Abstract
A novel trapezoidal design for storage of heat energy through melting of phase-change material (PCM) is investigated. Latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTES) is a promising option to diminish mis-match between energy consumption and supply. For this purpose, Paraffin: Rubitherm-35 (RT35) material is successively melted in aluminum structure which is heated from one side and the other sides are kept adiabatic. Melting of PCM is observed experimentally and melt fronts are photographed for various time lengths. The fluid-solid module in COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 has been utilized. The transient heat conduction with enthalpy function is hired. Simulations are carried out for enhancement of thermal conductivity through addition of nano-entities of cobalt oxide . The melting time is notably reduced with inclusion of nano-entities to enhance thermal conductivity. The time spans for melt start and total melt in case of pure PCM are 375 and 4500 (s) respectively whereas for the nano mix case, these are 150 and 3000 s. Thus 33% shorter time length is noticed for charging of the PCM trapezoidal matrix with nano entities of are mixed. The results from simulation and lab observations depict similar patterns and are in quite close comparison.
Highlights
Thermal energy can be processed in three forms: latent, sensible and chemical
It is to mention that the temperature of liquid form of phase-change material (PCM) remained almost close to a constant value during this time period and a large amount of heat energy is captured by the PCM mass as latent heat
A thermal energy storage device in trapezoidal shape is studied by using RT-35 as phase change material (PCM)
Summary
Thermal energy can be processed in three forms: latent, sensible and chemical. The LHTES technologies with phase modifying substances have shown significant potential for resolving the problem of heat demand vs. supply through intermittent alternative energy methods like solar energy [1,2]. PCMs are utilized for a variety of applications due to their multiple benefits such as higher latent heat of fusion, large effective heat, manageable temperature stabilization, and low volume change through process transformation [10,11]. Dhaidan et al [23] scrutinized the melting of n-octa decane containing CuO nanoparticle solutions in a square enclosed by using the finite element method to resolve the coupled continuity, velocity, and temperature governing equations Their findings show that enhancing the thermal conductivity of the PCM/nanoparticle component, improving the composite temperature and growing the heat transport rate are all significant impacts of nano particle processing. Particle diffusion was used in many experiments to improve PCM solidification He et al [27] studied thermophysical properties of nanofluids as phase-change material in low temperature storage. Cobalt oxide nanoparticles find common applications such as solar energy absorbers and have improved thermal conductivity
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