Thermal Performance of a Packed Bed Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage With Pure Silicon as PCM

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, effect of mass flow rate and inlet temperature on the thermal performance of a packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage has been numerically investigated. As the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF), hot air is selected. Pure silicon is chosen as the PCM (Phase Change Material). The thermal performance has been evaluated on the basis of the following parameters: total heat transferred (Qcharging), TES charging rate (p), TES density (q), TES rate density (w). The values of these parameters have been calculated and compared for four different mass flow rates (0.08 Kg/s, 0.1 Kg/s, 0.12 Kg/s, 0.15 Kg/s) and four different inlet temperatures (1800 K, 1900 K, 2000 K, 2100 K) of the HTF for a charging period of 500 s. The simulations reveal a 0.54% increase per 1% increase in HTF mass flow rate and 15.6% increase per 1% increase in HTF inlet temperature in values of all the parameters after the charging period. A conclusion can be drawn that the HTF inlet temperature has more impact on the performance of packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage than HTF mass flow rate.