Numerical study of melting performance enhancement for PCM in an annular enclosure with internal-external fins and metal foams

Zhao, Chunrong; Opolot, Michael; Liu, Ming; Bruno, Frank; Mancin, Simone; Hooman, Kamel

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2020.119348

Cited by 155 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…While the cost, heat dissipation efficiency and other factors should also be considered. Zhao et al [101] investigated the PCM melting properties in an annular space with constant inner and outer tube wall temperature by using fins and metal foams such as nickel, aluminum and copper. The results showed that the melting time first decreased and then increased with the increase of the fins quantities when the fin thickness and volume were fixed.…”

Section: Finsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The results showed that the melting time first decreased and then increased with the increase of the fins quantities when the fin thickness and volume were fixed. By comparison to pure PCM, the melting time would be further decreased by 8% by appropriately increasing the fins length at the Zhao et al [101] investigated the PCM melting properties in an annular space with constant inner and outer tube wall temperature by using fins and metal foams such as nickel, aluminum and copper. The results showed that the melting time first decreased and then increased with the increase of the fins quantities when the fin thickness and volume were fixed.…”

Section: Finsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phase Change Materials Application in Battery Thermal Management System: A Review

et al. 2020

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The purpose of a battery thermal management system (BTMS) is to maintain the battery safety and efficient use as well as ensure the battery temperature is within the safe operating range. The traditional air-cooling-based BTMS not only needs extra power, but it could also not meet the demand of new lithium-ion battery (LIB) packs with high energy density, while liquid cooling BTMS requires complex devices to ensure the effect. Therefore, phase change materials (PCMs)-based BTMS is becoming the trend. By using PCMs to absorb heat, the temperature of a battery pack could be kept within the normal operating range for a long time without using any external power. PCMs could greatly improve the heat dissipation efficiency of BTMS by combining with fillers such as expanded graphite (EG) and metal foam for their high thermal conductivity or coordinating with fins. In addition, PCMs could also be applied in construction materials, solar thermal recovery, textiles and other fields. Herein, a comprehensive review of the PCMs applied in thermal storage devices, especially in BTMS, is provided. In this work, the literature concerning current issues have been reviewed and summarized, while the key challenges of PCM application have been pointed out. This review may bring new insights to the PCM application.

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Section: Finsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Finsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase Change Materials Application in Battery Thermal Management System: A Review

et al. 2020

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“…Another study on the fins arrangement and metal foam effects on PCMs is performed by Zhao et al [32], which shows a 60% reduction in melting time can be achieved based on optimizing the number of fins. Santos et al [33] enhanced the PCM solidification through finned pipes, and developed the correlations to examine PCM thermal performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A numerical study on the effects of nanoparticles and stair fins on performance improvement of phase change thermal energy storages

Nakhchi

Hatami

Rahmati

2021

Energy

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“…However, carefully designed fins have been shown to be as efficient as introducing metal foam in the system [ 34 ]. Melting time is also shown to be proportional to the porosity of an added foam but inversely proportional to the fraction of the enclosure that is filled with foam [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phase-Transition Thermal Charging of a Channel-Shape Thermal Energy Storage Unit: Taguchi Optimization Approach and Copper Foam Inserts

et al. 2021

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Thermal energy storage is a technique that has the potential to contribute to future energy grids to reduce fluctuations in supply from renewable energy sources. The principle of energy storage is to drive an endothermic phase change when excess energy is available and to allow the phase change to reverse and release heat when energy demand exceeds supply. Unwanted charge leakage and low heat transfer rates can limit the effectiveness of the units, but both of these problems can be mitigated by incorporating a metal foam into the design of the storage unit. This study demonstrates the benefits of adding copper foam into a thermal energy storage unit based on capric acid enhanced by copper nanoparticles. The volume fraction of nanoparticles and the location and porosity of the foam were optimized using the Taguchi approach to minimize the charge leakage expected from simulations. Placing the foam layer at the bottom of the unit with the maximum possible height and minimum porosity led to the lowest charge time. The optimum concentration of nanoparticles was found to be 4 vol.%, while the maximu possible concentration was 6 vol.%. The use of an optimized design of the enclosure and the optimum fraction of nanoparticles led to a predicted charging time for the unit that was approximately 58% shorter than that of the worst design. A sensitivity analysis shows that the height of the foam layer and its porosity are the dominant variables, and the location of the porous layer and volume fraction of nanoparticles are of secondary importance. Therefore, a well-designed location and size of a metal foam layer could be used to improve the charging speed of thermal energy storage units significantly. In such designs, the porosity and the placement-location of the foam should be considered more strongly than other factors.

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Numerical study of melting performance enhancement for PCM in an annular enclosure with internal-external fins and metal foams

Cited by 155 publications

References 41 publications

Phase Change Materials Application in Battery Thermal Management System: A Review

Phase Change Materials Application in Battery Thermal Management System: A Review

A numerical study on the effects of nanoparticles and stair fins on performance improvement of phase change thermal energy storages

Phase-Transition Thermal Charging of a Channel-Shape Thermal Energy Storage Unit: Taguchi Optimization Approach and Copper Foam Inserts

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