DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2009.CONV
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-261-4
ISSN Online: 2642-3499
ISSN Flash Drive: 2642-3502
EFFECT OF THE GEOMETRY OF HEAT STORAGE UNIT ON HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS
摘要
Thermal energy storage is an attractive alternative for the use of intermittent energy sources such as solar energy, and the excess energy being wasted in power plants. The objective of this research is to study the heat transfer characteristics of a proposed design of a heat storage unit (HSU) using paraffin wax as a phase change material (PCM) and water as heat transfer fluid (HTF), investigate the effect of unit configuration on the unit performance. It was found that the temperature profile of PCM changes gradually and smoothly as time proceeds. At the end of experiment, there is a uniform temperature gradient along the PCM, the highest is at the top and the lowest is at the bottom. Adding fins had a positive effect on the performance of the HSU. The percentage of added area for longitudinal fins to the unfinned tubing system is 60%, corresponding to a percentage increase in heat transfer rate up to 65%. On the other hand, a 58% increase of the added area for circular fins lead to an improvement of the heat transfer rate up to 160%. This means that circular fins have more pronounced effect on the HSU efficiency compared to longitudinal fins.