Numerical simulation of conjugate heat transfer and solid-liquid phase transition in a spiral thermal energy storage unit

摘要

Two-dimensional computer simulation is presented for conjugate heat transfer and solid-liquid phase change, concurrently occurring within a domain of the paraffin wax-air spiral thermal energy storage unit during its charging and discharging.Numerical model is based on local energy balances in a set of curvilinear control-volumes and on the enthalpy approach to account for the latent heat effect. Through the comparison of its results with data, got from the performed experimental analysis, it was found that the proposed computational tool is sufficiently accurate. Therefore, it was further utilized to determine quantitative thermal characteristics of the paraffin wax-air spiral thermal energy storage unit to answer the question of the impactof air flow conditions and geometry of the spiral heat exchanger on temporal characteristics of charging and discharging.