Parametric Effect on Bed Temperature of PCM Packed Bed Latent Heat Storage System

Abstract

A latent heat storage system comprising of Phase Change Material (PCM) encapsulated in spherical capsules and stacked in a cylindrical vessel to form a packed bed. The system parameters that have been varied in this study include thermal conductivity of PCM (Kpcm), thermal conductivity of the capsule envelope (Kenv) and diameter of the capsule (Dc) concerns the individual capsule performance while the void fraction of the bed (ε) concerns the bed performance. Operating parameters like mass flow rate, thermo physical properties of the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF), inlet temperature of the bed and ambient temperature have not been varied in this study. Temperature profiles of the bed were determined for charging process as function of these parameters. Keywords-Diameter of capsule; phase change material; thermal conductivity of PCM material; thermal conductivity of capsule material; Void fraction.