Effect of grooving on the inner surface of the spherical capsule filled with DI water for rapid heat transfer in cool thermal energy storage applications

The demand for cooling applications increases severalfold; the integration of the CTES system will mitigate the demand and pollution caused by the building sectors. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of grooving on the inner surface of the spherical capsule on the solidification characteristics of deionized (DI) water, which finds widespread use in the bed of cool thermal energy storage applications. Eight hemispheres made of mild steel of 100-mm diameter and 1-mm thickness are used to make four spherical capsules by the welding process for the study. Among the four capsules, one with a plain surface and the remaining with a groove depth of 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm, and 0.7 mm are made. The grooving in the hemispherical capsule is obtained by the turning operation. The experiments are conducted at various bath temperatures of − 6 °C, − 9 °C, and − 12 °C. The experimental result reveals that the surface modification leads to a significant reduction in solidification time, and in particular, the maximum percentage reduction in solidification time is achieved at − 6 °C. The provision of grooves makes the evaporator operate at − 6 °C instead of − 12 °C till the solidification of 75% mass and the predicted energy saving is 18 to 24%. As the enhancement of heat transfer rate techniques is carbon-free, the recycling of the PCM will have zero impact on environmental pollution.