Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Natural Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient in Phase Change Material (PCM) Based Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

Latent heat thermal energy storage systems allow storing large amounts of energy in relatively small volumes. Phase change materials (PCMs) are used as a latent heat storage medium. However, low thermal conductivity of most PCMs results in long melting (charging) and solidification (discharging) processes. This study focuses on the PCM melting process in a fin-and-tube type copper heat exchanger. The aim of this study is to define analytically natural convection heat transfer coefficient and compare the results with experimental data. The study shows how the local heat transfer coefficient changes in different areas of the heat exchanger and how it is affected by the choice of characteristic length and boundary conditions. It has been determined that applying the calculation method of the natural convection occurring in the channel leads to results that are closer to the experiment. Using this method, the average values of the heat transfer coefficient (have) during the entire charging process was obtained 68 W/m2K, compared to the experimental result have = 61 W/m2K. This is beneficial in the predesign stage of PCM-based thermal energy storage units.