Progress in the Study of Enhanced Heat Exchange in Phase Change Heat Storage Devices

Abstract

In comparison with sensible heat storage devices, phase change thermal storage devices have advantages such as high heat storage density, low heat dissipation loss, and good cyclic performance, which have great potential for solving the problem of temporal and spatial imbalances in the transfer and utilization of heat energy. However, there are also issues such as the small thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) and poor efficiency in heat storage and release, and in recent years, enhanced heat transfer in phase change thermal storage devices has become one of the research hotspots for optimizing thermal storage devices. Although there have been reviews of enhanced heat transfer technology for phase change thermal storage devices in the literature, there is still insufficient research on the summarization of the enhanced heat transfer mechanism, structural optimization, and applications of phase change thermal storage devices. This Review provides a review of enhanced heat transfer in phase change thermal storage devices from two aspects: internal structure enhanced heat transfer and heat exchange medium flow channel enhanced heat transfer. It summarizes the enhanced heat transfer measures of various types of phase change thermal storage devices and discusses the role of structural parameters in enhanced heat transfer. It is hoped that this Review will provide some references for scholars engaged in research on phase change thermal storage heat exchangers.