Journal of Energy Storage
Journal of Energy Storage
Research papers
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: A significant challenge to the widespread use of practical latent heat energy storage systems based on phase
Melting change materials is the inherent low thermal conductivity of these materials. Inserting fins is considered one of
PCM the effective methods of heat transfer enhancement. In the present paper, an experimental investigation of the
Fins
melting process of PCM in finned and unfinned heat exchangers is conducted. The experimental setup was
Perforation
Thermal performance
constructed, and the measurement system was used to monitor the transient progress of the melting process. The
Heat exchangers heat exchanger comprises annular horizontal concentric double pipes, where the inner tube is heated by flowing
water as heat transfer fluid (HTF), and the outer shell is thermally insulated. Four configurations of fins of the
same fin/PCM volume ratio are attached to the inner tube. These configurations are longitudinal fin (LF), circular
fin (CF), longitudinal perforated fin (LPF), and circular perforated fin (CPF). The effect of inlet HTF temperatures
of 60, 70, and 80 ◦ C is tested. The experimental findings indicate that the thermal performance of finned heat
exchangers exceeds that of unfinned heat exchangers. Also, the perforated finned heat exchangers showed a
higher thermal feature than the unperforated ones. In addition, the CPF achieved the lowest melting time and the
highest melting rate, followed by LPF, CF, and LF. The maximum reductions of melting time are 71.1 %, 70.6 %,
and 70.2 % due to using CPF HE instead of UF HE for inlet HTF temperatures of 60, 70, and 80 ◦ C, respectively.
1. Introduction their ability to store and release latent heat for energy conservation and
thermal control purposes, especially in renewable energy applications
Energy is essential to the advancement of both technology and the [3,4]. Many researchers and studies have investigated numerically and
economy, where the need for energy is growing every day due to factors experimentally the improvement of the PCMs in thermal energy storage
like a growing population, a changing lifestyle, industrialisation, etc. systems. PCMs are available in various latent heat and melting points.
The exhaustion of conventional fossil fuel supplies and the associated However, the practical limitation of latent heat thermal energy systems
problems with cost and environmental pollution converts the attention for successful implementation in various applications is their low ther
toward renewable energy resources. However, the time lag between the mal conductivity (around 0.2 W/m2 K for paraffin wax and 0.5 W/m2 K
energy source and the demand of the application imposes a limitation on for hydrated salts and eutectics). This undesirable feature leads to slow
exploiting renewable energy resources. As a result, thermal energy charging and discharging rates and causes system failure. Hence, heat
storage (TES) in the form of sensible and latent heat has grown into a transfer enhancement techniques are required for most PCM-heat
crucial component of energy management systems [1,2]. One of the exchanger applications. These techniques involve the insertion of fins
most effective methods for storing thermal energy is latent heat storage [5], dispersing of nanoparticles [6–8], using metal foams [9], etc. Mahdi
by phase changes from solid to liquid, liquid to gas, or vice versa. and Nsofor [10,11] investigated the impact of nanoparticles and fins on
Phase change materials (PCMs) have received substantial interest for the performance of the LHTES system. It was found that the insertion of
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2023.108162
Received 31 March 2023; Received in revised form 5 June 2023; Accepted 20 June 2023
Available online 29 June 2023
2352-152X/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
fins alone had a greater influence on both the charging and discharging issue by increasing the heat transfer rate between the PCM and the heat
processes. Also, Arici et al. [12] inferred that the thermal enhancement transfer fluid (HTF) in an energy storage unit. Compared with the other
of melting due to fins was higher than that due to nanoparticles. heat transfer-enhancing methods, superior thermal performance, easy
Natural convection dominates the melting process of PCM in various installation, stable operation, and low required maintenance during
cavities [13]. The annular PCM cavity heat exchangers are considered operation are the benefits of using fins [11,17]. PCM-based heat ex
the common application of the TES systems, which suffer from over changers can be improved by using several types of fins, such as longi
heating in the upper part and low melting rate in the lower part [14–16]. tudinal, radial, or circular fins.
Therefore, extended surfaces or fins are possible strategies for fixing this Hosseinizadeh et al. [18] performed an experimental and
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
Table 2
Configuration and fins geometry of different types of finned HEs.
