Abstract
A CFD analysis is performed in two different heat storage mediums, water and paraffin phase change material (PCM), in order to evaluate and compare the two mediums for use in heating thermal energy storage (HTES) applications. The two mediums use different heat storing mechanisms, namely water uses Sensible Heat Storage, and the PCM Latent heat storage. The applied computational domain represents a single tube of a heat exchanger (HE), and so it comprises of a copper tube with aluminium fins. The geometric characteristics of the domain are taken in accordance with commercially used HE’s for HTES applications [1]. The characteristics studied are the stored energy of the system, the temperature of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) in the outlet and the temperature of the storage medium. The results of the simulations showed that for the same mass of storage mediums, the PCM can store more energy than water, for the same temperature of the HTF, as expected. Also, the temperature of the medium for the sensible heat storage rises linearly with the energy stored inside it, while in the latent heat storage mechanism, the temperature of the medium rises linearly till the melting (or solidification) of it, then stays almost steady until the melting of the whole volume and then rises again until it reaches the temperature of the HTF.
Highlights
The environmental sustainability challenge is one of the main concerns for the modern world
The selected results show a comparison between a heating thermal energy storage (HTES) using water as storage medium and another using phase change material (PCM) (A44) for two different tube lengths 1 and 6.6 meters and for 30 l/h heat transfer fluid (HTF) flow rate
For the 1-meter long cases the storage medium, either water or PCM, occupies 0.0008804 m3, that corresponds to 0.68 kg in liquid phase, for the PCM and 0.89 kg for water
Summary
The environmental sustainability challenge is one of the main concerns for the modern world. One of the ways to achieve environmental sustainability is the use and optimization of renewable energy. There are three main ways for storing thermal energy, sensible, latent and thermo-chemical energy storage [2–4]. The latent heat storage (LHS), can be achieved using PCMs, i.e. materials characterized by high latent heat of fusion, which through melting or solidification are able to store or provide heat respectively. TCS has the advantage of nearly no losses during heat exchange and a high energy density [2]. The computational domain considered, is a finned tube, immersed in the storage medium (water or PCM) through which hot (or cold) water flows, in order to charge (or discharge) the medium. The domain represents a single tube inside a heat exchanger and the dimensions respond to the Luvata pattern 1022 [13] one of the commercially used heat exchangers for heating /cooling or Domestic hot water applications
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