Revolutionizing heat recovery in shell-and-tube latent heat storage systems: an arc-shaped fin approach

Abstract

Strengthening the thermal response of Phase-Change Materials (PCMs) is an essential and active field of research with promising potential for advanced applications such as solar energy storage, building energy conservation, and thermal management in electronic devices. This article evaluates the efficacy of a new arc-shaped fin array in shell-and-tube heat storage systems to enhance the PCM response during the discharge mode. Different fin geometric parameters including the fin curvature angle, the fin spacing, and the nonuniform angle between fins in the top and bottom sections of the PCM domain were considered to identify the best-performing layout. The analysis shows that increasing the curvature of arc-shaped fins between 60° and 180° and increasing the fin spacing between 5 and 15 mm can significantly reduce solidifying time and improve heat recovery rates. Moreover, the arc-shaped fins are more efficient than conventional longitudinal (+-shaped) fins, which are commonly employed in thermal energy storage applications. Arc-shaped fins can also save discharge time by more than half and improve the rate of heat recovery by almost four times than that of + -shaped fins. The present findings suggest that arc-shaped fins represent a promising design for enhancing the heat-recovery aspects in PCM-based energy storage systems.