State of the Art of Phase Change Material (PCM) for the Purpose of Heat Storage and Transfer in Cylindrical and Rectangular/Square Shells/Tubes – A Review

Abstract

The state of the art of the PCM’s reveals enabled characteristics that opens the door for multiple heat transfer and storage phenomena. The PCM absorbs, stores, and releases the energy during its phase change thus it most widely helps in latent heat transfer techniques. Nowadays Nano-fluid and Nano-phase change materials are replacing the general phase change materials because of its high heat transfer and storage capability. Further, varieties of passive heat transfer techniques such as heat exchangers of shell/tube type of various patterns and geometries are utilized to optimize the thermal energy. The artificial neural network is embedded in the system to recognize the pattern for faster processing. In this article, the PCM heat storage and transfer techniques are critically reviewed in comparison with the Cylindrical and Rectangular/Square shells/tubes based on the effect of parameters such as solidification/melting performance, enthalpy, fluid flow pattern in the liquid molten state, types of PCM used, etc. The numerical/analytical and experimentation techniques are categorized based on the results of various researcher and conclusion is established.