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The paper presents an experimental study of the influence of heat transfer fluid (HTF) mass flow rate on phase change materials (PCM) behaviour. The experimental study was performed on a specially designed test bench. Research object - PCM based thermal energy storage unit which consists of a stainless steel tank with dual circuit tube-fin copper heat exchanger. The tank (storage volume) was filled with phase change material RT82. The experiment was carried out using three different mass flow rates of HTF: high - 0.25 kg/s, medium - 0.125 kg/s, low - 0.05 kg/s. The analysis showed that in the case of high and medium mass flow rates the melting/solidification process highly depends on the temperature of inlet HTF. Influence of mass flow rate is higher in the case of low mass flow rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern buildings, an increasing amount of the consumed energy falls on ventilation systems. The amount of energy needed for ventilation depends on weather fluctuations, wind, interaction between natural gravity and air tightness of the building, heat exchangers used in ventilation systems, efficiency of other ventilation equipment, and operating mode of ventilation systems in the building. Ventilation systems are comprised of a variety of elements that facilitate processes using energy of different types. The main elements that use energy in ventilation systems are fans, heat exchangers, and heaters. They have a significant effect on both energy needs of a public building and the exergy efficiency of a system. In order to achieve a more efficient use of exergy in heat exchangers, it is recommended to execute processes under as little temperature difference as possible; however, this increases the area of heat exchangers. Results of the analysis show that it is recommended to design ventilation systems based on the temperature that corresponds with the maximum demand of exergy in order to use the heat recovery unit as much as possible in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent heat thermal energy storage systems allow storing large amounts of energy in relatively small volumes. Phase change materials (PCMs) are used as a latent heat storage medium. However, low thermal conductivity of most PCMs results in long melting (charging) and solidification (discharging) processes. This study focuses on the PCM melting process in a fin-and-tube type copper heat exchanger. The aim of this study is to define analytically natural convection heat transfer coefficient and compare the results with experimental data. The study shows how the local heat transfer coefficient changes in different areas of the heat exchanger and how it is affected by the choice of characteristic length and boundary conditions. It has been determined that applying the calculation method of the natural convection occurring in the channel leads to results that are closer to the experiment. Using this method, the average values of the heat transfer coefficient (have) during the entire charging process was obtained 68 W/m2K, compared to the experimental result have = 61 W/m2K. This is beneficial in the predesign stage of PCM-based thermal energy storage units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]