Investigation on heat transfer performance of flat plate micro-heat pipe phase change heat storage/release device

Abstract

In the domains of low/zero carbon energy, the ship energy storage system, coupled with phase-change storage and release technology, holds significant importance. The utilization of a flat micro-heat pipe as the primary heat transfer element prompts the development of a test platform and a transient heat transfer model for the heat storage device. This is in response to existing challenges such as a single structure, poor temperature uniformity, and low thermal efficiency in current heat storage technology. The study delves into the impact of varying temperatures and flow rates of heat transfer fluids on the overall performance of heat storage devices and heat transfer efficiency. The findings highlight that the staggered double plate micro-heat pipe structure can enhance total heat storage by 11%, average heat storage power by 19%, and heat storage efficiency by 21% compared to the heat storage device with a single flat micro-heat pipe structure. It becomes evident that the heat storage device with the staggered double heat pipe structure outperforms its counterpart. Additionally, Temperature and flow velocity play pivotal roles in determining the heat transfer performance of phase change materials. As the temperature difference between the heat transfer fluid and the phase change material increases, both the phase transition rate and the equivalent Nusselt number also rise, providing a crucial foundation for examining the heat transfer characteristics of phase change materials during different stages of phase transition.

Keywords

Flat micro-heat pipe / Phase change heat transfer characteristics / Heat storage/release performance / Equivalent Nusselt number (Nu∗)