Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Sinusoidal Middle Plate with Variable Wavelength on Enhancing the Melting Process of a Vertical Triple-Tube Heat Exchange Unit

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jiroft, Jiroft, Iran

Abstract

In this research, the effects of a sinusoidal middle plate with variable wavelength on the melting process of a vertical triple-tube heat storage unit were investigated. The middle enclosure was filled with the phase change material (PCM) while the heat transfer fluids (HTFs) passed through the inner and outer tubes. The enthalpy-porosity approach was applied in order to simulate the PCM phase change process, using ANSYS FLUENT 2020 R2 software. The flow regime was supposed to be laminar while the velocity and pressure fields were coupled using the SIMPLE approach. For the evaluation of the efficacy of the heat exchange unit with wavy middle plate, the outcomes of various scenarios were compared with those cases in the absence of the middle plate. Therefore, the performance of the thermal energy unit was assessed via comparing the liquid fraction and temperature contours as well as the melting times and heat storage values of various scenarios. The numerical results showed that the sinusoidal middle plate with variable wavelength decreased the melting time by 67.59%, while the heat storage rate increased by 200% compared with the cases in the absence of the middle plate.

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References

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Energy Engineering and Management
Volume 13, Issue 3
December 2023
Pages 112-127

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