Abstract
A numerical investigation on Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage System (LHTESS) based on an aluminum foam totally filled with phase change material (PCM) is accomplished. The PCM used is a pure paraffin wax with melting over a range of temperature and a high latent heat of fusion. The LHTESS geometry under investigation is a vertical shell and tube. The corrugated internal surface of the hollow cylinder is assumed at a constant temperature above the PCM melting temperature. The other external surfaces are assumed adiabatic. The paraffin wax phase change process is modelled with the enthalpy-porosity theory, while the metal foam is considered as a porous media obeying to the Darcy-Forchheimer law. Local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model is assumed to analyze the heat transfer in the metal foam. The governing equations are solved employing the Ansys-Fluent code. The numerical simulations results, reported as a function of time, and concerning the LHTESS charging phase, are compared in terms of melting time, average temperature and energy storage rate. The corrugated internal surface effect is analyzed with respect to the wavelength and wave amplitude of the corrugation.
Highlights
Greenhouse gases emissions have significantly increased in the last decades, especially owing to the widespread exploitation of fossil fuels
A numerical investigation on Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage System (LHTESS) based on an aluminum foam totally filled with phase change material (PCM) is accomplished
Joshi and Rathod [1] performed numerical simulations based on Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium (LTNE) method to evaluate the effects of a copper foam on the charging phase of a LHTESS
Summary
Greenhouse gases emissions have significantly increased in the last decades, especially owing to the widespread exploitation of fossil fuels. Their research shows that the melting time is shortened by 10 times by totally filling the annular section with the metal foam respect to the clean configuration (only PCM), but its application in the HTF side enhances the heat transfer, so reducing the melting time and the thermal transient Their simulations prove that initial hot fluid temperature strongly affects the heating phase. A RT 82 composed with copper foam storage system employed in a ventilation unit for dwelling applications has been studied by Sardari et al [6] Both 2D and 3D simulations have been carried out to assess the PCM solidification and the simultaneous heating phase of an air stream of pre-determined inlet temperature and mass flow rate. The main indicators describing the process have been evaluated under varying geometric and structural configurations of the system
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