Table 3
Radial and angular positions of TCs in UF, LF, and LPF heat exchangers.
TCs no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
R (mm) 19.5 26.5 33.5 19.5 26.5 33.5 19.5 26.5 33.5
ϴ (0) 90 90 90 180 180 180 270 270 270
filled with PCM, a constant temperature water bath, an automatic and flow rate are at the desirable values. The experimental setup of the
temperature controller, a multi-channel data logger, thermocouples, a unfinned heat exchanger and different types of finned heat exchangers
flowmeter, a high-speed camera and a personal computer. The HTF has been fabricated and built. The temperature distribution within the
system includes a water pump, piping system, and valves to create PCM is measured, and the instantaneous solid-liquid interface evolution
bypass and regulate water flow to ensure the water inlet temperature is recorded.
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
its solid phase. The variation in phase colours assists the visual obser
vations and tracking of the solid-liquid interface during the melting
process.
Five different configurations of HEs were constructed; unfinned heat
exchanger (UF) and four cooper finned HEs, which are; longitudinal
finned HE (LF), longitudinal perforated finned HE (LPF), circular or
annular finned HE (CF), and circular perforated HE (CPF). The same
fins/PCM volume ratio of 4.7 % is considered for all finned HEs. The
Table 4
Radial and angular positions of TCs in CF and LPF heat exchangers.
TCs no. 1, 7, 12 2. 8, 13 3 4 9, 14 5, 10, 15 6, 11, 16
The PCM is involved within the annular space between the shell and
tube. The inner copper tube had 23 mm ID, 25 mm OD, and 500 mm
length. The outer acrylic shell had 70 mm ID and 80 mm OD. The acrylic
shell contains two vents for filling and emptying liquid PCM into and
from the HE, as well as accommodating any volume expansion of PCM
during the melting process. The glass wood insulator of 50 mm was used
to reduce the heat loss from the outer shell. Two acrylic sheets of 10 mm
thickness were used to enclose the test rig from the two sides and to
capture the photo of the melting process at various periods. The insu
lator was removed for a few seconds to capture the photo. Paraffin wax
RT-42 was used as a PCM in the experiment. This paraffin was manu
factured by the Rubitherm Company, Germany. The thermophysical
properties of RT-42, water, and other materials are explained in Table 1.
The colour of paraffin wax is transparent in the liquid phase and white in Fig. 5. Temperature distribution of PCM at a 70 ◦ C HTF inlet temperature.
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
variation between the inlet and outlet temperatures of HTF, and the
90
uniformity of the fin distribution of LF and LPF along the axial direction.
THTF = 80 oC Therefore, the middle section of the UF, LF and LPF heat exchangers test
80
rig is selected to measure the temperature. The radial and angular po
sitions of the nine TCs are shown in Table 3 and Fig. 3.
THTF = 70 oC In CF and CPF HEs, sixteen thermocouples (T1 to T16) were placed
70 inside the storage unit HEs, as shown in Fig. 4. The TCs were distributed
in three sections along the axis: A, B, and C. The distance between sec
THTF = 60 oC tions A and C is 100 mm from the beginning and end of the axis length,
60 while section B lies in the middle of HE. The radial and angular positions
Temperatures, oC
50
2.2. Experimental procedure
40
At first, the PCM leakage and horizontal position of all configurations
of HEs were checked. A cylindrical tank heated electrically provided hot
water as the HTF, which flowed inside the internal tube to provide the
30 required energy for charging the PCM. A piping system, bypass system,
and control valves supply hot water into the test rig at the required
temperature and flow rate. There are two TCs for monitoring the HTF
20 temperature at the test rig’s inlet and outlet. Three inlet HTF tempera
0 3000 6000 9000 12000 15000 18000 21000 24000
tures are considered; 60, 70, and 80 ◦ C. At the same time, the volume
Time, s
flow rate of HTF is considered constant at 10 l/min. A rotameter and
control valves adjust the flow rate of the HTF. A digital camera (Nikon,
Fig. 6. Temperature variations of T2 (continuous) and T8 (dashed) at three inlet Coolpix B700) is used to capture and track the solid-liquid interfaces
HTF temperatures of 60, 70, and 80 ◦ C. during the melting process of PCM. The image processing technique [30]
is employed in the melting photographs to obtain the melt interface’s
evolution and estimate the melt fraction.
