Qualitative & Quantitative estimation of the effects of longitudinal fin parameter with different configurations on thermal performance of PCM-LHTES unit.
Abstract:
The current study is a continuation of a series of experiment & computational studies in the field of heat transfer augmentation process in thermal energy storage device. In this study, we have demonstrated prospects of our proposed PCM-LHTES system, embedded with different configurations of longitudinal fins for obtaining better heating performance for latent heat storage by numerical heat transfer modelling. As a part of the study, the onset of phase change to the offset, driven by the mechanism of natural convection in the working domain is numerically investigated applying state-of-theart commercial code: ANSYS FLUENT, a reliable & powerful CFD software for analyzing natural circulation of fluid & associated heat transfer process during melting of PCM. The particular target is to focus on contact surface area extension between PCM and capsule shape enclosed cylinder by the addition of longitudinal fins to accelerate heat transport process. Two commercial PCM: Rubitherm-50 & Climsel-58 are filled into a cylindrical pipe with their properties for modelling input. To qualify our modelling approach, the selected model is validated against experimental result: change of total enthalpy. Finally, the effect of fin parameters including longitudinal fin length, fin thickness and fin number on thermal performance of PCM-LHTES system is investigated.
