Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector
A combined solar phase-change thermal-storage heating system is proposed, wherein erythritol is used as the phase-change material (PCM) used to fill the thermal-storage device, and the storage cavity is heated and stored with a disc concentrator. The Solidification/Melting, Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) mod...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Materials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/21/7497 |
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| author | Yuxuan Deng Jing Xu Yanna Li Yanli Zhang Chunyan Kuang |
| author_facet | Yuxuan Deng Jing Xu Yanna Li Yanli Zhang Chunyan Kuang |
| author_sort | Yuxuan Deng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A combined solar phase-change thermal-storage heating system is proposed, wherein erythritol is used as the phase-change material (PCM) used to fill the thermal-storage device, and the storage cavity is heated and stored with a disc concentrator. The Solidification/Melting, Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) model of ANSYS Fluent software was used to simulate the phase-change process of erythritol inside the thermal-storage device. The thermal-storage device was designed based on our numerical calculations, and its performance was tested. We found that larger PCM-volume fractions correlated with lower PCM volume-expansion rates and longer total melting times during the heat storage process. When the <i>φ</i> value equaled 80%, the PCM solid–liquid-phase interface and temperature distribution were most uniform and showed the best heat storage. In addition, the size of the heat-storage device affected the heat-exchange area, and the total melting time of the PCM decreased and then increased as the width-to-height ratio (I) increased. With this design capacity, the late stage of the charging process of the heat-storage device accounted for 70% of the total time, and the heat energy-utilization rate during the boiling process was 66.3%. Overall, this combined heating system can be considered a very efficient solar energy-utilization terminal for basic domestic energy needs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:54:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dee3a3430c8c468290e9c4cbb52876b3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T18:54:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-dee3a3430c8c468290e9c4cbb52876b32023-11-24T05:36:11ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442022-10-011521749710.3390/ma15217497Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar CollectorYuxuan Deng0Jing Xu1Yanna Li2Yanli Zhang3Chunyan Kuang4BaiLie School of Petroleum Engineering, Lanzhou City University, Lanzhou 730071, ChinaBaiLie School of Petroleum Engineering, Lanzhou City University, Lanzhou 730071, ChinaBaiLie School of Petroleum Engineering, Lanzhou City University, Lanzhou 730071, ChinaBaiLie School of Petroleum Engineering, Lanzhou City University, Lanzhou 730071, ChinaBaiLie School of Petroleum Engineering, Lanzhou City University, Lanzhou 730071, ChinaA combined solar phase-change thermal-storage heating system is proposed, wherein erythritol is used as the phase-change material (PCM) used to fill the thermal-storage device, and the storage cavity is heated and stored with a disc concentrator. The Solidification/Melting, Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) model of ANSYS Fluent software was used to simulate the phase-change process of erythritol inside the thermal-storage device. The thermal-storage device was designed based on our numerical calculations, and its performance was tested. We found that larger PCM-volume fractions correlated with lower PCM volume-expansion rates and longer total melting times during the heat storage process. When the <i>φ</i> value equaled 80%, the PCM solid–liquid-phase interface and temperature distribution were most uniform and showed the best heat storage. In addition, the size of the heat-storage device affected the heat-exchange area, and the total melting time of the PCM decreased and then increased as the width-to-height ratio (I) increased. With this design capacity, the late stage of the charging process of the heat-storage device accounted for 70% of the total time, and the heat energy-utilization rate during the boiling process was 66.3%. Overall, this combined heating system can be considered a very efficient solar energy-utilization terminal for basic domestic energy needs.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/21/7497energysolar energyconcentratorphase-change heat storagenumerical calculation |
| spellingShingle | Yuxuan Deng Jing Xu Yanna Li Yanli Zhang Chunyan Kuang Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector Materials energy solar energy concentrator phase-change heat storage numerical calculation |
| title | Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector |
| title_full | Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector |
| title_fullStr | Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector |
| title_full_unstemmed | Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector |
| title_short | Study of the Phase-Change Thermal-Storage Characteristics of a Solar Collector |
| title_sort | study of the phase change thermal storage characteristics of a solar collector |
| topic | energy solar energy concentrator phase-change heat storage numerical calculation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/21/7497 |
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