Enhancing the phase change material based shell-tube thermal energy storage units with unique hybrid fins

Abstract

The poor thermal conductivity of phase change material (PCM) has limited its application to thermal energy storage system. The present work aims to improve the performance of PCM in a vertical shell-tube energy storage unit through unique hybrid fins. The enthalpy-porosity approach is used to numerically investigate the phase change phenomenon. Based on the straight and spiral fin results, the novelty designs of double side spiral fin and hybrid fins, i.e. spiral/straight hybrid fin and straight/spiral hybrid fin, are proposed to further optimize the PCM charging process. The effects of different fin structure, hybrid fin proportion and spiral fin angle on the liquid fraction, temperature and average thermal energy storage rate are discussed. The fin structures can reduce the melting time of PCM up to 100% compared to the no-fin case. Although double side spiral fin outperforms the straight fin for the PCM melting behavior, the hybrid fin configurations shows the best enhancement, especially for the straight/spiral hybrid fin. The optimal fin design for the straight/spiral hybrid fin case is that with 0.7 fin proportion and 180° spiral angle, with up to 11.8% reduction of the melting time compared to the designs of other fin proportions and spiral angles. This work demonstrates the potential of this unique hybrid fin to be integrated with PCM for efficient thermal energy storage.