Numerical model and simulation of a vehicular heat storage system with phase-change material

Abstract

For heat storage applications designed to recover and recycle waste heat energy, it is usually advantageous to store heat in a phase-change material. One-dimensional numerical analysis and evaluation of a heat storage system that uses a phase-change material to store latent heat in addition to sensible heat was carried out, and it was found that up to 30% of the total heat energy generated by the fuel and subsequently lost to cooling can be recovered. A heat storage system was installed to reduce warm-up time by releasing heat directly into the engine coolant during cold start, and the corresponding reduction in fuel consumption was measured. With the addition of a heat storage device, the warm-up time to 95°C was reduced by between 18.1% and 27.1%. A numerical simulation of the New European Driving Cycle was carried out for a vehicle equipped with a 1.6-L diesel engine and a heat storage system. Analytical results showed that the warm-up time was reduced by 40.5% and the fuel consumption was reduced by 2.71% compared to a vehicle without a heat storage system installed.