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
UF
LF
LPF
CF
CPF
Fig. 8. Photographic observations of PCM melting of unfinned and different configuration of finned heat exchangers at inlet HTF temperature of 70 ◦ C.
radial positions, but different angular positions. The region near the TC perforations assist the movement of liquid melt and increase the heat
of T2 is controlled by natural convection. In contrast, the conduction has transmission rate. Therefore, the temperatures of perforated fins con
dominated the region near T8. The energy transmitted by HTF depends figurations (CPF and LPF) are higher than that experienced by unper
on its flow rate and inlet temperature. Therefore, increasing the THTF forated fins layouts (CF and LF).
accelerates the melting process, initiates the influence of natural con The photographic representations of the melting process for unfin
vection early, and shortens the duration to reach the steady-state ned and different configurations of finned heat exchangers are illus
condition. trated in Fig. 8 at various times. It is observed that the melting process of
The influence of insertion fins on the temperature distributions for finned HEs is faster than that of unfinned HE. Also, the perforated finned
different configurations of fins is illustrated in Fig. 7. Also, the tem HEs (LPF and CPF) showed a higher melting rate than the traditional
perature history of the unfinned case is presented for the sake of com finned HEs (LF and CF). The involvement of fins increases the surface
parison. All temperatures for all cases were measured at the same area of pathway materials and augments the heat transfer between PCM
position (r = 26.5 mm, θ = 270 degree), which represented T8 for UF, LF and HTF. However, the fins suppress the motion of the liquid melt and
and LPF cases and T6 for CF and CPF cases at section B referring to Fig. 4. impose some limitations on the role of natural convection. It is expected
The temperatures of all finned heat exchangers are higher than that of that the existence of perforations enhances the melt motion and de
unfinned heat exchangers. The fins represent thermal pathways and velops the influence of natural convection. Therefore, the melting of LPF
transfer and distribute heat effectively. In addition, the adding fins in and CPF HEs is faster than that of LF and CF HEs.
crease the contact surface area between the PCM and extended surfaces. The time-variation of the melt fraction of PCM in different configu
Also, it is shown that the CPF heat exchanger registers the highest rations of finned heat exchangers is presented in Fig. 9. For all cases; the
temperature among other configurations of fins. In contrast, the LF melting rate is higher in the early periods since the conduction domi
configuration has the lowest temperatures. The existence of fins sup nated the melting process. Also, there is no significant difference in the
presses the movement of natural convection currents. However, the fins’ melting rate for all configurations of finned heat exchangers at initial
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
0.8
CPF
LPF 1
Liquid fraction
CF
0.6 LP
0.8
0.4
Melt Fracon
0.6
0.2
0.4
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0.2
Time, s
times. After, the role of natural convection is developed and Fig. 11. Variation of melt fraction of CPF for different inlet HTF temperatures.
LF
LPF
CF
CPF
80 oC
60 oC 70 oC
Fig. 10. Photographic representations of PCM melting at 15 min of different configuration of finned heat exchangers at various inlet HTF temperatures.
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N.S. Dhaidan et al. Journal of Energy Storage 71 (2023) 108162
8000 HTF temperatures of 60, 70, and 80 ◦ C, respectively. While using CPF HE
instead of the CF HE reduces the charging time by 12.2 %, 11.9 %, and
6000 11.6 % for the same HTF temperatures.
It is inferred that the perforated configuration of fins offers the op
4000 portunity to enhance the melting characteristics of the PCM compared to
the unperforated configuration. Also, the fins’ perforation can be easily
2000 constructed. Therefore, it is recommended to use the perforated
configuration of fins in various designs and geometries of latent heat
0
thermal energy storage systems.
UF LF CF LPF CPF
Fig. 12. Melting time for unfinned and different configurations of finned heat
Declaration of competing interest
exchangers at different inlet HTF temperatures.
LF 63.2 % 62.8 % 62.6 % No data was used for the research described in the article.
CF 67.25 % 66.0 % 66.1 %
LPF 67.4 % 66.2 % 66.5 %
CPF 71.1 % 70.6 % 70.2 % References
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