IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i11p2657-d1405488.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental Investigation on Heat Transfer Enhancement of Phase Change Materials by Fractal Fins

Author

Listed:
  • Zishuo Guo

    (Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian District, Beijing 100190, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    Key Laboratory of Long-Duration and Large-Scale Energy Storage, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

  • Li Xu

    (Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian District, Beijing 100190, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    Key Laboratory of Long-Duration and Large-Scale Energy Storage, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

  • Feihu Sun

    (Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian District, Beijing 100190, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    Key Laboratory of Long-Duration and Large-Scale Energy Storage, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

  • Si Sun

    (Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Haidian District, Beijing 100190, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    Key Laboratory of Long-Duration and Large-Scale Energy Storage, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China)

Abstract

The low thermal conductivity of phase change materials restricts their application fields such as thermal storage and electronic equipment cooling. In order to enhance the heat charging capacity of the phase change unit, fractal fins inspired by plant leaves were designed and manufactured. The changes in the solid–liquid interface, temperature distribution and liquid fraction in the phase change units with fractal fins during melting were investigated experimentally and compared units with the conventional rectangular fin. The results show that fractal fins have better heat transfer enhancement effects than rectangular fins because the enhancement of heat conduction exceeds the suppression of natural convection. Increasing the number of fins can also shorten the melting time and make the temperature distribution more uniform. Compared with the one rectangular fin unit, the full melting time of the unit with three fractal fins is reduced by 17.07%, and the bottom surface temperature is reduced by 27.47%. However, increasing the number of fins while using tree-like fractal fins may cause the fins to inhibit natural convection more than enhance heat conduction. The research in this paper will provide a better understanding of the melting process of phase change units with fins and provide data for future numerical simulations.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:11:p:2657-:d:1405488
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2657/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2657/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sciacovelli, A. & Gagliardi, F. & Verda, V., 2015. "Maximization of performance of a PCM latent heat storage system with innovative fins," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 707-715.
    2. Sarı, Ahmet & Alkan, Cemil & Bilgin, Cahit, 2014. "Micro/nano encapsulation of some paraffin eutectic mixtures with poly(methyl methacrylate) shell: Preparation, characterization and latent heat thermal energy storage properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 217-227.
    3. 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.
    4. Nemati, H. & Souriaee, V. & Habibi, M. & Vafai, Kambiz, 2023. "Design and Taguchi-based optimization of the latent heat thermal storage in the form of structured porous-coated pipe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    5. Li, Dacheng & Wang, Jihong & Ding, Yulong & Yao, Hua & Huang, Yun, 2019. "Dynamic thermal management for industrial waste heat recovery based on phase change material thermal storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1168-1182.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qin, Zhen & Ji, Chenzhen & Low, Zheng Hua & Tong, Wei & Wu, Chenlong & Duan, Fei, 2022. "Geometry effect of phase change material container on waste heat recovery enhancement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    2. Yang, Jialin & Yang, Lijun & Xu, Chao & Du, Xiaoze, 2016. "Experimental study on enhancement of thermal energy storage with phase-change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 164-176.
    3. 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).
    4. 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).
    5. Jiang, Feng & Zhang, Lingling & She, Xiaohui & Li, Chuan & Cang, Daqiang & Liu, Xianglei & Xuan, Yimin & Ding, Yulong, 2020. "Skeleton materials for shape-stabilization of high temperature salts based phase change materials: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Zhang, Tao & Huo, Dongxin & Wang, Chengyao & Shi, Zhengrong, 2023. "Review of the modeling approaches of phase change processes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    7. Fei Ma & Tianji Zhu & Yalin Zhang & Xinli Lu & Wei Zhang & Feng Ma, 2023. "A Review on Heat Transfer Enhancement of Phase Change Materials Using Fin Tubes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-25, January.
    8. Du, Kun & Calautit, John & Eames, Philip & Wu, Yupeng, 2021. "A state-of-the-art review of the application of phase change materials (PCM) in Mobilized-Thermal Energy Storage (M-TES) for recovering low-temperature industrial waste heat (IWH) for distributed heat," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 1040-1057.
    9. Yan, Peiliang & Fan, Weijun & Han, Yu & Ding, Hongbing & Wen, Chuang & Elbarghthi, Anas F.A. & Yang, Yan, 2023. "Leaf-vein bionic fin configurations for enhanced thermal energy storage performance of phase change materials in smart heating and cooling systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    10. Tao, Y.B. & He, Ya-Ling, 2018. "A review of phase change material and performance enhancement method for latent heat storage system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 245-259.
    11. Zheng, Jiayi & Wang, Jing & Chen, Taotao & Yu, Yanshun, 2020. "Solidification performance of heat exchanger with tree-shaped fins," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 1098-1107.
    12. Bing, Naici & Yang, Jie & Gao, Huan & Xie, Huaqing & Yu, Wei, 2021. "Unsaturated polyester resin supported form-stable phase change materials with enhanced thermal conductivity for solar energy storage and conversion," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 926-933.
    13. Cheng, Xiwen & Zhai, Xiaoqiang, 2018. "Thermal performance analysis and optimization of a cascaded packed bed cool thermal energy storage unit using multiple phase change materials," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 566-576.
    14. Yang, Shiyu & Oliver Gao, H. & You, Fengqi, 2022. "Model predictive control for Demand- and Market-Responsive building energy management by leveraging active latent heat storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    15. Huo, Ying-Jie & Yan, Ting & Wu, Shao-Fei & Kuai, Zi-Han & Pan, Wei-Guo, 2024. "Preparation and thermal properties of palmitic acid/copper foam phase change materials," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    16. Ye, Yang & Lu, Jianfeng & Ding, Jing & Wang, Weilong & Yan, Jinyue, 2020. "Numerical simulation on the storage performance of a phase change materials based metal hydride hydrogen storage tank," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    17. Madhankumar, S. & Viswanathan, Karthickeyan, 2022. "Computational and experimental study of a novel corrugated-type absorber plate solar collector with thermal energy storage moisture removal device," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    18. Fornarelli, F. & Camporeale, S.M. & Fortunato, B. & Torresi, M. & Oresta, P. & Magliocchetti, L. & Miliozzi, A. & Santo, G., 2016. "CFD analysis of melting process in a shell-and-tube latent heat storage for concentrated solar power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 711-722.
    19. Rostami, Sara & Afrand, Masoud & Shahsavar, Amin & Sheikholeslami, M. & Kalbasi, Rasool & Aghakhani, Saeed & Shadloo, Mostafa Safdari & Oztop, Hakan F., 2020. "A review of melting and freezing processes of PCM/nano-PCM and their application in energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    20. Odenthal, Christian & Steinmann, Wolf-Dieter & Zunft, Stefan, 2020. "Analysis of a horizontal flow closed loop thermal energy storage system in pilot scale for high temperature applications – Part II: Numerical investigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:11:p:2657-:d:1405488. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.