Simulation for charging of phase change material in existence of nanomaterial within solar energy storage system

Abstract

Regarding possible solutions for thermal management of the storage unit, probably the main remedy might be to equip the system with an extended surface made from metallic materials which have high conductivity. In this study, by changing the number (n) and thickness (t1) of plates, four arrangements of the system have been suggested and solid matrix were made of three materials namely: Silicon Carbide (SiC), Aluminum (Al) and Stainless Steel (SS). Moreover, the heat absorption of phase change material (PCM) has been improved with loading of alumina nanoparticles. Increasing the number of radial plates and decreasing their thickness makes the heating penetration to increase. When the structure of geometry for SiC plates changes from (n = 5, t1 = 4 mm) to (n = 40, t1 = 0.5 mm), the melting time declines around 63.87 %. With changing the material from SS to SiC, the period of melting decreases about 66.33 % when n = 5, t1 = 4 mm. The worst case among scrutinized cases in view of speed of melting happens when n = 5, t1 = 4 mm involving Al. The best case occurs when n = 40, t1 = 0.5 mm involving SiC material and its melting time is 87.84 % lower than that of the worst case.