Parametric study on melting process of a shell-and-tube latent thermal energy storage under fluctuating thermal conditions

Li, Z., Lu, Y. , Huang, R., Wang, L., Jiang, R., Yu, X. and Yu, X. (2020) Parametric study on melting process of a shell-and-tube latent thermal energy storage under fluctuating thermal conditions. Applied Thermal Engineering, 180, 115898. (doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.115898)

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Abstract

The intermittent and fluctuating nature of thermal sources such as solar, geothermal, industrial processes and waste heat from internal combustion engines is one of the most challenging research areas and currently limits the implementation of heat recovery systems such as Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology. Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) using Phase Change Material (PCM) is a promising solution to mitigate fluctuations of thermal sources and maintaining the heat recovery systems under designed conditions. However, the melting process significantly affects the energy storage performance, as well as the design and optimisation of the LTES system under fluctuating thermal conditions. In this study, the melting process of a shell-and-tube LTES unit, under a sinusoidal heat source, is numerically investigated in order to consider the effects of period and amplitude. Then, the effects of PCM thermal conductivity, with and without nanoparticles, were simulated and the heat transfer coefficient of sinusoidal heat source on the melting process is separately analysed under the sinusoidal heat source condition. The parametric study of thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient is conducted to evaluate whether these parameters affect the period and amplitude of sinusoidal heat sources on the melting process of LTES. The results indicate an overall trend of the total melting time and heat storage capacity of LTES decreasing whilst there is an increase of period and amplitude of the fluctuating heat source.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Acknowledgements: Support from the Newton Fund under the UK-China Joint Researchand Innovation Partnership Fund (Grant Number 201703780098), theRoyal Academy of Engineering through the Transforming Systemsthrough Partnerships program (Grant Number TSPC1098), the NationalNatural Science Foundation of China (Grant Numbers 51976176 and51806189), the Fundamental Research Funds for the CentralUniversities (2020QNA4008), China Science Foundation (GrantNumbers 2019T120514 and 2018M640556) and Zhejiang ProvinceScience Foundation (Grant Number ZJ20180099) are acknowledgedand much appreciated.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Lu, Dr Yiji
Authors: Li, Z., Lu, Y., Huang, R., Wang, L., Jiang, R., Yu, X., and Yu, X.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
Journal Name:Applied Thermal Engineering
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:1359-4311
ISSN (Online):1873-5606
Published Online:17 August 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd.
First Published:First published in Applied Thermal Engineering 180: 115898
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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