Experimental and numerical investigations of a lauric acid-multichannel flat tube latent thermal storage unit

Chen, C.Q.; Diao, Yanhua; Zhao, Yaohua; Wang, Z.Y.; Liang, Lin; Chi, Yuying

doi:10.1002/er.4124

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The understanding of melting behavior and instantaneous heat storage will help in great detail for the effective design of a heat storage system . In the present study, lauric acid has been considered for the analysis as it is regarded to be one of the promising latent heat storage materials for low‐temperature heat storage applications . Initially, the PCM (lauric acid) is filled in a spherical capsule made of glass and is placed in a specially designed experimental setup as shown in Figure .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An image processing algorithm to estimate the melt fraction and energy storage of a PCM enclosed in a spherical capsule

et al. 2019

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Summary The experimental investigation of the melting behavior of a phase change material (PCM) inside a spherical container is reported. PCM considered for the study is lauric acid whose melting point is about 43°C. Unconstrained melting experiments are carried out at two different temperatures, ie, at 60°C and 80°C. The initial temperature of the PCM is taken as 30°C. To carry out a detailed analysis of the heat transfer, the transient variations in the melt fraction and amount of energy stored are derived. In order to estimate the liquid/solid volumes, a novel image processing technique is developed. In this approach, a circle‐fitting algorithm is employed to obtain the amount of PCM melted inside a spherical container. The total instantaneous amount of heat transport to the PCM is measured with an uncertainty of about 6.1%. The results obtained by the introduced circle‐fitting algorithm have been compared qualitatively and quantitatively with the solid modeling method. The present technique could capture the asymmetric behavior of the solid PCM. The experimental findings show that the rate of melt fraction is high at the beginning of the experiment due to a larger area of contact between the spherical container and solid PCM. Further, parametric analysis has been performed and reported in terms of Fourier, Stefan, and Grashof numbers.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As lauric acid is one of the promising options for low temperature (25°C‐80°C) latent heat storage applications, it is considered for this study. The low phase temperature is not only the reason for its selection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An image processing algorithm to estimate the melt fraction and energy storage of a PCM enclosed in a spherical capsule

et al. 2019

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“…Lastly, the difference between the isothermal and non‐isothermal phase transitions is directly ignored so that those PCMs are assumed as isothermal for simplicity in some researches. For instance, in the above reviewed list, Vogel et al and Tiari et al assumed the binary inorganic salt, that is, KNO 3 ‐NaNO 3 as isothermal; Chen et al and Binet et al took the same assumption for lauric acid and n‐octadecane, respectively. In those cases, the mushy zone was simplified as a distinct and sharp phase interface between the liquid and solid regions instead of a finite spatial zone, where the heat transfer, especially the latent heat evolution obviously differs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How mushy zone evolves and affects the thermal behaviours in latent heat storage and recovery: A numerical study

et al. 2020

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Summary Mushy zone is where the melting or solidification actually begins and proceeds, accompanying which the latent heat absorbs or releases. Thus, it is critical for the realization of latent heat storage. In this paper, attempts were made to examine the melting and solidification processes from a new perspective, that is, the mushy zone evolution, which tightly couples with the heat transfer, fluid flow, and phase change. A conjugate heat transfer model was developed including the lauric acid in a basic rectangular latent heat storage unit, the surrounded thermal insulations, and the ambient air. The enthalpy‐porosity model was used and the mushy zone constant was reasonably evaluated to accurately predict the solid‐liquid phase change processes. The model was validated against the experimental data from literature. In addition, a detailed description on the coupling of heat transfer, fluid flow, and phase change within the mushy zone was presented. It has been found that the mushy zone was highly suppressed during melting while widely extended during solidification. Moreover, the effects of the isothermal assumption for non‐isothermal phase transition as well as mushy zone constant on the predicted heat storage performance were investigated. The results obtained can give some insights into the enthalpy‐porosity method to accurately predict the mushy zone phase change processes. Meanwhile, more clues can be achieved to design more efficient heat storage devices and to develop better phase change materials.

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“…Realizing the importance of heat transfer enhancement by metal foam, the energy charging and discharging in metal foam have been comprehensively investigated by theoretical analysis, experimental observation, and numerical simulation during recent decades. Upon systematically reviewing the available works on the energy discharging and discharging behaviors in metal foam, it has been documented that the thermal characteristics of PCMs in metal foam are dependent on the structural features of the metal matrix, the thermal environment, and the thermophysical properties of the metal matrix and PCM .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of metal foam in solidification performance for a latent heat storage unit

Huang

Zhang

2019

Int J Energy Res

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Summary The current latent heat storage (LHS) units are usually poor in energy charging and discharging efficiency. Given this, a two dimensional (2D) numerical model of the energy discharging process is presented and comprehensively analyzed to predict the role of metal foam in the solidification performance of LHS units. In the model, the fractal geometry reconstructed by the fractal Brownian motion is utilized for the pore characterization of the metal foam. The proposed model is validated through a melting experiment in copper foams from the reference. The temperature dynamic response and the solidification front evolution in metal foam are analyzed and compared to those in a corresponding cavity. The roles of the fractal dimension and porosity in the solidification behaviors are quantitatively analyzed. The results report that the presence of metal foam enhances the solidification performance. For the main goal of maximizing the latent storage, the appropriate porosity of an LHS unit is dependent on the duration time for the heat discharging process in the real application of thermal energy storage. Even if the porosity is the same, the fractal dimension also affects the solidification performance. A decrease in the fractal dimension (lower degree of disorder for pore distribution) provides greater access to heat flow through the phase change material‐foam composite and thus leads to improvement in the interstitial heat transfer, which in turn accelerates the rate of heat release. The fractal dimension is expected to be less than 1.5 for superior solidification performance.

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Experimental and numerical investigations of a lauric acid-multichannel flat tube latent thermal storage unit

Cited by 16 publications

References 23 publications

An image processing algorithm to estimate the melt fraction and energy storage of a PCM enclosed in a spherical capsule

An image processing algorithm to estimate the melt fraction and energy storage of a PCM enclosed in a spherical capsule

How mushy zone evolves and affects the thermal behaviours in latent heat storage and recovery: A numerical study

Role of metal foam in solidification performance for a latent heat storage unit

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