Effect of Triangle Fin Inclination Angle and Aluminum Metal Foam on Melting Process in A Vertical Latent Heat Energy Storage System

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 11 - 30

Emrehan Gürsoy , Mehmet Gürdal , Engin Gedik

https://doi.org/10.53525/jster.1635055

Abstract

The main objective of this numerical study is to investigate the effect of triangle fin inclination angles (IAs) on the melting process in a Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) system designed as a vertical rectangular cavity with and without metal foam (MF). In the cases, paraffin wax phase change material (PCM) filled the entire domain, and the Brinkman-Darcy-Forchheimer model, assuming local thermal equilibrium (LTE), and the enthalpy-porosity method were employed to simulate the melting process. In total, 14 different cases were analyzed and the results were validated with literature at high accuracy. Melting time, stored energy, temperature variation, and hydrodynamical behavior of the melting derived from numerical simulations are provided. The findings highlight that utilizing MF has reduced the melting time by 87.5 times and it provided a uniform melting due to enhancing the thermal conductivity of the domains. Also, MF has varied melting behavior and the shortest melting time was realized at 120° without MF, while cases with MF experienced the earliest melting at R-60°. However, using MF decreased the stored energy amount at the rate of 5.69% while the highest energy storage was realized without MF of R-60° as 54.83 kJ.m-1.

Keywords

Latent heat thermal energy storage, Melting, Metal foam, Phase change material, Triangle fin

Dikey Gizli Isı Enerji Depolama Sisteminde Üçgen Kanat Eğim Açısının ve Alüminyum Metal Köpüğün Erime Sürecine Etkisi

Abstract

Bu sayısal çalışmanın temel amacı, metal köpük (MF) bulunan ve bulunmayan dikey dikdörtgen bir boşluk olarak tasarlanan Gizli Isı Termal Enerji Depolama (LHTES) sisteminde üçgen kanat eğim açılarının (IA’lar) erime süreci üzerindeki etkisini incelemektir. Çalışmada, faz değişim malzemesi (PCM) olarak parafin balmumu tüm hacmi doldurmuş ve yerel termal denge (LTE) varsayımı altında Brinkman-Darcy-Forchheimer modeli ile entalpi-gözeneklilik yöntemi kullanılarak erime süreci simüle edilmiştir. Toplamda 14 farklı durum analiz edilmiş ve elde edilen sonuçlar literatür ile yüksek doğrulukta doğrulanmıştır. Sayısal simülasyonlardan elde edilen erime süresi, depolanan enerji, sıcaklık değişimi ve erime sürecinin hidrodinamik davranışı sunulmuştur. Bulgular, MF kullanımının erime süresini 87,5 kat azalttığını ve alanların ısıl iletkenliğini artırarak daha homojen bir erime sağladığını göstermektedir. Ayrıca, MF’nin erime davranışını değiştirdiği ve MF olmayan durumlarda en kısa erime süresinin 120° açıda gerçekleştiği, MF bulunan durumlarda ise en erken erimenin R-60°’de gözlemlendiği belirlenmiştir. Ancak, MF kullanımı depolanan enerji miktarını %5,69 oranında azaltmıştır ve en yüksek enerji depolama miktarı MF bulunmayan R-60° durumunda 54,83 kJ.m⁻¹ olarak gerçekleşmiştir.

Keywords

Gizli ısı termal enerji depolama, Erime, Gözenekli yapı, Faz değiştiren madde, Üçgen kanatçık

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