Experimental validation of a CFD model on a vertical finned tube heat exchanger phase change thermal energy storage system

Phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage systems are an effective technology for energy storage. Compared to sensible storage, the main advantages of such storage systems are the high storage capacity and recovery of thermal energy at almost constant temperature. The main disadvantage of using PCM in a thermal energy storage system is its low thermal conductivity. This thermal property will often lead to low charging and discharging rates, which will in turn decrease the overall effectiveness of the system. To overcome the low thermal conductivity of PCMs, heat transfer enhancement techniques are required. Significant research has been conducted to study heat transfer enhancement techniques in PCMs. A common technique used is placing fins on the tubes. An experimental validation for a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for a vertical finned tube heat exchanger has been conducted. It was found that the model matches well with the experimental results. Another CFD model with plain copper tube was also developed to compare with the finned tube model. It was found that when the inlet temperature was set at 50 °C, there was a 92% improvement in the heat rate generated. However, when the inlet temperature was set at 60 °C, the heat rate improvement increased to 243%.