article · Materials
Latent heat storage devices depend heavily on the thermal characteristics of the phase change materials they contain. This study evaluated the performance of a paraffin-based material blended with aluminium oxide nanoparticles. Using a three-dimensional numerical model of a shell-and-tube storage device, researchers simulated melt percentages, average temperatures, and energy transfer rates. Adding ten percent aluminium oxide nanoparticles increased the melting rate of pure paraffin by roughly 2.25 times, while the solidification rate rose by 1.8 times. These faster charging and discharging phases came with a trade-off, as the addition of nanoparticles reduced both the heat of fusion and specific heat capacities, lowering the overall latent and sensible heat storage capacity. The findings suggest that integrating such latent heat devices with solar water heaters could support systems requiring steady thermal energy, such as biogas production.
Efficient heat storage is vital for capturing renewable energy, such as solar power, and releasing it when needed. While phase change materials like paraffin can store considerable thermal energy, they often transfer heat slowly. Identifying how nanoparticle additives accelerate melting and solidification helps engineers design faster-responding thermal storage units for green energy applications.
The findings point toward applications in thermal management, particularly integrating latent heat storage with solar water heaters to maintain temperatures for processes like biogas generation. Systems developers and renewable heating engineers could utilise these performance parameters. Because this work relies on three-dimensional numerical simulations, it represents early-stage design research that requires physical prototyping and empirical testing before commercial deployment.
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The output of the latent heat storage devices (LHSDs), based on some phase change materials (PCMs), depends upon the thermophysical properties of the phase change material used. In this study, a paraffin-based nanofluid, blended with aluminum oxide (Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) nanoparticles, is used as PCM for performance evaluation. A three-dimensional (3D) numerical model of regenerative type shell-and-tube LHSD is prepared using COMSOL Multiphysics<sup>®</sup> 4.3a software to estimate the percentage of melt and the average temperature of the analyzed nanofluids. The results of this study are in close agreement with those reported in the literature, thereby ensuring the validation of the numerically predicted results. The effects of adding the nanoparticles on the rate of melting, as well as solidification and rate of stored/liberated energy, are studied. The results revealed that, by adding 10% nanoparticles of Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, the melting rate of pure-paraffin-based LHSD improved by about 2.25 times. In addition, the rate of solidification was enhanced by 1.8 times. On the other hand, the heat of fusion and specific heat capacities were reduced, which, in turn, reduced the latent and sensible heat-storing capabilities. From the outcomes of the present research, it can be inferred that combining LHSD with a solar water heater may be used in technologies such as biogas generation.
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DOI: 10.3390/ma15134427
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