Investigation and simulation of the effect of fin presence in energy storage systems on the basis of phase change materials

In this work, a new method for storing thermal energy with the help of phase change materials in geometries with fins was proposed. The proposed fins were spaced at ۴۵ degree angles. A transient three-dimensional geometry was designed and investigated to study phase change materials (RT۵۸). The simulation results were compared with the no-fin mode. To validate the results, the obtained data were compared with similar laboratory data. To investigate the effect of the fins, Liquid fraction data, mean temperature and fluid velocity at the same time intervals were examined. The results showed well that the presence of fins has a great effect on the melting speed of PCMs and can well solve the problem of low heat transfer. The results also showed that more thermal energy can be stored in PCMs with the help of fins in an equal period of time.

Keywords:

PCM , Ansys Fluent , energy storage ,