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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Therm. Eng.
Sec. Thermal Energy Storage and Conversion
Volume 5 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fther.2025.1501448
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods in Thermal Energy Applications and Storage View all articles
Numerical Investigation on structure optimization and heat transfer of a phase change accumulator based on changing eccentricity and fin parameters
Provisionally accepted- Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, China
The scarcity and strain of energy resources, along with the pursuit of efficient utilization, have emerged as critical challenges confronting the global community in the contemporary era. Energy storage technology offers the means to defer the utilization of heat or cold, thereby addressing the root cause of energy shortages. Notably, the integration of new energy sources has further amplified the demand for energy storage. In comparison, the cost of heat storage is merely one-tenth that of electricity storage, endowing heat storage with more promising application prospects. Within the realm of heat storage, phase change heat storage has become a prominent area of research focus due to its distinctive advantages, such as high heat storage density, compact volume, and convenient control and matching capabilities. Consequently, we conduct an endeavor to investigate the characteristics of phase change heat storage and augment heat transfer efficiency. Based on CFD simulation software and mathematical model of enthalpy method, a phase transformation process numerical model of tubular paraffin coupled with thermal conductivity and natural convection was established, and its heat-absorption and heat-release characteristics were simulated. The results show that the phase transition interface is symmetrical, but the upper and lower parts are asymmetrical, and the paraffin at the top has the fastest melting speed. Then the eccentric sleeve and fin are introduced to strengthen the heat absorption and release process of phase change. Moreover, the increase of eccentricity, the circulating flow range caused by natural convection increases, and the melting speed is accelerated, because the amount of paraffin in the lower part and the thermal resistance decrease. At the same time, increasing the eccentricity in a certain range is conducive to accelerating the melting process. The melting time of paraffin wax can be significantly shortened by adding fins, and the melting time of paraffin wax can be significantly shortened by increasing fin height and fin width, but the shortening gradient decreases gradually with the increase of fin height and fin width.
Keywords: Phase change heat storage, paraffin wax, numerical simulation, Eccentric distance, fin reinforced heat transfer
Received: 25 Sep 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 shi, Zhang, Yang and li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Liting Zhang, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, China
yongwen Yang, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, China
qifen li, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, China
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