A critical review on phase change materials (PCM) based heat exchanger: Different hybrid techniques for the enhancement

This study illuminates the groundbreaking innovation and real-world utility of Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) systems, unveiling an advanced and readily deployable solution for efficiently storing and releasing thermal energy. The Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) system has been developed as a dispatchable solution for storing and releasing thermal energy. LHTES units use phase change materials (PCMs), which, through charging and discharging, store energy in the form of thermal energy. LHTES devices are more practical than alternative approaches because of their increased heat storage capacity, a sizable array of PCMs, and virtually isothermal behavior. LHTES systems also need one hermetic container with no salt pumps, pipelines, or heating trace requirement. One of the major challenges for such an LHTES system is the selection of proper PCMs to achieve the targeted applications. Despite significant efforts to improve the LHTE units, their efficacy and broader range of application remain limited. To address these issues, researchers have explored alternate techniques to enhance the efficacy of the PCM-based energy storage and exchange units. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of LHTES based on PCMs, focusing on exploring the potential of different techniques to improve their efficacy for enhanced thermal performance. The paper thoroughly scrutinizes the different aspects of phase change materials (PCM), methods of improvement in their performance, and different hybrid techniques. The present status of the PCMs-based advanced energy storage system is also presented systematically. Finally, challenges and future recommendations are also proposed for future researchers. The review's outcome reveals that hybridization techniques can potentially enhance the performance of PCMs-based energy storage units. This review work also covers the PCM-based energy storage system's economic aspects for long-term sustainability.