Latent heat of phase change for energy storage

How to develop a latent heat thermal energy storage system?

The development of a latent heat thermal energy storage system therefore involves the understanding of heat transfers/exchanges in the PCMs when they undergo solid-to-liquid phase transition in the required operating temperature range, the design of the container for holding the PCM and formulation of the phase change problem.

Are phase change materials suitable for thermal energy storage?

Phase change materials (PCMs) having a large latent heat during solid-liquid phase transition are promising for thermal energy storage applications. However, the relatively low thermal conductivity of the majority of promising PCMs (<10 W/ (m ⋅ K)) limits the power density and overall storage efficiency.

What is latent heat storage?

In addition latent heat storage has the capacity to store heat of fusion at a constant or near constant temperature which correspond to the phase transition temperature of the phase change material (PCM).

What is a latent heat TES system?

In latent heat TES systems, a PCM must be heated beyond its melting point to initiate melting, allowing thermal energy to be stored as latent heat during the storage or melting phase. Conversely, the PCM must be cooled to solidify, enabling the stored thermal energy to be recovered during the heat recovery or solidification phase.

Can latent heat and sensible heat be combined?

An interesting option for the realization of systems with high storage densities is the sequential combination of latent heat and sensible heat, using both the enthalpy change at the transition from phase A to phase B and the sensible heat storage in phase A and/or in phase B.

Is heat transfer transient in a phase change thermal energy storage system?

A detailed numerical analysis was presented by Aljehani et al. to demonstrate the transient behaviour of heat transfer in a phase change thermal energy storage system. On the other hand, Kubinski et al. provided a simplified dynamic model in Aspen HYSYS software.