Nonuniform metal foam design and pore-scale analysis of a tilted composite phase change material system for photovoltaics thermal management

Investigations on transient thermal performance of phase change materials embedded in metal foams for latent heat thermal energy storage

“…Table 1 shows the related thermophysical properties of PCMs and utilized metal foams in this investigation in detail. 6,7,9,10,13,14 As for the boundary and initial conditions, the left side is subjected to various heat flux (1000, 2000 and 3000 W/m 2 ) with the rest sides of thermal insulation. The initial temperature is fixed as 293.15 K to ensure that all PCMs remain subcooled solid prior to research.…”

“…Temperature profiles of various measured positions in Figure 9A,B also certify that no considerable changes happened for different pore density of Al and Cu foams, which was reflected in extensive numerical and experimental determinations. 6,9,13,14 Therefore, the pore density can only exert limited influence on the melting process and phase change heat transfer of composite PCMs. The complete melting of PCMs at middle and right positions are 12 that temperature differences at the left position are always well below 0 for all cases, which indicates that temperatures of PCMs are larger than those of metal foams.…”

“…Numerous metal foams (Cu, Al and Ni foams) with constant thermophysical properties are immersed into the PCMs, and the porosity ( ε = 0.80, 0.88 and 0.96) and pore density ( ε = 0.80, 0.88 and 0.96, ω = 5, 15 and 25 PPI) vary in accordance with researched conditions. Table 1 shows the related thermophysical properties of PCMs and utilized metal foams in this investigation in detail 6,7,9,10,13,14 . As for the boundary and initial conditions, the left side is subjected to various heat flux (1000, 2000 and 3000 W/m 2 ) with the rest sides of thermal insulation.…”

“…[1][2][3] It is increasingly believed that LHTES can be an effective alternative to address the mismatch between energy supply and demand in time and space dimensions and can practically eliminate the existing energy crisis and atmospheric pollution, when applied in extensive occasions, such as solar thermal utilization, waste heat recovery, building energy saving, electronic device cooling, etc. [4][5][6][7] The charging and discharging performances of LHTES have been evaluated in feasible literatures and it is found that the thermal performance of LHTES is inseparable from thermophysical properties of PCMs. 8,9 Organic PCMs featured with high energy storage density, and almost constant temperature during phase transition have been widely utilized in various LHTES.…”

“…Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is capable of storing and releasing enormous thermal energy, based on the phase transition of employed phase change materials (PCMs) 1‐3 . It is increasingly believed that LHTES can be an effective alternative to address the mismatch between energy supply and demand in time and space dimensions and can practically eliminate the existing energy crisis and atmospheric pollution, when applied in extensive occasions, such as solar thermal utilization, waste heat recovery, building energy saving, electronic device cooling, etc 4‐7 …”