Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Analysis of heat transfer in latent heat thermal energy storage using a flexible PCM container

  • Original
  • Published:
Heat and Mass Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) affords superior thermal energy capacity and compactness but has limited applications due to the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs). Several researches have focused on the improvement of heat transfer and reducing the total melting time of PCMs in LHTES system. Few researches, however, have used flexible PCM containers for this purpose. This study used a flexible elliptical container as a PCM container for improving LHTES heat transfer performance. The effects of the axis ratio (AR) and temperature difference on the thermal charging performance were numerically studied within a single container. Smaller AR values improved the heat transfer performance by promoting heat conduction and natural convection inside the containers. The enhancement rate was increased by 1.1–2.7 times for an AR range of 0.05–0.20 compared to a classic circular container (AR = 1). In addition, the elliptical container showed superior in terms of energy density reduction. Therefore, the elliptical container with optimum AR range (0.05–0.20) can be considered a suitable configuration for effective heat transfer enhancement of PCM containers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Mahdi JM, Nsofor EC (2017) Melting enhancement in triplex-tube latent heat energy storage system using nanoparticles-metal foam combination. Appl Energy 191:22–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.11.036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Shin DH, Kim S, Kim S, Ko HS, Shin Y (2018) Development of a calorific value controller using bimetal fin channel for PCM heat storage. Energy Convers Manag 173:508–515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.08.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Salunkhe PB, Shembekar PS (2012) A review on effect of phase change material encapsulation on the thermal performance of a system. Renew Sust Energ Rev 16:5603–5616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.05.037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sharifi N, Bergman TL, Faghri A (2011) Enhancement of PCM melting in enclosures with horizontally-finned internal surfaces. Int J Heat Mass Transf 54:4182–4192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2011.05.027

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Tay NHS, Bruno F, Belusko M (2013) Comparison of pinned and finned tubes in a phase change thermal energy storage system using CFD. Appl Energy 104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.10.040

  6. Levin PP, Shitzer A, Hetsroni G (2013) Numerical optimization of a PCM-based heat sink with internal fins. Int J Heat Mass Transf 61:638–645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.01.056

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Seeniraj RV, Velraj R, Lakshmi Narasimhan N (2002) Thermal analysis of a finned-tube LHTS module for a solar dynamic power system. Heat Mass Transf 38:409–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002310100268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lamberg P, Sirén K (2003) Analytical model for melting in a semi-infinite PCM storage with an internal fin. Heat Mass Transf 39:167–176. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-002-0291-1

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  9. Talati F, Mosaffa AH, Rosen MA (2011) Analytical approximation for solidification processes in PCM storage with internal fins: imposed heat flux. Heat Mass Transf 47:369–376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-010-0729-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ogoh W, Groulx D (2012) Effects of the heat transfer fluid velocity on the storage characteristics of a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system: a numerical study. Heat Mass Transf 48:439–449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-011-0888-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Ogoh W, Groulx D (2012) Effects of the number and distribution of fins on the storage characteristics of a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system: a numerical study. Heat Mass Transf 48:1825–1835. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-012-1029-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Deng Z, Liu X, Zhang C, Huang Y, Chen Y (2017) Melting behaviors of PCM in porous metal foam characterized by fractal geometry. Int J Heat Mass Transf 113:1031–1042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2017.05.126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Nithyanandam K, Pitchumani R (2014) Computational studies on metal foam and heat pipe enhanced latent thermal energy storage. J Heat Transf 136:51503–51510. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4026040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Nishikawara M, Nagano H (2017) Optimization of wick shape in a loop heat pipe for high heat transfer. Int J Heat Mass Transf 104:1083–1089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.09.027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Lohrasbi S, Miry SZ, Gorji-Bandpy M, Ganji DD (2017) Performance enhancement of finned heat pipe assisted latent heat thermal energy storage system in the presence of nano-enhanced H2O as phase change material. Int J Hydrog Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.01.045

  16. Nithyanandam K, Pitchumani R (2014) Design of a latent thermal energy storage system with embedded heat pipes. Appl Energy 126:266–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.03.025

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  17. Parameshwaran R, Kalaiselvam S (2014) Energy conservative air conditioning system using silver nano-based PCM thermal storage for modern buildings. Energy Build 69. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.09.052

  18. Colla L, Fedele L, Mancin S, Danza L, Manca O (2017) Nano-PCMs for enhanced energy storage and passive cooling applications. Appl Therm Eng 110:584–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.03.161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Elbahjaoui R, El Qarnia H (2017) Transient behavior analysis of the melting of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material inside a rectangular latent heat storage unit. Appl Therm Eng 112:720–738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.10.115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Abolghasemi M, Keshavarz A, Mehrabian MA (2012) Thermodynamic analysis of a thermal storage unit under the influence of nano-particles added to the phase change material and/or the working fluid. Heat Mass Transf 48:1961–1970. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-012-1039-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Kumaresan V, Velraj R, Das SK (2012) The effect of carbon nanotubes in enhancing the thermal transport properties of PCM during solidification. Heat Mass Transf 48:1345–1355. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-012-0980-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Xiao X, Zhang P (2015) Numerical and experimental study of heat transfer characteristics of a shell-tube latent heat storage system: part I - charging process. Energy 79:337–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2014.11.020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Voller VR, Brent AD, Prakash C (1989) The modelling of heat, mass and solute transport in solidification systems. Int J Heat Mass Transf 32:1719–1731. https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(89)90054-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Park J, Shin DH, Lee SJ, Shin Y, Karng SW (2018) Effective latent heat thermal energy storage system using thin flexible pouches. Sustain Cities Soc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.10.046

  25. Abdollahzadeh M, Esmaeilpour M (2015) Enhancement of phase change material (PCM) based latent heat storage system with nano fluid and wavy surface. Int J Heat Mass Transf 80:376–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2014.09.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhang Z, Cheng J, He X (2017) Numerical simulation of flow and heat transfer in composite PCM on the basis of two different models of open-cell metal foam skeletons. Int J Heat Mass Transf 112:959–971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2017.05.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Korea Institute of Technology and Science Research Fund (No. 2E28130).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Urban Energy Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 5 Hwarang-ro 14-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 02792, Republic of Korea

    Jinsoo Park, Dong Ho Shin, Youhwan Shin & Sarng Woo Karng

Authors
  1. Jinsoo Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dong Ho Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Youhwan Shin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sarng Woo Karng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarng Woo Karng.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Park, J., Shin, D.H., Shin, Y. et al. Analysis of heat transfer in latent heat thermal energy storage using a flexible PCM container. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 1571–1581 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-02534-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-02534-5

Search

Navigation