The melting and solidification process of sodium nitrate, which is used as energy storage material, is studied in a vertical arranged energy storage device with two different bimetal finned tube designs (with and without transversal fins) for enhancing the heat transfer. The finned tube design consists of a plain steel tube while the material for the longitudinal (axial) fins is aluminum. The investigation analyses the influence of the transversal fins on the charging and discharging process. 3-dimensional transient numerical simulations are performed using the ANSYS Fluent 14.5 software. The results show that every obstruction given by transversal fins reduces the melting and solidification velocity in direction to the outer shell. In the present study also a comparison of the simulation results between 2D and 3D simulation of the melting and solidification behavior of the sodium nitrate is presented.

The present experimental investigation covers the construction of a latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTES), which uses sodium nitrate (NaNO3) as phase change material (PCM). The storage unit is filled with 300 kg of the PCM. For the heat transfer a vertically arranged bimetallic mono tube with longitudinal fins is used. The fins increase the heat flux into/from the PCM. Thermal oil is used as a heat transfer medium, as it allows working temperatures up to 400°C. This thermal energy storage is able to store 60 kWh of thermal energy and can be loaded with a power up to 200 kW. One part of the investigation results presented in this paper was the determination of the storable energy and the comparison with data from literature and calculations. Additionally, the melting behavior of the PCM was measured with temperature sensors located at different positions over the height of the storage unit. Finally, the entrance of the heat transfer medium was changed from the top to the bottom of the thermal energy storage unit and a different melting behavior could be detected.

In this paper the results of a numerical investigation of the melting and solidification process of sodium nitrate, which is used as phase change material, will be presented. For the heat transfer to the sodium nitrate different finned tube designs, namely helical-, transversal- and longitudinal finned tubes, are used. The numerical results of the melting and solidification process for the different design cases will be compared. The numerical analysis of the melting process has shown that apart from the first period of the charging process natural convection is the dominant heat transfer mechanism. The numerical analysis of the melting process has also shown that for a fast melting process heat exchanger tubes should be designed in such a way that an unrestricted natural convection is guaranteed. The numerical investigation for the solidification process has shown that the dominant heat transfer mechanism is heat conduction. The investigation has also shown that the solidification front grows more uniformly from the tube surface to the outer shell compared to the melting front. Therefore no significant differences between the different tube designs are detected concerning the solidification process.

Abstract:The paper presents the results of a transient numerical investigation of the melting and solidification process of sodium nitrate (NaNO 3 ), which is used as phase change material. For enhancing the heat transfer to the sodium nitrate an aluminum wire matrix is used. The numerical simulation of the melting and solidification process was done with the enthalpy-porosity approach. The numerical analysis of the melting process has shown that apart from the first period of the charging process, where heat conduction is the main heat transfer mechanism, natural convection is the dominant heat transfer mechanism. The numerical investigation of the solidification process has shown that the dominant heat transfer mechanism is heat conduction. Based on the numerical results, the discharging process has been slower than the charging process. The performance of the charged and discharged power has shown that the wire matrix is an alternative method to enhance the heat transfer into the phase change material.

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