Study of Thermal Behavior of a Horizontal Two Fins Annular Tube Heat Exchanger with Melting Phase Change Material: Fins Orientation Effects

This paper investigates the effect of fins orientations of a horizontal two fins annular tube heat exchanger on enhancing the heat transfer during the melting process of n-eicosane, as phase change material (PCM) used in thermal storage systems. Based on the enthalpy-porosity method, two-dimensional model is performed and solved by Ansys Fluent. The impact of the fins orientation on melting rate, thermal conduction and natural convection, as the angle of the system varied from 0 degrees(vertical fins) to 90 degrees(horizontal fins) are discussed. Numerical predictions are validated by comparison with experimental data and numerical results reported in the literature. Good agreements are achieved. The results show that at initial time of the melting process, the conduction heat transfer is dominant. During the melting process, the heat transfer in the horizontal fins is more effective while the upper half of PCM melts and less effective as the lower half of PCM melts because fin arrangement resists natural convection occurs. However, the effectiveness of heat transfer and convection in the vertical fins is almost constant during the entire melting process. From comparison, better heat transfer performance is achieved with vertical fins system; complete melting was reduced 250% compared to horizontal fins case.