Comparison of an Experimental and Numerical Investigation of a Packed-Bed Latent Heat Thermal Storage System with Encapsulated Phase Change Material

One way of storing thermal energy is through the use of latent heat energy storage systems. One such system, composed of a cylindrical container filled with paraffin wax, through which a copper pipe carrying hot water is inserted, is presented in this paper. It is shown that the physical processes encountered in the flow of water, the heat transfer by conduction and convection, and the phase change behavior of the phase change material can be modeled numerically using the finite element method. Only charging (melting) is treated in this paper. The appearance and the behavior of the melting front can be simulated by modifying the specific heat of the PCM to account for the increased amount of energy, in the form of latent heat of fusion, needed to melt the PCM over its melting temperature range. The effects of adding fins to the system are also studied, as well as the effects of the water inlet velocity.

Download Full-text

Performance Improvement of a Household Refrigerator using Phase Change Material

Journal of Manufacturing Engineering ◽

10.37255/jme.v16i1pp032-041 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 032-041

Author(s):

Pradeep N ◽

Somesh Subramanian S

Keyword(s):

Energy Storage ◽

Phase Change ◽

Phase Change Material ◽

Phase Change Materials ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Storage System ◽

Thermal Storage ◽

Latent Heat Storage ◽

Peak Loads ◽

Change Material

Thermal energy storage through phase change material has been used for wide applications in the field of air conditioning and refrigeration. The specific use of this thermal storage has been for energy storage during low demand and release of this energy during peak loads with potential to provide energy savings due to this. The principle of latent heat storage using phase change materials (PCMs) can be incorporated into a thermal storage system suitable for using deep freezers. The evaporator is covered with another box which has storage capacity or passage through phase change material. The results revealed that the performance is increased from 3.2 to 3.5 by using PCM.

Download Full-text

Volume Sizing for Thermal Storage With Phase Change Material for Concentrated Solar Power Plant

Volume 1: Combined Energy Cycles, CHP, CCHP, and Smart Grids; Concentrating Solar Power, Solar Thermochemistry and Thermal Energy Storage; Geothermal, Ocean, and Emerging Energy Technologies; Hydrogen Energy Technologies; Low/Zero Emission Power Plants and Carbon Sequestration; Photovoltaics; Wind Energy Systems and Technologies ◽

10.1115/es2014-6321 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ben Xu ◽

Peiwen Li ◽

Cholik Chan

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Phase Change ◽

Phase Change Material ◽

Storage Tank ◽

Solar Power ◽

Heat Storage ◽

Storage System ◽

Thermal Storage ◽

Concentrated Solar Power ◽

Change Material

With a large capacity thermal storage system using phase change material (PCM), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is a promising technology for high efficiency of solar energy utilization. In a thermal storage system, a dual-media thermal storage tank is typically adopted in industry for the purpose of reducing the use of the heat transfer fluid (HTF). While the dual-media sensible heat storage system has been well studied, a dual-media latent heat storage system (LHSS) still needs more attention and study; particularly, the sizing of volumes of storage tanks considering actual operation conditions is of significance. In this paper, a strategy for LHSS volume sizing is proposed, which is based on computations using an enthalpy-based 1D model. One example of 60MW solar thermal power plant with 35% thermal efficiency is presented. In the study, potassium hydroxide (KOH) is adopted as PCM and Therminol VP-1 is used as HTF. The operational temperatures of the storage system are 390°C and 310°C, respectively for the high and low temperatures. The system is assumed to operate for 100 days with 6 hours charge and 6 hours discharge every day. From the study, the needed height of the thermal storage tank is calculated from using the strategy of tank sizing. The method for tank volume sizing is of significance to engineering application.

Download Full-text