Designing Next‐Generation Thermal Energy Storage Systems with Nanoparticle‐Based Hybrid Phase Change Materials: A Computational Analysis

Abstract

The disparity between the supply and demand for thermal energy has encouraged scientists to develop effective thermal energy storage (TES) technologies. In this regard, hybrid nano‐enhanced phase‐change materials (HNePCMs) are integrated into a square enclosure for TES system analysis. Several HNePCMs are formulated with different highly conductive nanoparticles in varying proportions. For the numerical study, three HNePCMs, namely HNePCM‐1, HNePCM‐2, and HNePCM‐3, are employed to investigate melting characteristics and energy‐storage capacity analysis. The outcomes of the analysis are determined by examining several variables, such as mass fraction, enthalpy, and temperature, concerning the melting and heat‐transfer processes. In the results, it is indicated that HNePCM‐1_10% yields the best thermal performance as compared to the other HNePCM_8% and HNePCM_5% case studies. Furthermore, the melting time is shortened for HNePCM‐1_10%, HNePCM‐2_10%, and HNePCM‐3_10% by 20%, 10%, and 5%, respectively. The enthalpy of HNePCM‐1 exhibits greater enhancement compared to HNePCM‐2 and HNePCM‐3, respectively. The enhancement in energy‐storage capacity for HNePCM‐1_10%, HNePCM‐2_10%, and HNePCM‐3_10% is 18.69%, 16.66%, and 6.85% higher than that of the base material. Thus, HNePCMs are demonstrated to be more efficient materials and are emerging as potential materials to augment the performance of TES applications.