Discharge characteristics of latent heat storage columns packed with cross-linked plastic particles

Abstract

This investigation deals with experimental and numerical analyses carried out to investigate the discharge characteristics of latent heat storage columns, using cross-linked cylindrical plastic particles as a phase-change type of heat storage material and ethylene glycol as a heat transfer medium. In the experiment, the transient response of the outlet temperature of the heat transfer medium was measured under conditions of varying the initial temperature in the column, the inlet temperature of the heat transfer medium, the mass flow rate of the heat transfer medium, and the mass of the heat storage material packed in the column. In the numerical analysis, the transient temperature distributions in the column was calculated by using an empiricai formula for estimating the heat transfer coefficient for a fixed bed, which was recommended in the authors' previous paper. The experimental results were found to be in fair agreement with the numerical results.