Quantification of Phase Change Material Energy Storage Capability Using Multiphysics Simulations

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. O’Connor ◽  
A. P. Wemhoff
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Thermophysical Properties ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Storage Efficiency ◽  
Aspect Ratios

Organic phase change materials (PCMs) such as paraffins or unsaturated acids use the latent heat of melting for thermal energy storage as a passive cooling mechanism for portable electronics. Researchers have suggested that a PCM’s thermal energy storage capability is linked to its thermal properties, yet this connection has not yet been quantified. This study first uses group theory and known values from literature to obtain the thermophysical properties for a variety of paraffins and unsaturated acids. Then, multiphysics-based finite element analysis (FEA) is applied to determine the influence of these thermophysical properties on the PCM latent heat storage capability for a side heating configuration. The FEA models include melting and re-solidification, natural convection, conduction, and the monitoring of input and output periodic heat fluxes. The phase change was achieved through application of temperature-dependent viscosity and heat capacity relations. The thermal energy storage efficiency is defined as one minus the ratio of integrated output heat flux to the integrated input heat flux. The FEA results are used to provide predictions of thermal energy storage for a variety of PCMs for various aspect ratios under different heating conditions. Insights are gained in relating thermal storage efficiency to the system configuration.

scholarly journals Numerical modelling of phase change material melting process embedded in porous media: Effect of heat storage size

2019 ◽  
Vol 234 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pouyan Talebizadeh Sardari ◽  
Gavin S Walker ◽  
Mark Gillott ◽  
David Grant ◽  
Donald Giddings
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Heat Flux ◽  
Porous Medium ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Change Material

The aim of this paper is to study the influence of enclosure size in latent heat thermal energy storage systems embedded in a porous medium for domestic usage of latent heat thermal energy storage heat exchangers. A 2-D rectangular enclosure is considered as the computational domain to study the heat transfer improvement for a phase change material embedded in a copper foam considering a constant heat flux from the bottom surface. Different dimensions of the composite system are examined compared with a system without a porous medium. The thermal non-equilibrium model with enthalpy-porosity method is employed for the effects of porous medium and phase change in the governing equations, respectively. The phase change material liquid fraction, temperature, velocity, stream lines and the rate of heat transfer are studied. The presence of a porous medium increases the heat transfer significantly, but the improvement in melting performance is strongly related to the system's dimensions. For the dimensions of 200 × 100 mm (W × H), the melting time of porous-phase change material with the porosity of 95% is reduced by 17% compared with phase change material-only system. For the same storage volume and total amount of thermal energy added, the melting time is lower for the system with a lower height, especially for the phase change material-only system due to a higher area of the input heat. The non-dimensional analysis results in curve-fitting correlations between the liquid fraction and Fo.Ste.Ra −0.02 for rectangular latent heat thermal energy storage systems for both phase change material-only and composite-phase change material systems within the parameter range of 1.16 <  Ste < 37.13, 0 <  Fo < 1.5, 2.9 × 104 <  Ra < 9.5 × 108, 0 <  L f < 1 and 0 <  Fo.Ste.Ra −0.02 < 0.57. Over a range of system's volume, heat flux and surface area of the input heat flux, the benefit of composite phase change material is variable and, in some cases, is negligible compared with the phase change material-only system.

scholarly journals Latent Heat Phase Change Heat Transfer of a Nanoliquid with Nano–Encapsulated Phase Change Materials in a Wavy-Wall Enclosure with an Active Rotating Cylinder

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2590
Author(s):  
S. A. M. Mehryan ◽  
Kaamran Raahemifar ◽  
Leila Sasani Gargari ◽  
Ahmad Hajjar ◽  
Mohamad El Kadri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Wavy Wall ◽  
Governing Equations ◽  
Stefan Number ◽  
Change Material

