TY - JOUR
T1 - The thermal charging performance of finned conical thermal storage system filled with nano-enhanced phase change material
AU - Ghalambaz, Mohammad
AU - Shirivand, Hassan
AU - Ayoubloo, Kasra Ayoubi
AU - Mehryan, S. A.M.
AU - Younis, Obai
AU - Talebizadehsardari, Pouyan
AU - Yaïci, Wahiba
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/3/14
Y1 - 2021/3/14
N2 - A latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) unit can store a notable amount of heat in a compact volume. However, the charging time could be tediously long due to weak heat transfer. Thus, an improvement of heat transfer and a reduction in charging time is an essential task. The present research aims to improve the thermal charging of a conical shell-tube LHTES unit by optimizing the shell-shape and fin-inclination angle in the presence of nanoadditives. The governing equations for the natural convection heat transfer and phase change heat transfer are written as partial differential equations. The finite element method is applied to solve the equations numerically. The Taguchi optimization approach is then invoked to optimize the fin-inclination angle, shell aspect ratio, and the type and volume fraction of nanoparticles. The results showed that the shell-aspect ratio and fin inclination angle are the most important design parameters influencing the charging time. The charging time could be changed by 40% by variation of design parameters. Interestingly a conical shell with a small radius at the bottom and a large radius at the top (small aspect ratio) is the best shell design. However, a too-small aspect ratio could entrap the liquid-PCM between fins and increase the charging time. An optimum volume fraction of 4% is found for nanoparticle concentration.
AB - A latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) unit can store a notable amount of heat in a compact volume. However, the charging time could be tediously long due to weak heat transfer. Thus, an improvement of heat transfer and a reduction in charging time is an essential task. The present research aims to improve the thermal charging of a conical shell-tube LHTES unit by optimizing the shell-shape and fin-inclination angle in the presence of nanoadditives. The governing equations for the natural convection heat transfer and phase change heat transfer are written as partial differential equations. The finite element method is applied to solve the equations numerically. The Taguchi optimization approach is then invoked to optimize the fin-inclination angle, shell aspect ratio, and the type and volume fraction of nanoparticles. The results showed that the shell-aspect ratio and fin inclination angle are the most important design parameters influencing the charging time. The charging time could be changed by 40% by variation of design parameters. Interestingly a conical shell with a small radius at the bottom and a large radius at the top (small aspect ratio) is the best shell design. However, a too-small aspect ratio could entrap the liquid-PCM between fins and increase the charging time. An optimum volume fraction of 4% is found for nanoparticle concentration.
KW - Conical shell-tube thermal energy storage unit
KW - Inclined fin
KW - Minimum thermal charging time
KW - Nano-enhanced phase change material
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103919483&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/molecules26061605
DO - 10.3390/molecules26061605
M3 - Article
C2 - 33799354
AN - SCOPUS:85103919483
SN - 1420-3049
VL - 26
JO - Molecules
JF - Molecules
IS - 6
M1 - 1605
ER -