Enhancing the Melting Process of Shell-and-Tube PCM Thermal Energy Storage Unit Using Modified Tube Design.

Recently, phase change materials (PCMs) have gained great attention from engineers and researchers due to their exceptional properties for thermal energy storing, which would effectively aid in reducing carbon footprint and support the global transition of using renewable energy. The current research attempts to enhance the thermal performance of a shell-and-tube heat exchanger by means of using PCM and a modified tube design. The enthalpy-porosity method is employed for modelling the phase change. Paraffin wax is treated as PCM and poured within the annulus; the annulus comprises a circular shell and a fined wavy (trefoil-shaped) tube. In addition, copper nanoparticles are incorporated with the base PCM to enhance the thermal conductivity and melting rate. Effects of many factors, including nanoparticle concentration, the orientation of the interior wavy tube, and the fin length, were examined. Results obtained from the current model imply that Cu nanoparticles added to PCM materials improve thermal and melting properties while reducing entropy formation. The highest results (27% decrease in melting time) are obtained when a concentration of nanoparticles of 8% is used. Additionally, the fins' location is critical because fins with 45° inclination could achieve a 50% expedition in the melting process.

Hydrothermal and Entropy Investigation of Nanofluid Mixed Convection in Triangular Cavity with Wavy Boundary Heated from below and Rotating Cylinders.

Nanofluids have become important working fluids for many engineering applications as they have better thermal properties than traditional liquids. Thus, this paper addresses heat transfer rates and entropy generation for a Fe3O4/MWCNT-water hybrid nanoliquid inside a three-dimensional triangular porous cavity with a rotating cylinder. The studied cavity is heated by a hot wavy wall at the bottom and subjected to a magnetic field. This problem is solved numerically using the Galerkin finite element method (GFEM). The influential parameters considered are the rotating cylinder speed, Hartmann number (Ha), Darcy number (Da), and undulation number of the wavy wall. The results showed that higher Da and lower Ha values improved the heat transfer rates in the cavity, which was demonstrated by a higher Nusselt number and flow fluidity. The entropy generation due to heat losses was also minimized for the enhanced heat transfer rates. The decrease in Ha from 100 and 0 improved the heat transfer by about 8%, whereas a high rotational speed and high Da values yield optimal results. For example, for Ω = 1000 rad/s and Da = 10-2, the enhancement in the average Nusselt number is about 38% and the drop in the Bejan number is 65% compared to the case of Ω = 0 rad/s and Da = 10-5. Based on the applied conditions, it is recommended to have a high Da, low Ha, one undulation for the wavy wall, and high rotational speed for the cylinder in the flow direction.