Inherent fluctuations in the availability of energy from renewables, particularly solar, remain a substantial impediment to their widespread deployment worldwide. Employing phase-change materials (PCMs) as media, saving energy for later consumption, offers a promising solution for overcoming the problem. However, the heat conductivities of most PCMs are limited, which severely limits the energy storage potential of these materials. This study suggests employing circular fins with staggered distribution to achieve improved thermal response rates of PCM in a vertical triple-tube heat exchanger involving two opposite flow streams of the heat-transfer fluid (HTF). Since heat diffusion is not the same at various portions of the PCM unit, different fin configurations, fin dimensions and HTF flow boundary conditions were explored using computational studies of melting in the PCM triple-tube system. Staggered configuration of fin distribution resulted in significant increases in the rates of PCM melting. The results indicate that the melting rate and heat charging rate could be increased by 37.2 and 59.1%, respectively, in the case of staggered distribution. Furthermore, the use of lengthy fins with smaller thickness in the vertical direction of the storage unit resulted in a better positive role of natural convection; thus, faster melting rates were achieved. With fin dimensions of 0.666 mm × 15 mm, the melting rate was found to be increased by 23.6%, when compared to the base case of 2 mm × 5 mm. Finally, it was confirmed that the values of the Reynolds number and inlet temperatures of the HTF had a significant impact on melting time savings when circular fins of staggered distribution were included.
The aim of this work was to capture solar radiation and convert it into solar thermal energy by using a storage material and the heat transfer fluid like oil and water and comparison between them, we used the evacuated tube as a receiver for solar radiation, The results showed that the oil better than water as storage material and the heat transfer fluid and the effective thermal conductivity material and good for power level, rates and durations of charge and discharge cycles.
Different parameters of double pipe helical coil were investigation experimentally. Four coils were used; three with a curvature ratio (0.037, 0.031, and 0.028) and 11mm diameter of the inner tube while the fourth with 0.033 curvature ratio and 13 mm diameter of the inner tube. The hot water flow in the inner tube whereas the cold water flows in the annulus. The inlet temperatures of hot and cold water are 50 0C and 18 0C respectively. The inner mass flow rate ranges from 0.0167 to 0.0583 kg/s. The results show the Nusselt number increase with increase curvature ratio. The Nusselt number of the coil with 0.037 curvature ratio increases by approximately 12.3 % as compare with 0.028 curvature ratio. The results also r
... Show MoreThe evacuated tube solar collector ETC is studied intensively and extensively by experimental and
theoretical works, in order to investigate its performance and enhancement of heat transfer, for Baghdad climate
from April 2011 till the end of March 2012. Experimental work is carried out on a well instrumented collector
consists of 16 evacuated tubes of aspect ratio 38.6 and thermally insulated tank of volume 112L. The relation
between convective heat transfer and natural circulation inside the tube is estimated, collector efficiency, effect of
tube tilt angles, incidence angle modifier, The solar heating system is investigated under different loads pattern (i.e
closed and open flow) to evaluate the heat loss coefficient
An improved Metal Solar Wall (MSW) with integrated thermal energy storage is presented in this research. The proposed MSW makes use of two, combined, enhanced heat transfer methods. One of the methods is characterized by filling the tested ducts with a commercially available copper Wired Inserts (WI), while the other one uses dimpled or sinusoidal shaped duct walls instead of plane walls. Ducts having square or semi-circular cross sectional areas are tested in this work.
A developed numerical model for simulating the transported thermal energy in MSW is solved by finite difference method. The model is described by system of three governing energy equations. An experimental test rig has been built and six new duct configurations have b
This paper presents an experimental and theoretical analysis to investigate the two-phase flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of the refrigerant R-134a in the evaporator test section of the refrigeration system under different operating conditions. The test conditions considered are, for heat flux (13.7-36.6) kW/m2, mass flux (52-105) kg/m2.s, vapor quality (0.2-1) and saturation temperature (-15 to -3.7) ˚C. Experiments were carried out using a test rig for a 310W capacity refrigeration system, which is designed and constructed in the current work. Investigating of the experimental results has revealed that, the enhancement in local heat trans
... Show MoreThe present study explores numerically the energy storage and energy regeneration during Melting and Solidification processes in Phase Change Materials (PCM) used in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) systems. Transient two-dimensional (2-D) conduction heat transfer equations with phase change have been solved utilizing the Explicit Finite Difference Method (FDM) and Grid Generation technique. A Fortran computer program was built to solve the problem. The study included four different Paraffin's. The effects of container geometrical shape, which included cylindrical and square sections of the same volume and heat transfer area, the container volume or mass of PCM, variation of mass flow rate of heat transfer fluid (HTF), and temp
... Show MoreComputational study of three-dimensional laminar and turbulent flows around electronic chip (heat source) located on a printed circuit board are presented. Computational field involves the solution of elliptic partial differential equations for conservation of mass, momentum, energy, turbulent energy, and its dissipation rate in finite volume form. The k-ε turbulent model was used with the wall function concept near the walls to treat of turbulence effects. The SIMPLE algorithm was selected in this work. The chip is cooled by an external flow of air. The goals of this investigation are to investigate the heat transfer phenomena of electronic chip located in enclosure and how we arrive to optimum level for cooling of this chip. These par
... Show MoreAn experimental investigation of natural convection heat transfer from an isothermal horizontal,vertical and inclined heated square flat plates with and without circular hole, were carried out in two cases, perforated plates without an impermeable adiabatic hole "open core" and perforated plates with an impermeable adiabatic hole "closed core" by adiabatic plug. The experiments covered the laminar region with a range of Rayleih number of (1.11x106 ≤RaLo≤4.39x106 ), at Prandtle number (Pr=0.7). Practical experiments have been done with variable inclination angles from horizon (Ф=0o ,45o,90o,135oand 180o),facing upward (0o≤Ф<90o), and downward (90o
≤Ф<180o). The results showed that the temperature gradient increases whi