Abstract
The theoretical model of the solidification process of a shell-and-tube ice storage (STIS) device with longitudinal fins is established. The liquid fraction, the energy-discharging rate and the ice storage ratio are investigated, with particular focus on the effects of the fin structure parameters on the solidification process. Furthermore, the temperature and the streamline distributions are discussed to reveal the mechanism of the solidification process in the STIS device and the negative effect of natural convection (NC). It is indicated that the solidification process of the STIS device is dominated by the heat transfer via the fins at the beginning, and then by the heat transfer at the water–ice interface. The ice storage is negatively affected by the NC, for the reason that the water with a higher temperature stays in the lower part of the STIS device and the temperature gradient at the water–ice interface is small. The ice storage performance can be enhanced by increasing the fin structure parameters, including height, thickness and number.
Highlights
There is often an imbalance in time or space between energy supply and energy demand in living and engineering applications [1,2,3]
With phase change materials (PCMs) they can absorb energy in the evening and regenerate the thermal energy in the daytime, which fills the gap of the energy load between day and night [10,11]
Among the various thermal energy storage system types, the so-called cold energy storage system using water as PCMs, which is known as the ice storage system, has been utilized in applications such as advanced energy systems [12,13], food cold chain [14], peak load shifting [15] and building air conditioning systems [16]
Summary
There is often an imbalance in time or space between energy supply and energy demand in living and engineering applications [1,2,3]. The energy load in urban areas varies more than 30% between day and night, which leads to lots of energy waste [4,5,6] To fix these problems, thermal energy storage systems are attracting more attention [7,8,9]. The shell-and-tube ice storage (STIS) device with fins is the most commonly used, due to its excellent manuSfuastcatinuarbialibtyil2i0t2y0, [122,6x,2FO7]R. (1) Only laminar flow is considered in this simulation; (2) The materials of the equipment, including water, ice, shell, tube and fin are isotropic; (3) The physical parameters, except density of the water, are constant throughout this work; (4) There is considered to be a local equilibrium of temperature and heat flux between water and fins [37]
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