Enhanced heat transfer in a latent heat thermal energy storage unit using a longitudinal fin with different structural parameters

Abstract

The latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) unit can be used to resolve the imbalance between energy supply and demand. To boost heat storage efficiency, a model with longitudinal fins was developed to accelerate the melting process. Based on the finite volume method (FVM), the effect of fin angle and number on melting performance was evaluated. Further, the response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to optimize the longitudinal fin by maximizing its melting rate. Results demonstrate same heat transfer capacity at the fin angles θ and θ1(θ1=90−θ). The complete melting time at a θ values of 0°was reduced by 46.66%, compared with a θ value of 45°. The optimized case (θ = 0°, N =16 fins) reduced the total melting time by 62.59%. The melting rate of the upper region of the LHTES unit was higher than that of the lower region in all cases. Further, the study quantified the temperature uniformity of the system using mathematical methods, which showed that the integrated mean value of temperature uniformity at a θ value of 0° was the smallest (12.51°C), suggesting excellent temperature uniformity at a rotation angle of 0°.