Melting dynamics analysis of a multi-tube latent heat thermal energy storage system: Numerical study

This numerical study investigates the melting dynamics of paraffin wax as a phase change material (PCM) in a multi-tube latent heat thermal energy storage system (MT-LHTESS). The performance of an arrangement with four tubes is compared with a concentric single tube arrangement keeping the same cross-section area of heat transfer fluid tubes and the same PCM quantity. Four longitudinal fins of two types are also incorporated to further improve the melting. Thirteen cases with different arrangements of tubes and fins are compared in this study. The study attempts to select a suitable arrangement of the tubes. A two-dimensional enthalpy-porosity model in ANSYS-Fluent is used to solve the governing equations. The melting results are depicted as the contours of liquid fraction, temperature, and flow streamlines. The transient performance is assessed based on progress plots of liquid fraction and average domain velocity. It is observed that splitting into multiple tubes and using fins enhance the melting performance. The generation and coalescence of small vortices in the molten PCM accelerate the melting performance. The staggered array, larger eccentricity, and (+ type) finned tubes outperform their counterparts. The lowest melting time is observed in Case 2(+), having four staggered tubes, at 30 mm eccentricity, and with (+ type) fins. This case takes 75 min for complete melting, and 1411.1 kJ/m heat at a rate of 322 W/m is stored. The melting time gets reduced by 53.3-71.1% using four tubes and by 65.78-83.33% using finned four tubes as compared to the single tube case.