Hanging energy storage box shell processing

How does a shell-and-tube thermal energy storage unit work?

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage units employ phase change materials to store and release heat at a nearly constant temperature, deliver high effectiveness of heat transfer, as well as high charging/discharging power.

Can fins enhance thermal performance of shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage unit?

Previous studies in literatures adequately emphasized that inserting fins into phase change material is among the most promising techniques to augment thermal performance of shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage unit.

Do unequal-length fins improve heat transfer and energy storage performance?

A 21.17% improvement of the heat transfer performance is obtained when the total length of unequal-length fins is 18 mm. The present study is helpful to make further efforts to enhance heat transfer and energy storage of shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage unit with unequal-length fins.

What is thermal energy storage?

Thermal energy storages are applied to decouple the temporal offset between heat generation and demand. For increasing the share of fluctuating renewable energy sources, thermal energy storages are undeniably important. Typical applications are heat and cold supply for buildings or in industries as well as in thermal power plants.

Can thermal energy storage improve energy production?

Some energy production processes, such as renewable energy generation and waste heat recovery, face the issues of mismatch between demand and supply. Thermal energy storage (TES) provides a promising solution to bridge this mismatch by storing and releasing heat or cold at given conditions, thus upgrading the system efficiency [ 2, 3 ].

What are the challenges of latent thermal energy storage?

One of the main challenges for latent thermal energy storages is the phase change itself which requires a separation of the storage medium and HTF. Furthermore, PCMs usually have a low thermal conductivity, which limits the heat transfer and power of the storage.