Evaluation and optimization of melting performance for a latent heat thermal energy storage unit partially filled with porous media
TL;DR: In this paper, the melting performance of phase change materials (PCMs) in a horizontal concentric-tube thermal energy storage (TES) unit was numerically investigated with consideration of natural convection.
About: This article is published in Applied Energy.The article was published on 2017-05-01. It has received 223 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Porous medium & Porosity.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the advantages/disadvantages of porous materials via summarizing the key research progress on the porous materials (e.g., metal foams, expanded graphite, graphene aerogels, carbon nanotubes, porous minerals, mesoporous silica, etc.) as ss-PCMs supports.
415 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effect of porosity and pore density on heat transfer, thermal conductivity, specific heat, latent heat and charging/discharging time are critically reviewed.
336 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the phase change heat transfer in porous phase change materials (ss-PCMs) is discussed and a review of the recent experimental and numerical investigations is presented, which shows that the pore-scale simulation can provide extra flow and heat transfer characteristics in pores, exhibiting great potential for the simulation of mesoporous, microporous and hierarchical porous materials.
Abstract: Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) uses phase change materials (PCMs) to store and release heat, and can effectively address the mismatch between energy supply and demand. However, it suffers from low thermal conductivity and the leakage problem. One of the solutions is integrating porous supports and PCMs to fabricate shape-stabilized phase change materials (ss-PCMs). The phase change heat transfer in porous ss-PCMs is of fundamental importance for determining thermal-fluidic behaviours and evaluating LHTES system performance. This paper reviews the recent experimental and numerical investigations on phase change heat transfer in porous ss-PCMs. Materials, methods, apparatuses and significant outcomes are included in the section of experimental studies and it is found that paraffin and metal foam are the most used PCM and porous support respectively in the current researches. Numerical advances are reviewed from the aspect of different simulation methods. Compared to representative elementary volume (REV)-scale simulation, the pore-scale simulation can provide extra flow and heat transfer characteristics in pores, exhibiting great potential for the simulation of mesoporous, microporous and hierarchical porous materials. Moreover, there exists a research gap between phase change heat transfer and material preparation. Finally, this review outlooks the future research topics of phase change heat transfer in porous ss-PCMs.
259 citations
Cites background or methods from "Evaluation and optimization of melt..."
...08 FVM 2D C [101] Li2CO3 and K2CO3/copper foam Li2CO3 and K2CO3/SiC foam Li2CO3 and K2CO3/Al2O3 foam Li2CO3 and K2CO3/ nickel foam 0....
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...velocity field (left semicircle) and melting interface (right semicircle) at different melting fractions [101]...
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...[101] evaluated and optimized the melting performance of a cylindrical TES unit partially filled with a porous medium....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the thermal response of the shell-and-tube energy storage system consisting of multiple segments holding separate phase-change materials (PCMs) of different melting points was studied.
201 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an innovative fractal-tree-shaped structure is introduced to construct the metal fin of a shell-tube LHS unit, and the effect of length ratio and width index on energy discharge performance is examined and analyzed.
180 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a review of solar collectors and thermal energy storage systems, including both non-concentrating collectors and concentrating collectors, in terms of optical optimisation, heat loss reduction, heat recuperation enhancement and different sun-tracking mechanisms.
1,370 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an experimental and numerical study of forced convection in high porosity (e∼0.89-0.97) metal foams was conducted using air as the fluid medium.
Abstract: We report an experimental and numerical study of forced convection in high porosity (e∼0.89-0.97) metal foams. Experiments have been conducted with aluminum metal foams in a variety of porosities and pore densities using air as the fluid medium. Nusselt number data has been obtained as a function of the pore Reynolds number. In the numerical study, a semi-empirical volume-averaged form of the governing equations is used. The velocity profile is obtained by adapting an exact solution to the momentum equation. The energy transport is modeled without invoking the assumption of local thermal equilibrium. Models for the thermal dispersion conductivity, k d , and the interstitial heat transfer coefficient, h sf , are postulated based on physical arguments. The empirical constants in these models are determined by matching the numerical results with the experimental data obtained in this study as well as those in the open literature. Excellent agreement is achieved in the entire range of the parameters studied, indicating that the proposed treatment is sufficient to model forced convection in metal foams for most practical applications
911 citations
TL;DR: Etude experimentale de l'ecoulement de convection naturelle dans la phase liquide and de son influence on le mouvement of l'interface liquide-solide et sur le transfert de chaleur au cours de la fusion and de la solidification de gallium a haute purete sur une paroi verticale as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Etude experimentale de l'ecoulement de convection naturelle dans la phase liquide et de son influence sur le mouvement de l'interface liquide-solide et sur le transfert de chaleur au cours de la fusion et de la solidification de gallium a haute purete sur une paroi verticale
518 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the recent technologies of thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials (PCM) for various applications, particularly concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) generation systems.
503 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focused on the classification of various paraffins and salt hydrates, and provided an understanding on how to maximize thermal utilization of PCM and how to improve the phase transition rate, thermal conductivity, latent heat storage capacity and thermo-physical stability.
484 citations