Enhancing the efficiency of latent heat thermal energy storage units with twisted fin induced natural convection

IF 5 2区工程技术 Q1 ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL International Journal of Thermal Sciences Pub Date : 2025-03-10 DOI:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2025.109842

Peng Ding, Qiangqiang Ji, Yuxiang Zou

{"title":"Enhancing the efficiency of latent heat thermal energy storage units with twisted fin induced natural convection","authors":"Peng Ding, Qiangqiang Ji, Yuxiang Zou","doi":"10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2025.109842","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents the design of a novel twisted fin structure aimed at enhancing natural convection to examine its effects on phase change material (PCM) melting in a shell-and-tube thermal storage system. Numerical simulations are employed to assess the performance of the latent thermal energy storage system with twisted fins, utilizing the enthalpy-porosity method. Two key factors are analyzed: the twist angle of the fins and the orientation of the thermal storage unit (vertical and horizontal). Thermal performance is evaluated by comparing the liquid fraction, average temperature, and velocity distribution. This paper attempts to demonstrate the advantages of the novel structure through a more visual representation of spatial streamlines. The results indicate that in the vertical orientation, twisted fins significantly improve the melting rate of the PCM compared to annular fins by alleviating the suppression of natural convection. In the horizontal orientation, twisted fins generate strong upward convection and weaker lateral convection. A fin twist angle of 35°is found to yield the highest melting enhancement, with average heat storage rates increasing by 10.7 % in the vertical and 14.8 % in the horizontal configurations, compared to annular fins.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":341,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Thermal Sciences","volume":"214 ","pages":"Article 109842"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Thermal Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1290072925001656","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, MECHANICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study presents the design of a novel twisted fin structure aimed at enhancing natural convection to examine its effects on phase change material (PCM) melting in a shell-and-tube thermal storage system. Numerical simulations are employed to assess the performance of the latent thermal energy storage system with twisted fins, utilizing the enthalpy-porosity method. Two key factors are analyzed: the twist angle of the fins and the orientation of the thermal storage unit (vertical and horizontal). Thermal performance is evaluated by comparing the liquid fraction, average temperature, and velocity distribution. This paper attempts to demonstrate the advantages of the novel structure through a more visual representation of spatial streamlines. The results indicate that in the vertical orientation, twisted fins significantly improve the melting rate of the PCM compared to annular fins by alleviating the suppression of natural convection. In the horizontal orientation, twisted fins generate strong upward convection and weaker lateral convection. A fin twist angle of 35°is found to yield the highest melting enhancement, with average heat storage rates increasing by 10.7 % in the vertical and 14.8 % in the horizontal configurations, compared to annular fins.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

扭曲翅片诱导自然对流潜热蓄热机组效率的提高

本文设计了一种新型的扭曲翅片结构，旨在增强自然对流，以研究其对壳管式储热系统中相变材料（PCM）熔化的影响。采用焓孔法对双翅片潜热蓄能系统的性能进行了数值模拟。分析了两个关键因素：翅片的扭转角和储热单元的朝向（垂直和水平）。通过比较液体分数、平均温度和速度分布来评估热性能。本文试图通过对空间流线的更直观的表现来展示这种新型结构的优势。结果表明，在垂直方向上，与环形翅片相比，扭曲翅片通过减轻自然对流的抑制，显著提高了PCM的熔化速度。在水平方向上，扭曲翅片产生较强的向上对流和较弱的横向对流。研究发现，与环形翅片相比，35°的翅片扭转角度能产生最高的熔化增强，在垂直和水平配置下的平均储热率分别提高10.7%和14.8%。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

International Journal of Thermal Sciences 工程技术-工程：机械

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

11.10%

发文量

531

审稿时长

55 days

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Thermal Sciences is a journal devoted to the publication of fundamental studies on the physics of transfer processes in general, with an emphasis on thermal aspects and also applied research on various processes, energy systems and the environment. Articles are published in English and French, and are subject to peer review. The fundamental subjects considered within the scope of the journal are: * Heat and relevant mass transfer at all scales (nano, micro and macro) and in all types of material (heterogeneous, composites, biological,...) and fluid flow * Forced, natural or mixed convection in reactive or non-reactive media * Single or multi–phase fluid flow with or without phase change * Near–and far–field radiative heat transfer * Combined modes of heat transfer in complex systems (for example, plasmas, biological, geological,...) * Multiscale modelling The applied research topics include: * Heat exchangers, heat pipes, cooling processes * Transport phenomena taking place in industrial processes (chemical, food and agricultural, metallurgical, space and aeronautical, automobile industries) * Nano–and micro–technology for energy, space, biosystems and devices * Heat transport analysis in advanced systems * Impact of energy–related processes on environment, and emerging energy systems The study of thermophysical properties of materials and fluids, thermal measurement techniques, inverse methods, and the developments of experimental methods are within the scope of the International Journal of Thermal Sciences which also covers the modelling, and numerical methods applied to thermal transfer.