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In this study, a validated CFD model was employed for the simulation of the charging and discharging processes in a long shell-and-tube latent heat storage system suitable for high-temperature applications, such as solar thermal power generation. A shell-and-tube enclosure, having a height of 0.92 m and shell inner radius of 0.0325 m, was simulated. The results indicated that the effect of natural convection cannot be neglected during charging. The heat transfer rate during discharging, which is primarily dictated by conduction, is lower than that during the charging process and thus the design of such systems must be based on the discharging process. Models that neglect the effect of convection during discharging can predict the amount of heat discharged with a maximum discrepancy of 6%

A cost effective thermal storage system is required for the sustainable operation of parabolic trough solar power plants using synthetic oil as the heat transfer fluid in the solar field. Latent heat storage has the advantage of higher performance and lower material inventory. However, potential materials for use have low thermal conductivities leading to low utilization factors. The use of fins was found to be the best heat transfer enhancement method.A validated melting and solidification model available in the commercial CFD code, Fluent, was used to determine the heat transfer enhancement produced by various radial fin configurations. A fin arrangement having an outer radius of 0.0488 m, and distance between fins of 0.01 m with a fin thickness of 0.001 m was found to be the best configuration. A correlation for heat transfer, which can be employed in determining the performance of a complete storage system, was developed.Keywords-CFD, enhanced latent heat storage, fins, and solar thermal power plants.