Journal
APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING
Volume 31, Issue 17-18, Pages 3871-3884Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2011.07.035
Keywords
Numerical prediction; Latent thermal storage/release; Plate-fin unit; Temperature differences; Correlations
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The fluid flow and heat transfer in a plate-fin unit with a characteristic length of 2 mm used for rapid heat storage/release by paraffin (phase change material, PCM) are investigated numerically. Transient simulations are performed using a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package, Fluent, based on the finite volume method. The effect of temperature differences on the fluid flow and heat transfer in the energy storage/release system is analyzed. It is found that temperature differences play a key role in the performances of energy storage when temperature differences are less than 20 degrees C. It is noted that part of not solidified PCM can be observed clearly during energy release, and a vortex in the air region is formed remarkably at the moment of complete thermal energy release. The correlations are developed as a function of the associated variables. The obtained correlations are useful for future component design and system optimization. Additionally, Experimental data taken from the literatures are conducted to validate the model. The numerical results show a good agreement with the experimental ones. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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