Improved thermal energy storage with metal foam enhanced phase change materials considering various pore arrangements: A pore-scale parallel lattice Boltzmann solution

Low thermal conductivity of the phase change materials (PCMs) is the main impediment that causes avoiding their extensive usage for thermal energy storage. Metal foams can be used with PCMs to overcome this weakness to reach an enhanced PCM. The main challenge of using metal foam is to reach the optimal geometrical, me-chanical, and physical properties to meet the desired performance. This study investigates the effect of pore arrangement in a homogenous closed-cell aluminum metal foam. Afterward, a comparison is presented between various arrangements and pore diameters to examine the effect of pore configuration and diameter on thermal energy storage performance. Three pore arrangements are considered: Simple (simple linear arrangement of pores); Staggered (straticulate/alternative arrangement of pores); and Dots (simple pores with smaller ones diagonally placed between them). To simulate the melting process coupled with conduction and natural con-vection, the parallel lattice Boltzmann solver (PALABOS) -an open-source library consists of various predefined functions to solve complex thermo-fluidic problems- with enthalpy-based method is developed, and the results are validated. Different numerical simulations have been done to conduct the parameter study. In general, the Dots arrangement is relatively more effective than the two other studied arrangements. For dp = 5 mm, the melting times of PCM for all cases are similar to one another. However, for dp = 10 mm, the Dots arrangement could reduce the melting time by 20% compared to Staggered and Simple arrangements.

Automated summary

This study investigates the use of metal foam as a carrier for thermal energy storage with phase change materials. By adjusting the arrangement and size of the pores, the researchers found that the dot arrangement shows better performance in thermal energy storage.