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Comprehensive Study on Melting Process of Phase Change Material by Using Paraffin Coupled Finned Heating Plate for Heat Transfer Enhancement

Author

Listed:
  • Lixi Zhang

    (School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China)

  • Zhengyang Zhang

    (School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China)

  • Hui Yin

    (School of Power and Energy, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China)

Abstract

Paraffin is a low-temperature phase change material, which is often used to recover and store heat in a solar thermal utilization system. This study aims to reveal the development and migration law of paraffin melting interface with time under the influence of a finned heating plate, as well as the heat transfer mechanism, and obtain the ways and methods to enhance the heat transfer in phase change material through visual experiments and numerical simulation. The research shows that once the paraffin with a high liquid fraction connects the mushy zone between the fin and the top wall, the vortexes in the mushy zone increases rapidly, which enhances the natural convective heat transfer in it, resulting in the rapid increase of liquid fraction. The lower the position of the fin, the longer the time required to form a mushy zone with a high liquid fraction between the fin and the top wall, and the later the phenomenon of rapid increase of liquid fraction occurs. Compared with changing the fin position, increasing the fin length has a greater effect on the paraffin melting rate. When other conditions remain unchanged, the inclination of fin and the effective length of fin in the horizontal direction jointly determine the melting rate of paraffin. The melting effect of paraffin is the best when the fin is inclined upward by 15°.

Suggested Citation

  • Lixi Zhang & Zhengyang Zhang & Hui Yin, 2022. "Comprehensive Study on Melting Process of Phase Change Material by Using Paraffin Coupled Finned Heating Plate for Heat Transfer Enhancement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:3097-:d:766036
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zhang, P. & Meng, Z.N. & Zhu, H. & Wang, Y.L. & Peng, S.P., 2017. "Melting heat transfer characteristics of a composite phase change material fabricated by paraffin and metal foam," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1971-1983.
    2. Diao, Y.H. & Liang, L. & Zhao, Y.H. & Wang, Z.Y. & Bai, F.W., 2019. "Numerical investigation of the thermal performance enhancement of latent heat thermal energy storage using longitudinal rectangular fins and flat micro-heat pipe arrays," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 894-905.
    3. Mohammad Ghalambaz & Seyed Abdollah Mansouri Mehryan & Masoud Mozaffari & Obai Younis & Aritra Ghosh, 2021. "The Effect of Variable-Length Fins and Different High Thermal Conductivity Nanoparticles in the Performance of the Energy Storage Unit Containing Bio-Based Phase Change Substance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, March.
    4. Mohammad Ghalambaz & S.A.M. Mehryan & Mahboobeh Mahdavi & Obai Younis & Mohammad A. Alim, 2021. "Evaluation of the Melting Performance in a Conical Latent Heat Thermal Unit Having Variable Length Fins," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Beata Pytlik & Daniel Smykowski & Piotr Szulc, 2022. "The Impact of Baffle Geometry in the PCM Heat Storage Unit on the Charging Process with High and Low Water Streams," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.

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