A Nano-Encapsulated Phase-Change Material (NEPCM) suspension is made of nanoparticles containing a Phase Change Material in their core and dispersed in a fluid. These particles can contribute to thermal energy storage and heat transfer by their latent heat of phase change as moving with the host fluid. Thus, such novel nanoliquids are promising for applications in waste heat recovery and thermal energy storage systems. In the present research, the mixed convection of NEPCM suspensions was addressed in a wavy wall cavity containing a rotating solid cylinder. As the nanoparticles move with the liquid, they undergo a phase change and transfer the latent heat. The phase change of nanoparticles was considered as temperature-dependent heat capacity. The governing equations of mass, momentum, and energy conservation were presented as partial differential equations. Then, the governing equations were converted to a non-dimensional form to generalize the solution, and solved by the finite element method. The influence of control parameters such as volume concentration of nanoparticles, fusion temperature of nanoparticles, Stefan number, wall undulations number, and as well as the cylinder size, angular rotation, and thermal conductivities was addressed on the heat transfer in the enclosure. The wall undulation number induces a remarkable change in the Nusselt number. There are optimum fusion temperatures for nanoparticles, which could maximize the heat transfer rate. The increase of the latent heat of nanoparticles (a decline of Stefan number) boosts the heat transfer advantage of employing the phase change particles.

scholarly journals Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Systems: A Review

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3821
Author(s):  
Kassianne Tofani ◽  
Saeed Tiari
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Storage Systems ◽  
Heat Pipes ◽  
Energy Storage Systems ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage Systems

Latent heat thermal energy storage systems (LHTES) are useful for solar energy storage and many other applications, but there is an issue with phase change materials (PCMs) having low thermal conductivity. This can be enhanced with fins, metal foam, heat pipes, multiple PCMs, and nanoparticles (NPs). This paper reviews nano-enhanced PCM (NePCM) alone and with additional enhancements. Low, middle, and high temperature PCM are classified, and the achievements and limitations of works are assessed. The review is categorized based upon enhancements: solely NPs, NPs and fins, NPs and heat pipes, NPs with highly conductive porous materials, NPs and multiple PCMs, and nano-encapsulated PCMs. Both experimental and numerical methods are considered, focusing on how well NPs enhanced the system. Generally, NPs have been proven to enhance PCM, with some types more effective than others. Middle and high temperatures are lacking compared to low temperature, as well as combined enhancement studies. Al2O3, copper, and carbon are some of the most studied NP materials, and paraffin PCM is the most common by far. Some studies found NPs to be insignificant in comparison to other enhancements, but many others found them to be beneficial. This article also suggests future work for NePCM and LHTES systems.

scholarly journals Enhancement of the Thermal Energy Storage Using Heat-Pipe-Assisted Phase Change Material

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Behi ◽  
Mohammadreza Behi ◽  
Ali Ghanbarpour ◽  
Danial Karimi ◽  
Aryan Azad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Heat Pipe ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Liquid Fraction ◽  
Energy Storage Applications ◽  
Change Material

Usage of phase change materials’ (PCMs) latent heat has been investigated as a promising method for thermal energy storage applications. However, one of the most common disadvantages of using latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is the low thermal conductivity of PCMs. This issue affects the rate of energy storage (charging/discharging) in PCMs. Many researchers have proposed different methods to cope with this problem in thermal energy storage. In this paper, a tubular heat pipe as a super heat conductor to increase the charging/discharging rate was investigated. The temperature of PCM, liquid fraction observations, and charging and discharging rates are reported. Heat pipe effectiveness was defined and used to quantify the relative performance of heat pipe-assisted PCM storage systems. Both experimental and numerical investigations were performed to determine the efficiency of the system in thermal storage enhancement. The proposed system in the charging/discharging process significantly improved the energy transfer between a water bath and the PCM in the working temperature range of 50 °C to 70 °C.

Dissipative particle dynamics study of nano-encapsulated thermal energy storage phase change material

RSC Advances ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (74) ◽  
pp. 39552-39557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhonghao Rao ◽  
Xinyu You ◽  
Yutao Huo ◽  
Xinjian Liu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Thermophysical Properties ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Dissipative Particle Dynamics ◽  
Particle Dynamics ◽  
Change Material

The nano-encapsulated phase change materials (PCM), which have several good thermophysical properties, were proposed as potential for thermal energy storage.

Metal nanoparticles enhanced thermophysical properties of phase change material for thermal energy storage

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 463-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj Gupta ◽  
Amit Kumar ◽  
S.K. Dhawan ◽  
Hrishikesh Dhasmana ◽  
Avshish Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Metal Nanoparticles ◽  
Phase Change Material ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Thermophysical Properties ◽  
Change Material
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