PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF LATENT HEAT THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM USING FINS

Abstract

The Purpose of the current work is to examine the performance of a PCM i.e. phase change material within a Trapezoidal shape unit to store heat energy. The Numerical simulation is done using ANSYS 22 software to simulate and analyze the results, focusing on temperature and time contours throughout melting part and solidification part of PCM. Storage unit features a square shape tube in which fins are attached to the tube to study the HTR. One main challenge encountered in PCM melting is the collection of solid material at the lowermost in a process of charging and LF rests at the uppermost during the process of discharging. The numerical simulation explains the temperature distribution across various ranges during the melting and solidification phases. The system's effectiveness and performance are enhanced by using this setup. The simulation's results show that throughout the melting process, the liquid percentage rapidly grows, reaching 78% during the first 250 minutes. This is because heat is transferred through convection and conduction. However, after then, heat is transferred primarily through conduction, which results in a decline in the rate of liquid fraction and a total melting time of 2390 minutes for the PCM. In a similar manner, following the first 250 minutes of discharge, the solid percentage increases more slowly, solidifying to about 34%. However, it takes 1660 minutes for the PCM to fully solidify. The study's finding show that using a trapezoidal form geometry and including fins may enhance the melting and solidification part for a TESs.