TY - JOUR
TI - Enhancing heat transfer in a thermal storage unit with symmetrically arranged curved fins
AU - Gu Xin
AU - Wang Hanzhen
AU - Wang Jie
AU - Chen Weijie
AU - Zhang Jinting
AU - Wang Yongqing
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2025
VL - 29
IS - 5
SP - 3809
EP - 3820
PT - Article
AB - Phase change materials offer a promising solution the imbalance between energy supply and demand by storing latent heat. However, their low thermal conductivity limits their widespread application. To enhance heat storage efficiency, a triplex-tube heat storage unit was proposed with symmetrically arranged curved fins, and its performance was compared with that of a traditional straight-fin unit. The melting process within a triplex-tube system containing various curved fin arrangements was investigated. The results indicate that curved fins yield a stronger heat transfer effect in specific regions compared to straight fins. However, the inherent asymmetry of conventionally arranged curved fins reduces overall heat transfer efficiency. The symmetrically arranged curved fins demonstrate the potential to provide stronger convective heat transfer and a more uniform temperature distribution. Compared to straight-fin heat storage units, the melting speed of symmetrically arranged curved-fin units increases by 9.1%-13.8%, and the average charging power increases by 10.3%-14.1%. The fin configurations and enhancement methods offer a novel approach to fin optimization in thermal storage units.
DO - 10.2298/TSCI241227035G
ER -