Abstract
Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) technology has been widely used in balancing energy demand and intermittent energy supply, as well as thermal management in buildings, but suffers from slow heat storage rates. Here, biomimetic topology-optimized vertically aligned annular fins are proposed to accelerate heat storage performance. Taking the maximum average temperature as the optimization objective function, optimized biomimetic fins can shorten the melting time by 45.9% compared with traditional fins as verified by experimental measurements. Such a fast heat storage rate is also superior to that of pitch-varying fins and diameter-varying fins by 18.4% and 23.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, the temperature uniformity is greatly improved by biomimetic fins with a reduction of average temperature difference in phase change materials (PCMs) by 75.3%. The underlying mechanism can be attributed to accelerated melting of PCMs close to the outer bottom boundary due to unique bifurcation structures of topology optimized fins. The fractal dimension of optimized fins is similar to that of leaf vein structures, demonstrating that proposed topology structures are close to Natural’s optimal solutions. This study provides novel biomimetic structures for accelerating thermal energy storage rate and promotes the application of biomimetics in LHTES techniques.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
