A novel numerical study on the melting process of phase change materials in a heat exchanger for energy storage

Abstract

In this article, a new model with a different geometry is presented for application in systems of energy storage that contain phase change materials (PCMs). The main innovation of this research is designing two tubes instead of one tube inside the heat exchanger and investigation of its impact on the melting process of the PCM. Also, the influence of extended surfaces is studied to evaluate the reduction of melting time, and the changes of related geometrical parameters, including the number and length of fins, are examined in detail. The finite volume commercial code has been employed for numerical simulation and the obtained outcomes have very good agreement with a published experimental study. Results indicate that the utilizing of two tubes and reduce the distance between these tubes has a considerable influence on energy storage and reduction of melting time. Further, it can be concluded that for a certain number of fins, the melting time of PCM reduces by enhancing the fin length.