Investigation of Conducting Pins in Sphere Filled with Phase Change Material for Enhancing Heat Transfer in Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract:

The utilisation of phase change material (PCM) for thermal energy storage (TES) can significantly enhance the energy savings achievable with renewable thermal systems. Sphere based packed bed systems have been used as TES for many years. However, due to the thermal resistance within these systems, the heat transfer is limited and not all the PCM can be used effectively. This study focuses on heat transfer enhancement options for single PCM sphere in a TES system. An experimental investigation has been conducted using water as the PCM. The thermal performance of plain plastic sphere containing PCM has been compared to plastic sphere encapsulated with conducting pins. The heat transfer rate of the sphere with conducting pins was more than 34% that of the sphere without pins.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 472-475)
• Pages: 1693-1697
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.472-475.1693
• Online since: February 2012
• Authors: Nasrul Amri Mohd Amin, Frank Bruno, Martin Belusko
• Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Phase Change Materials (PCM), Thermal Energy Storage

References

[1] Velraj R, Seeniraj RV, Hafner B, Faber C and Schwarzer K. Experimental analysis and numerical modeling of inward solidification on a finned vertical tube for a latent heat storage unit. Solar Energy. 1997; 60: 281-90.

DOI: 10.1016/s0038-092x(96)00167-3

[2] Mehling H and Cabeza LF. Heat and Cold Storage with PCM: An up to date introduction into basics and applications. Berlin Heidelberg: Springers-Verlag; 2008.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-68557-9

[3] Holman JP. Heat transfer, Tenth Edition. Mc Graw-Hill International Edition; (2010)

[4] Gunther E, Hiebler S and Mehling H. Determination of the heat storage capacity of PCM and PCM-objects as a function of temperature, in 10th International Conference on Thermal Energy Storage, ECOSTOCK. May 31 - June 2, 2006. New Jersey.

[5] Lacroix M. Study of heat transfer behavior of a latent heat thermal energy unit with a finned tube. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 1993; 36(8): 2083-92.

DOI: 10.1016/s0017-9310(05)80139-5

[6] Cabeza LF, Mehling H, Hiebler S and Ziegler F. Heat transfer enhancement in water when used as PCM in thermal energy storage. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2002; 22: 1141-51.

DOI: 10.1016/s1359-4311(02)00035-2

[7] Choi JC, Kim SD and Han GY. Heat transfer characteristic in low-temperature latent heat storage system using salt-hydarates at heat recovery stage. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 1996; 40(1): 71-87.

DOI: 10.1016/0927-0248(95)00084-4

[8] Regin AF, Solanki SC and Saini JS. Heat Transfer characteristics of thermal energy storage system using PCM capsules: A review, Renewable Energy Reviews. 2008; 12: 2438-51.

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2007.06.009

[9] Yanbing K, Yinping Z, Yi J and Yingxin Z, A general model for analyzing the thermal characteristics of a class of latent heat thermal energy storage systems. ASME J Solar Energy Engineering. 1999; 121: 185-93.

DOI: 10.1115/1.2888165

[10] Velraj R, Seeniraj RV, Hafner B, Faber C and Schwarzer K. Heat transfer enhancement in a latent heat storage system. Solar Energy. 1999; 65(3): 171-80.

DOI: 10.1016/s0038-092x(98)00128-5

[11] Horbaniuc B, Popescu A and Dumitrascu G. The correlation between the number of fins and the discharge time for a finned heat pipe latent heat storage system. Renewable Energy Reviews. 1996; 9(1-4): 605-8.

DOI: 10.1016/0960-1481(96)88361-3

[12] Horbaniuc B, Dumitrascu, G and Popescu, A, Mathematical models for the study of solidification within a longitudinally finned heat pipe latent heat thermal storage system. Energy Conversion and Management, 1999; 40(15-16): 1765-74.

DOI: 10.1016/s0196-8904(99)00069-2

[13] Siegel R. Solidification of low conductivity material containing dispersed high conductivity particles. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer. 1977; 20(10): 1087-9.

DOI: 10.1016/0017-9310(77)90195-8

[14] Chow LC and Zhong JK. Thermal conductivity enhancement for phase change storage media. Int. Comm. Heat Mass Transfer. 1996; 23(1): 91-100.

DOI: 10.1016/0735-1933(95)00087-9

[15] Amin NAM, Bruno F and Belusko M. Effectiveness – NTU correlation for low temperature PCM encapsulated in spheres. Applied Energy (December 2011)

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.12.006

[16] Amin NAM, Belusko M and Bruno F. Thermal performance of a tank filled with low temperature PCM encapsulated in spheres, in Inaugural Malaysian Postgraduate Conference 2011. Nov. 26-27. Adelaide.

[17] Wang F, Graeme M, John M and Robert T. The novel use of phase change materials in refrigeration plant. Part 2: Dynamic simulation model for the combined system. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2007; 27: 2902-10.

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2005.06.009

[18] Barth T and Jespersen D. The design and application of upwind schemes on unstructured meshes. 1989; AIAA-89-0366.

DOI: 10.2514/6.1989-366

[19] ANSYS CFX-Solver Theory Guide, Inc. Release 12.1. Southpointe. November 2009.