Investigation of Heat Transfer Enhancement in a Horizontally Oriented Thermal Storage Module

This thesis examines the effects of various heat transfer enhancement elements on the melting and solidification times of PCM within a thermal energy storage module. Physical experiments and computational investigations were conducted to understand how mass flow rate and heat transfer element geometry affected the melting and solidification times of the PCM Octadecane. Radial, square, and plate fin elements were investigated, along with an AI generated gyroid structure. The findings revealed that minimizing the regions of thick PCM led to the quickest charge and discharge times of the module and suggest that higher heat transfer element to PCM ratios must be utilized in thermal energy storage systems to accelerate their charge and discharge times. The results presented in this study contribute to the overall understanding of designing an effective and economically friendly thermal energy storage module.