Experimental evaluation of thermal performance of two different finned latent heat storage systems
Ayad K. Hassan, Jasim Abdulateef, Mustafa S. Mahdi, Ahmed F. Hasan
Abstract
Enhancing the reliability and acceptability of solar-based thermal energy system requires efficient thermal storage to enable the storage of surplus energy collected during day time for use during non-day light hours. However, most phase change materials (PCMs) used with thermal storages suffer from low thermal conductivity. Fin geometry has a major impact on the heat transfer rates of thermal storage. For this purpose, a comparative thermal performance assessment during charging is achieved for a shell-and-tube-type latent heat storage unit (LHSU) using different fin geometries. An experimental analysis is conducted on three LHSU geometries: non-finned LHSU, longitudinal finned (LF) LHSU (LF-LHSU) and circular finned (CF) LHSU (CF-LHSU). In addition, a visual observation of liquid fraction fronts is applied to confirm the completion of phase change cycles. Experimental results showed that the total charging time reduced by up to 70% and 55% using CF-LHSU and LF-LHSU, respectively. In comparison with the non-finned LHSU, the highest cumulative energy stored enhancement using CF-LHSU was approximately 52%. The experimental comparative assessment suggests that CF-LHSU provides improved charged thermal load operations by a factor of 1.2 as compared with LF-LHSU.