storage system

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Abstract

This paper discusses the results of numerical and experimental study of an encapsulated cool thermal energy storage system. The storage system is a cylindrical storage tank filled with phase change material encapsulated in spherical container, placed in a refrigeration loop. A simulation program was developed to evaluate the temperature histories of the heat transfer fluid and the phase change material at any axial location during the charging period. The present analysis aims at studying the influence of the inlet heat transfer fluid temperature and porosity on system performance. An experimental setup was designed and constructed to conduct the experiments. The results of the model were validated by comparison with experimental results of temperature profiles for different inlet heat transfer fluid temperatures and porosity. The results are in good agreement with the experimental results. The results reported are much useful for designing cool thermal energy storage systems.

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Abbreviations

A s :

wetted capsule area per storage volume, m−1

A c :

area of cross section of cylinder, m3

A sp :

area of cross section of spherical capsule, m2

c :

specific heat, J kg−1 K−1

h :

internal heat transfer coefficient, W m−2 K−1

k :

thermal conductivity, W m−1 K−1

L :

height of storage tank, m

m :

mass flow rate, kg s−1

Pe :

Peclet number

Q :

energy stored, J

Q x :

dimensionless instantaneous energy stored

St :

Stanton number

Ste :

Stefan number

t :

dimensional time, s

T:

temperature, K

u:

velocity, m s−1

V :

total volume of storage tank, m3

V sp :

volume of spherical capsule, m3

x :

axial coordinate, m

x + :

non-dimensional axial location

α:

thermal diffusivity

ε:

porosity

θ:

dimensionless temperature

ρ:

density, kg m−3

τ:

dimensionless time

λ:

latent heat of solidification, J kg−1

β:

solidified mass fraction

f:

heat transfer fluid

fi:

heat transfer fluid at inlet

fo:

heat transfer fluid at outlet

l:

liquid state

p:

phase change material

pi:

phase change material at initial condition

ps:

phase change material in solid state

s:

solidification (or melting) state

CTES:

Cool thermal energy storage

CV:

Control volume

HTF:

Heat transfer fluid

PCM:

Phase change material

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, S. R. M. Institute of Science and Technology (Deemed University), Chennai, 603 203, India

    M. Cheralathan

  2. Institute for Energy Studies, Anna University, Chennai, 600 025, India

    R. Velraj & S. Renganarayanan

Authors
  1. M. Cheralathan
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  2. R. Velraj
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  3. S. Renganarayanan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Velraj.

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Cheralathan, M., Velraj, R. & Renganarayanan, S. Effect of porosity and the inlet heat transfer fluid temperature variation on the performance of cool thermal energy storage system. Heat Mass Transfer 43, 833–842 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-006-0163-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-006-0163-1

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