Thermal behavior of encapsulated phase change material energy storage

Abstract

The performance of thermal solar systems can be enhanced by extending its operational time by the aid of thermal energy storage. In the present work, the transient behavior of packed bed thermal energy storage (TES) was investigated experimentally and numerically. An experimental setup was designed and fabricated to simulate the charging and discharging operational modes of the system. 101 spherical capsules were filled with wax paraffin as PCM and packed in cylindrical container bed of 105 mm diameter and 420 mm long. The processes of the experimented storage system were simulated mathematically and solved numerically by finite difference technique. The analyses were carried out at two different mass velocity of the working fluid. The numerical model described the transient behavior of the system and it was in acceptable agreement with the experimental results. The transient period in the charging mode of the tested storage was around 30 min, while the energy recovery period in the discharging mode was around 60 min. The achieved results demonstrated that the tested TES could be used to enhance the performance of the thermal solar systems. The proposed packed bed thermal energy storage is easy to implement with low cost.

Increased Melting Heat Transfer in the Latent Heat Energy Storage from the Tube-and-Shell Model to the Combine-and-Shell Model

“…A lot of research was conducted to decrease the charge time, adding a wire matrix on the tube [1], adding fins on the vertical wall [2], adding fins to the rectangle [3], using composite heat sinks [4], using two Phase Change Materials [5], inserting heat pipes [6], adding nanoparticles to the PCM [7,8], using encapsulated PCM [9], inserting matrix metal into the PCM [10], using two elliptical cylinders [11], and using porous media [12] being among them.…”

Ocean thermal energy harvesting with phase change material for underwater glider

“…During the melting process, PCM absorbs large amount of latent heat; during solidification process, stored thermal energy is released. The phase transition of PCM is a transient and non-linear heat transfer phenomenon, various works have been done to establish the mathematical/numerical model of LHTES system [20][21][22][23]. Practical ways for enhancing heat exchange between PCM and heat transfer fluids are investigated [24,25].…”

Thermophysical Properties of Nanoparticles-Phase Change Material Compositions for Thermal Energy Storage

“…The application of phase change materials (PCMs) in the thermal energy storage to utilize waste heat, space heating and cooling etc. have been increasing extensively in recent years [1,2,3]. Various nanoparticles mixed with various PCMs have been reported mainly to enhance the thermal conductivity of the PCMs.…”