Development of the Latent Heat Storage System Using Phase Change Material with Insertion of Helical Fins to Improve Heat Transfer Rate

Abstract

The phase change materials are having capability to store the latent as well as the sensible form of heat. These materials are having poor rates of heat transfer during solid to liquid phase transformation and vice versa. It happens because of poor thermal conductivity of phase change materials. For improving rate of heat transfer, the fins with helical design are introduced in the phase change material. The paraffin wax was used as phase change material. Different experimentations were carried out by maintaining constant flow rate of heat transferring fluid and varying its inlet temperature. With the use of helical fins, the effect on the total time required for melting and solidification of phase change material was determined. The Reynolds and Stefan numbers are used as the performance parameters. This paper illustrates that the use of helical fins reduces the total cycle time of charging and discharging process of the phase change material compared with the plain latent heat storage system.