Thermal Enhancement Of Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage With Semicircular Tubes Through Experiments And Simulation

Abstract

The escalating global energy demand and environmental concerns associated with conventional energy sources necessitate efficient energy storage solutions, particularly for intermittent renewables like solar energy,  latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) systems using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) offer high energy storage density but are often limited by the low thermal conductivity of PCMs, which restricts heat transfer rates, this research investigates a novel approach to enhance LHTES performance by employing semicircular heat transfer tubes instead of traditional circular tubes within a shell-and-tube configuration,  a combined experimental and numerical methodology was adopted to comprehensively assess the thermal performance,  an experimental LHTES system with a copper semicircular inner tube and paraffin wax as the PCM was designed, fabricated, and tested under varying HTF (water) flow rates and tube orientations, temperature dynamics and phase change (melting and solidification) characteristics were meticulously recorded. Concurrently, a 3D numerical model was developed using ANSYS Fluent, employing the enthalpy-porosity method, and validated against experimental data, the results indicated that the semicircular tube geometry and its orientation significantly influence the internal heat transfer mechanisms, particularly natural convection within the molten PCM, leading to variations in phase change times, temperature stabilization observed in experimental data confirmed the completion of phase change, providing benchmarks for performance evaluation, the study demonstrates the potential of semicircular tubes for thermal enhancement in LHTES systems, offering insights for optimizing future designs.