Experimental study of an externally finned tube with internal heat transfer enhancement for phase change thermal energy storage

Abstract

After having presented the design of a latent heat thermal energy storage system (LHTESS) for district heating, experimental results of a vertical tube-in-shell LHTESS are discussed. The tube is radially finned on its external wall to enhance the heat transfer in the phase change material. The test rig is operated with flow conditions corresponding to the proposed design. As the internal flow of heat transfer fluid (HTF) appears to be laminar and is highly influenced by buoyancy forces, which results in mixed convection regime, cross-sectional area reducers are installed inside the HTF tube in order to reduce the Rayleigh number and thus natural convection. Experimental results are presented for two finned tubes, with and without internal heat transfer enhancement respectively.