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Natural convection during melting in vertical finned tube latent thermal energy storage systems

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  • Vogel, J.
  • Johnson, M.

Abstract

Natural convection can have a major impact on the melting process during charging in a latent heat storage system. Heat transfer enhancement by natural convection depends strongly on the dimensions, material properties and boundary conditions of the storage system. In complex geometries, such as shell-and-tube storage systems with extended fins, a good approximation of the impact of natural convection on the melting process is very difficult. There are no correlations for such geometries, and simulations of these storage systems require extensive computational effort. In the present work, we analyzed the impact of natural convection in four vertical shell-and-tube extended fin systems with a common tube height. To investigate the influence of the tube height, one of the fins was additionally modeled with two further tube heights. We scaled the resulting liquid fraction evolutions into a dimensionless form and used a convective enhancement factor to assess the strength of natural convection. A linear fit function for the mean convective enhancement factor was derived to estimate the melting process considering natural convection. With it, natural convection may be incorporated into the design process of storage systems to optimize the charging time. The results indicate a negligible impact of natural convection in fins with a small tube spacing and a high fin fraction. There is a considerable impact from natural convection in fins designed with a large tube spacing and a low fin fraction. However, large fin heights lead to decreased heat transfer enhancement by natural convection.

Suggested Citation

  • Vogel, J. & Johnson, M., 2019. "Natural convection during melting in vertical finned tube latent thermal energy storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C), pages 38-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:246:y:2019:i:c:p:38-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    7. Scharinger-Urschitz, Georg & Schwarzmayr, Paul & Walter, Heimo & Haider, Markus, 2020. "Partial cycle operation of latent heat storage with finned tubes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
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    10. Zhao, Chunrong & Wang, Jianyong & Sun, Yubiao & He, Suoying & Hooman, Kamel, 2022. "Fin design optimization to enhance PCM melting rate inside a rectangular enclosure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    11. Rocha, Thiago Torres Martins & Teggar, Mohamed & Trevizoli, Paulo Vinicius & de Oliveira, Raphael Nunes, 2023. "Potential of latent thermal energy storage for performance improvement in small-scale refrigeration units: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    12. Zhang, Ji & Cao, Zhi & Huang, Sheng & Huang, Xiaohui & Liang, Kun & Yang, Yan & Zhang, Haoran & Tian, Mi & Akrami, Mohammad & Wen, Chuang, 2022. "Improving the melting performance of phase change materials using novel fins and nanoparticles in tubular energy storage systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    13. Saulius Pakalka & Kęstutis Valančius & Giedrė Streckienė, 2021. "Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Natural Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient in Phase Change Material (PCM) Based Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-14, January.
    14. Huang, Shengyao & Lv, Laiquan & Zhou, Hao, 2024. "Thermal characteristics of a small-scale medium- and high-temperature latent heat storage system at different inlet flow rates and their influencing factors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    15. Liu, Yang & Zheng, Ruowei & Li, Ji, 2022. "High latent heat phase change materials (PCMs) with low melting temperature for thermal management and storage of electronic devices and power batteries: Critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    16. Zishuo Guo & Li Xu & Feihu Sun & Si Sun, 2024. "Experimental Investigation on Heat Transfer Enhancement of Phase Change Materials by Fractal Fins," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-21, May.
    17. Meng Yu & Xiaowei Sun & Wenjuan Su & Defeng Li & Jun Shen & Xuejun Zhang & Long Jiang, 2022. "Investigation on the Melting Performance of a Phase Change Material Based on a Shell-and-Tube Thermal Energy Storage Unit with a Rectangular Fin Configuration," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-15, November.
    18. Huang, Shengyao & Lv, Laiquan & Rong, Yan & Zhou, Hao, 2024. "Experimental study on the thermal characteristics of a visualized shell-and-tube LHTES system at different endothermic and exothermic temperatures," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).

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