Accelerating melting time in a triplex tube heat exchanger thermal energy storage unit with micro-channels

This article studies optimal conditions to maximize heat transfer efficiency within a triplex tube heat exchanger (TTHX) filled with phase-change material. In this context, micro-channels (MCs) incorporated into TTHX for the first time for acceleration melting time. A two-dimensional numerical model has been developed, and pure conduction and natural convection are both simulated. The Reynolds numbers range from 1 to 100. The types of temporal velocity profiles into micro-channels were uniform, step, elliptic, sinusoidal, and power. The effect of gravity states, namely no gravity, with gravity, and (MCHE), has been studied with different numbers of microchannels (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14). The results showed that there was no variation in melting duration observed when increasing the Re number from 50 to 100. Thus, the maximum reduction in melting period occurred at Re = 50. Moreover, sinusoidal velocity profiles were more effective and could help the process finish sooner. In addition, micro channel tube exchanger (MCTE) fitted or equipped with 10 micro-channels has an optimum condition considering pressure drop and complete melting time. Using the sinusoidal profile reduced the total fusion time by 325 s compared to uniform flow (8.47 % reduction). This indicates that the sinusoidal profile is an effective way to reduce the melting period.