Numerical Study of Heat Transfer Enhancement by Arc-Shaped Fins in a Shell-Tube Thermal Energy Storage Unit

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) technology can alleviate the mismatch between supply and demand of solar industrial waste heat, but low conductivity phase change materials (PCMs) is an issue that needs to be solved. In this work, effects bifurcated fins on melting solidification are studied, local global entropy generation discussed. The radial lag time circumferential were defined evaluate penetration uniformity. Subsequently, a novel arc-shaped fin configuration was proposed further enhance transfer. results showed attaching could effectively reduce generation. Increasing trunk length beneficial uniformity promote process, while increasing branch more effective in process. Overall, determined More importantly, concentric significantly reduced transfer hysteresis region, better performance than straights fins, release by 52.7% 51.6%, respectively.