An overview of thermal energy storage systems

This paper presents a state-of-the-art review on various techniques of heat transfer enhancement in latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems. Heat transfer enhancement in LHTES systems can be achieved through either geometric configuration and/or thermal conductivity enhancement. The use of extended surfaces such as fins or heat pipes is a common technique for heat transfer enhancement in LHTES systems and therefore, reviewed in details in this paper. Next, we studied the thermal conductivity enhancement techniques, which include the use of porous materials, nanoparticles with high thermal conductivity, and low-density materials. Finally, studies involving combined techniques for heat transfer enhancement are reviewed in the paper. The paper discusses research gaps in the methods of heat transfer enhancement for LHTES systems and proposed some recommendations.

Heat transfer enhancement of phase change materials for thermal energy storage applications: A critical review

Thermal energy storage is needed to improve the efficiency of solar thermal energy applications (STEA) and to eliminate the mismatch between energy supply and energy demand. Among the thermal energy storages, the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) has gained much attention because of its high-energy densities per unit mass/volume at nearly constant temperatures. This review presents previous studies on the numerical modeling of phase change materials (PCMs) through a commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software and self-developed programming to study the heat transfer phenomena in PCMs. The CFD (Fluent) software is successively used to simulate the application of PCMs in different engineering applications, including electronic cooling technology, building thermal storage, and heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC). Using CFD software to design LHTES is believed to be an effective way to save money and time and to deliver optimization tools for maximum efficiency of STEAs.

CFD applications for latent heat thermal energy storage: a review

Melting and solidification of PCM enhanced by radial conductive fins and nanoparticles in cylindrical annulus

Thermal performance of phase change material (PCM) based pin-finned heat sinks for electronics devices: Effect of pin thickness and PCM volume fraction

S.M. Moosania

Papers

Experimental and numerical studies on performance of PCM-based heat sink with different configurations of internal fins