Performance enhancement of fin attached ice-on-coil type thermal storage tank for different fin orientations using constrained and unconstrained simulations

Abstract

One of the drawbacks in latent thermal energy storage system is the slow charging and discharging time due to the low thermal conductivity of the phase change materials (PCM). This study numerically investigated the PCM melting process inside a finned tube to determine enhanced heat transfer performance. The influences of fin length and fin numbers were investigated. Also, two different fin orientations, a vertical and horizontal type, were examined, using two different simulation methods, constrained and unconstrained. The unconstrained simulation, which considers the density difference between the solid and liquid PCM showed approximately 40 % faster melting rate than that of constrained simulation. For a precise estimation of discharging performance, unconstrained simulation is essential. Thermal instability was found in the liquid layer below the solid PCM, which is contrary to the linear stability theory, due to the strong convection driven by heat flux from the coil wall. As the fin length increases, the area affected by the fin becomes larger, thus the discharging time becomes shorter. The discharging performance also increased as the fin number increased, but the enhancement of discharging performance by more than two fins was not discernible. The horizontal type shortened the complete melting time by approximately 10 % compared to the vertical type.