Enhanced heat conduction in phase-change thermal energy storage devices

Abstract

Phase-change energy storage devices have an inherent disadvantage due to the insulating properties of the phase-change materials (PCM's) used. Such systems are difficult to analyze theoretically due to the nonlinearities of the moving liquid-solid interface and the presence of natural convection as shown by several recent numerical and experimental investigations. Previous work has been unsuccessful in predicting the performance of phase-change devices in the presence of fins and natural convection. This study presents a simplified numerical model based on a quasi-linear, transient, thin fin equation, which predicts the fraction of melted PCM, and the shape of the liquid-solid interface as a function of time with sufficient accuracy for engineering purposes. Experimental results are compared in dimensionless form with model predictions, and show fairly good agreement. To achieve high heat-transfer rates with a fixed amount of PCM and metal fin material, the model indicates that melting the PCM in a pure conduction mode with closely spaced thin fins is preferable to melting PCM with thicker fins spread further apart, even in the presence of natural convection.