Designing Next-Generation Thermal Energy Storage Systems with Nanoparticle-Based Hybrid Phase Change Materials: A Computational Analysis

Abstract

The disparity between the supply and demand for thermal energy has encouraged scientists to develop effective thermal energy storage (TES) technologies. In this regard, hybrid nano-enhanced phase-change materials (HNePCMs) are integrated into a square enclosure for TES system analysis. Several HNePCMs are formulated with different highly conductive nanoparticles in varying proportions. For the numerical study, three HNePCMs, namely HNePCM-1, HNePCM-2, and HNePCM-3, are employed to investigate melting characteristics and energy-storage capacity analysis. The outcomes of the analysis are determined by examining several variables, such as mass fraction, enthalpy, and temperature, concerning the melting and heat-transfer processes. In the results, it is indicated that HNePCM-1_10% yields the best thermal performance as compared to the other HNePCM_8% and HNePCM_5% case studies. Furthermore, the melting time is shortened for HNePCM-1_10%, HNePCM-2_10%, and HNePCM-3_10% by 20%, 10%, and 5%, respectively. The enthalpy of HNePCM-1 exhibits greater enhancement compared to HNePCM-2 and HNePCM-3, respectively. The enhancement in energy-storage capacity for HNePCM-1_10%, HNePCM-2_10%, and HNePCM-3_10% is 18.69%, 16.66%, and 6.85% higher than that of the base material. Thus, HNePCMs are demonstrated to be more efficient materials and are emerging as potential materials to augment the performance of TES applications.