THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Authors of this Paper

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Long Miao

,

Rui Wan

,

Zhen Liu

,

Huawei Wu

HEAT TRANSFER SIMULATION AND PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION OF PLATE-TYPE PHASE CHANGE ENERGY STORAGE UNIT

ABSTRACT
As the core of the phase change energy storage technology, the heat transfer performance of the phase change energy storage unit has an important impact on the operating efficiency of the energy storage system. In this study, a 3-D CFD model of the plate-type phase change energy storage unit is established to simulate the melting process of paraffin wax. Three types of plate-type phase change energy storage unit models are established, without ribs, single rib, and double ribs. The influence of cylindrical rib on natural convection melting process of paraffin is studied, which provides the basis for the design and performance optimization of plate-type phase change energy storage unit, and improve its application value. The results show that the melting time of paraffin in the energy storage unit without ribs is 858 seconds , and the melting time is shortened to 827~842 seconds after adding single rib. The melting time of paraffin wax with single rib is lower than that with double ribs. For the plate-type phase change energy storage unit, adding ribs at the central section can effectively improve the melting rate of phase change material. The single rib A located at the lower part of the central section has the greatest promotion effect on paraffin melting. The key to enhance the phase change heat transfer process in plate-type phase change energy storage unit is the paraffin in the lower half of the symmetry plane.
KEYWORDS
plate-type phase change energy storage unit, fins, paraffin wax, natural convection, numerical simulation
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2023-08-28
PAPER REVISED: 2024-01-20
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2024-01-23
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2024-05-18
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI230828107M
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2024, VOLUME 28, ISSUE Issue 5, PAGES [3865 - 3875]
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Heat transfer simulation and performance optimization of plate-type phase change energy storage unit

© 2024 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence