Heat transfer enhancement of phase change materials embedded with metal foam for thermal energy storage: A review

Phase change materials (PCMs) have been considered suitable energy materials to address the mismatch between energy demand and supply to improve the utilization efficiency of the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system. However, the relatively low thermal conductivity of PCMs leads to an undesirable thermal response rate of the LHTES system. Among the common methods to improve the heat transfer performance of PCMs, the employment of metal foam (MF) has attracted growing attention as an effective strategy. Plenty of studies have investigated thoroughly the vital parameters of MF impacting the phase change process, while a corresponding discussion of the situations and limitations of the known technologies is still lacking. In this review, a total of 476 literature derived since 2000 are visualized based on scientometric analysis to exhibit the attractive spotlights and new trends. The impact factors on the heat transfer performance of PCMs embedded with MF (PCMs/MF) are presented in-depth. Besides, the developments of hybrid heat transfer enhancement techniques based on the MF are overviewed comprehensively. Combined with the thermal characteristics of typical applications, systematic information on PCMs/MF in these applications is summarized, and the suitability of these technologies is discussed. Finally, ongoing challenges of PCMs/MF are identified, and developmental tendencies and opportunities for further research work to address them are discussed. This review provides helpful information to facilitate the development of innovative and feasible PCMs/MF in the LHTES system and encourage and attract researchers and scholars to get some advancement in their future work.