Performance prediction of cyclic thermal regenerators utilising latent heat of packing matrix

Abstract

Thermal storage systems utilising the latent heat of fusion of a phase change material (PCM) are simulated for symmetric-balanced/unbalanced conditions in terms of the conventional thermal effectiveness and newly proposed performance characteristics factors. A unified two-phase model is formulated to accommodate the performance prediction of cyclic thermal regenerators with encapsulated PCM or conventional packing. The effects of flow channelling and transverse thermal condition on the performance of such systems are also discussed.