Heat storage in direct-contact heat exchanger with phase change material

This paper describes the development and performance of a direct-contact heat exchanger using erythritol (melting point: 391 K) as a phase change material (PCM) and a heat transfer oil (HTO) for accelerating heat storage. A vertical cylinder with 200-mm inner diameter and 1000-mm height was used as the heat storage unit (HSU). A nozzle facing vertically downward was placed at the bottom of the HSU. We examined the effects of flowrate and inlet temperature of the HTO using three characteristic parameters of heat storage - difference between inlet and outlet HTO temperatures, temperature effectiveness, and heat storage rate. The temperature history of latent heat storage (LHS) showed three stages: sensible heat of solid PCM, latent heat of PCM, and sensible heat of liquid PCM. Further, the operating mechanism of the DCHEX was proposed to explain the results. The average heat storage rate during LHS was proportional to the increase in flowrate and inlet temperature of HTO. Thus, latent heat can be rapidly stored under large HTO flowrate and high inlet temperature in the DCHEX. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.