Research and optimization of heat transfer characteristics of heat pipe-coupled phase change energy storage system

Abstract

Heat pipe coupled Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) is a commonly used technique for improving heat storage, due to its advantages such as heat conduction, isothermal, and uniform temperature. Adding fins to the heat pipe can enhance energy storage efficiency and system performance. Although previous research has looked into how heat pipe layouts affect LHTES, there is still a dearth of research on fin geometry optimization for boosted heat transfer. In this work, we used ANSYS Fluent to simulate the consequence of fin placement upon the heating capacity of a Phase Change Material (PCM) based LHTES system. Through an in-depth analysis of the heat transfer mechanisms, in an effort to quicken the PCM’s solidification process, we adjusted the fins’ length and spacing. The LHTES system’s overall solidification time was greatly shortened by the optimized model, going from 18800 seconds to 8500 seconds, achieving a 54.79% enhancement in thermal transfer efficiency.