Enhancing thermal performance of phase change-based storage units using T-fin levels

Naef A.A. Qasem*, Aissa Abderrahmane, Abdeldjalil Belazreg, Umar F. Alqsair, Riadh Marzouki

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of T-fin levels on the melting process of nano-enhanced phase-change material (NePCM) composites. A rectangular storage unit subjected to heat flux was investigated with Cu nano additions. Various factors were evaluated, such as the number of fin levels, Cu concentration, tilt angle, and heat flux intensity. The study used six metrics of performance, namely the liquid fraction (βAvg), temperature (TAvg), velocity, energy stored (EStore), Bejan number (BeAvg), and average Nusselt number (Nu), to assess the impact of T-fins on the heat transfer mechanism governing the melting of PCM. The phase change process was simulated by the enthalpy-porosity model. The findings indicate that using three-level T-fins demonstrates 5 % faster melting and 42.6 % higher energy storage than one-level T-fins. Including nanoparticles at a volume fraction of 8 % resulted in a 6.7 % increase in melting process time reduction. The melting rate was enhanced by 54.2 % when the heat flux was increased to 1000 W/m2 instead of 600 W/m2. Ultimately, it was determined that the thermal storage unit with an orientation angle >30° relative to the vertical axis proved to be the most efficient, resulting in a decrease in melting time by 5.43 % compared to other configurations.

Original languageEnglish
Article number112135
JournalJournal of Energy Storage
Volume91
DOIs
StatePublished - 30 Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Heat transfer enhancement
  • Nano-enhanced phase-change materials
  • Natural convection
  • T-fin levels
  • Thermal energy storage

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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