Heat transfer enhancement technology for fins in phase change energy storage

In the process of industrial waste heat recovery, phase change heat storage technology has become one of the industry's most popular heat recovery technologies due to its high heat storage density and almost constant temperature absorption/release process. In practical applications, heat recovery and utilization speed are particularly critical. Developing fins with reasonable structure or optimizing the original fins can speed up the process of heat storage and utilization to a certain extent. To improve the heat transfer enhancement design efficiency of fins and expand their application and reference range, this paper summarizes the current development process of new fins in the industry and the optimization results of the size, shape, and arrangement of fins by related researchers. It aims at these research results and how to design the shape, size, quantity, and arrangement of heat exchange fins from four proposed ideas and methods. The strengthening mechanism of heat transfer effect enhancement is analyzed. The research results show that the multi-branch structure is the research direction of the new fin design in the future; the non-uniform fin array has better heat transfer performance than the uniform fin array; the targeted arrangement of fins can maximize the heat transfer effect; there is an optimal number of fins in the heat accumulator; the parameters such as the size and number of fins and the size parameters of the heat accumulator are not independent of each other, but influence and restrict each other. The design process needs to be considered comprehensively; the topology optimization method, multi-objective response surface method, Taguchi method, orthogonal test method, etc., are commonly used in optimizing the shape and size of fins, which are simple and efficient. • Fine, multi-branched structure for deeper thermal penetration • Topology optimization, RSM, Taguchi, and orthogonal methods are commonly used in fin design. • Non-uniform fin arrays have better unilateral heat transfer than uniform arrays. • Optimal design of fins for the dominant heat transfer mechanism in different zones • Optimum heat transfer level in relation to optimum number of fins, thickness etc.