Search

Melting in a finite slab with a second kind boundary condition is studied numerically in order to simulate the charging process of a thermal energy storage system. A dimensionless model is given, from which it is concluded that the main factors that influence the melting process are the dimensionless heating flux, the modified Stefan number, the relative thermal diffusivity and the relative thermal conductivity. The influence of preheating or solid subcooling is studied. It is found that though preheating does not have very important effects on the melting time, it does influence the interface marching velocity significantly. The melt fraction and the melting time are calculated extensively for various dimensionless numbers. The numerical results show that the ratio of the thermal conductivity of the solid to that of the liquid has little effect on the melting time, and the time for finishing melting can be expressed as a function of the dimensionless heating flux, the modified Stefan number and the relative thermal diffusivity, and the possible function form is suggested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A new thermal storage system, a heat pipe heat exchanger with latent heat storage, is reported. The new system may operate in three basic different operation modes, the charging only, the discharging only and the simultaneous charging/discharging modes, which makes the system suitable for various time and/or weather dependent energy systems. In this part of the paper, the basic structure, the working principle and the design concept are briefly introduced. Extensive experimental results are presented of the charging only and discharging only operations, and the effects of the inlet temperature and the flow rate of the cold/hot water were also investigated. The results show that the heat exchanger performs the designed functions very well and can both store and release the thermal energy efficiently. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this part of the paper, the performance of the simultaneous charging/discharging operation modes of the heat pipe heat exchanger with latent heat storage is experimentally studied. The experimental results show that the device may operate under either the fluid to fluid heat transfer with charging heat to the phase change material (PCM) or the fluid to fluid heat transfer with discharging heat from the PCM modes according to the initial temperature of the PCM. The melting/solidification curves, the performances of the heat pipes and the device, the influences of the inlet temperature and the mass flow rate of the cold water on the operation performance are investigated by extensive experiments. The experimental results also disclose that under the simultaneous charging/discharging operation mode, although the heat transfer from the hot water directly to the cold water may vary, it always takes up a major part of the total heat recovered by the cold water due to the very small thermal resistance compared with the thermal resistance of the PCM side. The melting/solidification processes taking place in the simultaneous charging/discharging operation are compared with those in the charging only and discharging only processes. By applying a simplified thermal resistance analysis, a criterion for predicting the exact operation modes was derived and used to explain the observed experimental phenomena. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An experimental rig was set up to study the performance of a thermal storage unit using stearic acid as the heat storage medium. The unit mainly consists of an electrical heating rod and an outer tube, and the space between is an annulus that is filled with stearic acid. The thermal performance of the unit is measured, and the heat transfer characteristics of the melting processes of stearic acid are studied under different heat flux conditions to determine the influence of heat flux on the melting processes. A new type of fin is designed and fixed to the electrical heating rod to enhance the thermal response of the stearic acid. The experimental results show that the fin can improve the heat transfer of the melting process of the thermal storage unit greatly. The equivalent thermal conductivity of the PCM can be augmented by a factor up to 3. The analysis of the experimental results shows that the enhancement mechanism of the fin is attributed to its ability to improve both heat conduction and natural convection very effectively. The influences of the fin size and pitch on the enhancement are also studied and analyzed and it is found that these two parameters can both affect the thermal conductivity enhancement significantly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The thermal and heat transfer characteristics of stearic acid during the solidification processes were investigated experimentally in a vertical annulus energy storage system. The temperature distribution and temperature variations with time at different radial positions during the freezing processes were obtained. The thermal characteristics of the stearic acid, including movement of the solid–liquid interface in the radial direction, and the effects of Reynolds number on the heat transfer parameters were studied. The heat flux was estimated by using a simple approximate model. A new copper fin was designed and fixed to the electrical heating rod to enhance the thermal conductivity of the stearic acid. The results show that the new fin can enhance both the conduction and the natural convection heat transfer of the PCM, and the enhancement factor during solidification is estimated to be as high as 250%. The effect of the fin width on the enhancement was also examined experimentally, and it is found that the fine fin usually produce more effective enhancement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]