IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i15p3610-d1440867.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cold Storage and Release Characteristics of Phase Change Cold Storage Plate with Non-Uniform Fins

Author

Listed:
  • Kun Wu

    (Department of Automobile and Ship Engineering, Yantai Vocational College, Yantai 264670, China)

  • Haibo Zhao

    (School of Ocean, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China)

  • Ye Wang

    (School of Ocean, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China)

Abstract

Ice plates, widely used in food cold chain refrigeration transportation, involve challenges such as long cold storage time and low efficiency in use. This study establishes a mathematical model for ice plate cold storage and release. It analyzes the influence of fin setting position, distribution, and size on the cold storage and release characteristics of non-uniform fins having diverse sizes and spacing on the inner and outer surfaces of the ice plate. Results show that compared to finless ice plates, plates with inner or outer fins can reduce the cold storage and release time, accelerate the charging and discharging efficiency of the cold storage equipment, and potentially save time. Cold storage and release time savings of up to 17.5% and 19.6%, respectively, were attained using outer fins. Driven by natural convection inside the finned ice plate, cold storage proceeds from top to bottom, while cold release proceeds from bottom to top. For inner fins, the distribution has a higher impact on the cold storage and release speed than the size. For outer fins, both the distribution and size equally affect the cold storage and release speed. The smaller the reference spacing between the outer fins, the faster the cooling storage, but the slower the cold release. The larger the reference area, the faster the cooling storage, but the slower the cold release. Thus, when designing ice plate products, the distribution and the size of fins should be selected based on prior consideration of storage or release speed. This study provides a theoretical basis and design guidance for the design of ice plate products, especially for refrigerated transportation applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Kun Wu & Haibo Zhao & Ye Wang, 2024. "Cold Storage and Release Characteristics of Phase Change Cold Storage Plate with Non-Uniform Fins," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-29, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:15:p:3610-:d:1440867
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/15/3610/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/15/3610/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Chuanchang & Peng, Meicheng & Xie, Baoshan & Li, Yaxi & Li, Mu, 2024. "Novel phase change cold energy storage materials for refrigerated transportation of fruits," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    2. Yang, Xiaohu & Guo, Junfei & Yang, Bo & Cheng, Haonan & Wei, Pan & He, Ya-Ling, 2020. "Design of non-uniformly distributed annular fins for a shell-and-tube thermal energy storage unit," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    3. Liu, Ming & Saman, Wasim & Bruno, Frank, 2012. "Development of a novel refrigeration system for refrigerated trucks incorporating phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 336-342.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yi Zhang & Haoran Yu & Yingzhen Hou & Neng Zhu, 2025. "Multi-Objective Optimization Research Based on NSGA-II and Experimental Study of Triplex-Tube Phase Change Thermal Energy Storage System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-27, April.
    2. Xinguo Sun & Jasim M. Mahdi & Hayder I. Mohammed & Hasan Sh. Majdi & Wang Zixiong & Pouyan Talebizadehsardari, 2021. "Solidification Enhancement in a Triple-Tube Latent Heat Energy Storage System Using Twisted Fins," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Nie, Binjian & She, Xiaohui & Du, Zheng & Xie, Chunping & Li, Yongliang & He, Zhubing & Ding, Yulong, 2019. "System performance and economic assessment of a thermal energy storage based air-conditioning unit for transport applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Guchhait, Rekha & Sarkar, Biswajit, 2025. "Economic evaluation of an outsourced fourth-party logistics (4PL) under a flexible production system," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    5. Zhang, Chuan & Zhou, Li & Chhabra, Pulkit & Garud, Sushant S. & Aditya, Kevin & Romagnoli, Alessandro & Comodi, Gabriele & Dal Magro, Fabio & Meneghetti, Antonella & Kraft, Markus, 2016. "A novel methodology for the design of waste heat recovery network in eco-industrial park using techno-economic analysis and multi-objective optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 88-102.
    6. Wang, Zeyu & Diao, Yanhua & Zhao, Yaohua & Chen, Chuanqi & Wang, Tengyue & Liang, Lin, 2023. "Experimental and numerical studies of thermal transport in a latent heat storage unit with a plate fin and a flat heat pipe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    7. Liu, Zhan & Liu, Zihui & Guo, Junfei & Wang, Fan & Yang, Xiaohu & Yan, Jinyue, 2022. "Innovative ladder-shaped fin design on a latent heat storage device for waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    8. Gao, Peng & Wei, Xinyu & Wang, Liwei & Zhu, Fangqi, 2022. "Compression-assisted decomposition thermochemical sorption energy storage system for deep engine exhaust waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PB).
    9. Bie, Yu & Tang, Yilian & Liu, Weiyi & Hnydiuk-Stefan, Anna & Gupta, M.K. & Królczyk, Jolanta B. & Li, Z., 2024. "Optimization of a finned multi-tube latent heat storage system using new structure evaluation indexes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    10. Ma, Tao & Guo, Zichang & Shen, Lu & Liu, Xing & Chen, Zhenwu & Zhou, Yong & Zhang, Xiaochun, 2021. "Performance modelling of photovoltaic modules under actual operating conditions considering loss mechanism and energy distribution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    11. Bin Li & Jiaming Guo & Jingjing Xia & Xinyu Wei & Hao Shen & Yongfeng Cao & Huazhong Lu & Enli Lü, 2020. "Temperature Distribution in Insulated Temperature-Controlled Container by Numerical Simulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Song, Yanlin & Zhang, Nan & Jing, Yaoge & Cao, Xiaoling & Yuan, Yanping & Haghighat, Fariborz, 2019. "Experimental and numerical investigation on dodecane/expanded graphite shape-stabilized phase change material for cold energy storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    13. Jankowski, Nicholas R. & McCluskey, F. Patrick, 2014. "A review of phase change materials for vehicle component thermal buffering," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1525-1561.
    14. Liu, Zichu & Quan, Zhenhua & Zhang, Nan & Wang, Yubo & Yang, Mingguang & Zhao, Yaohua, 2023. "Energy and exergy analysis of a novel direct-expansion ice thermal storage system based on three-fluid heat exchanger module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(PB).
    15. Liu, Ming & Saman, Wasim & Bruno, Frank, 2014. "Computer simulation with TRNSYS for a mobile refrigeration system incorporating a phase change thermal storage unit," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 226-235.
    16. Volker Dreißigacker & Andrea Gutierrez, 2024. "Latent Thermal Energy Storage for Cooling Demands in Battery Electric Vehicles: Development of a Dimensionless Model for the Identification of Effective Heat-Transferring Structures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-17, December.
    17. Ahn, Jae Hwan & Kim, Hoon & Jeon, Yongseok & Kwon, Ki Hyun, 2022. "Performance characteristics of mobile cooling system utilizing ice thermal energy storage with direct contact discharging for a refrigerated truck," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    18. Obai Younis & Laouedj Samir & Abdeldjalil Belazreg & Naef A. A. Qasem, 2023. "Numerical Analysis of the Influence of Inner Tubes Arrangement on the Thermal Performance of Thermal Energy Storage Unit," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-16, April.
    19. Shi, Lingfeng & Tian, Hua & Shu, Gequn, 2020. "Multi-mode analysis of a CO2-based combined refrigeration and power cycle for engine waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    20. Oró, Eduard & Barreneche, Camila & Farid, Mohammed M. & Cabeza, Luisa F., 2013. "Experimental study on the selection of phase change materials for low temperature applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 130-136.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:15:p:3610-:d:1440867. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.