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Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Systems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 November 2022) | Viewed by 5839

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Mechanical Engineering Department, Gannon University, 109 University Square, Erie, PA 16541, USA
Interests: solar energy; thermal energy storage systems; multiphase flow and heat transfer; computational fluid dynamics; porous media; heat pipes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Biomedical and Industrial Systems Engineering Department, Gannon University, 109 University Square, Erie, PA 16541, USA
Interests: thermal energy storage; CFD; biotransport phenomena
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Among available renewable energy resources, solar energy is a promising option, due to its availability and its potential use in a wide range of domestic and industrial applications. However, energy supply and demand are often mismatched, due to the variation of solar energy over time, which has a significant impact on the efficiency of the system.

Thermal energy storage allows for the storage of excess solar energy for later use. By storing this energy, the gap between energy supply and demand can be bridged. Solar energy can be stored in the form of sensible heat, latent heat and thermochemical. While there has been significant research and development in the field of thermal energy storage, the challenge of developing these technologies, while balancing cost and mass-scale implementation, still remains.

The goal of this Special Issue is to bring together innovative developments, technologies and solutions in the field of thermal energy storage systems. The main focus will be on original and unpublished research and review articles in areas including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Design, analysis, performance improvement, life-cycle cost and the assessment of thermal energy storage systems;
  • Numerical and modelling aspects of thermal energy storage systems, including sensible, latent and thermochemical and their optimization;
  • Management of intermittency issues in large scale solar power generation;
  • Thermal energy storage systems for heating and hot water in residential and non-residential buildings: district heating, waste heat recovery at various temperature ranges.

Dr. Mahboobe Mahdavi
Prof. Dr. Saeed Tiari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Thermal energy storage system
  • Sensible heat
  • Latent heat
  • Thermochemical heat
  • Optimization
  • Power generation
  • District heating
  • Waste heat recovery

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

34 pages, 9410 KiB  
Article
Heat Transfer Modeling on High-Temperature Charging and Discharging of Deep Borehole Heat Exchanger with Transient Strong Heat Flux
by Yazhou Zhao, Xiangxi Qin and Xiangyu Shi
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9702; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14159702 - 06 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1358
Abstract
High-temperature charging and discharging by deep borehole heat exchanger is typical of a large heat exchange temperature difference and transient strong heat flux. Simulation of this problem is not only computationally expensive, but it is also challenging in terms of robustness and stability [...] Read more.
High-temperature charging and discharging by deep borehole heat exchanger is typical of a large heat exchange temperature difference and transient strong heat flux. Simulation of this problem is not only computationally expensive, but it is also challenging in terms of robustness and stability for numerical methods. This paper formulates a generic and efficient heat transfer model with two distinctive novelties: Firstly, it highlights unsteady- and quasi-steady-state modeling strategies for heat transfer outside and inside a borehole. Secondly, this model provides analytical solutions for the heat front propagation and heat flux density distribution for unsteady-state heat transfer in the rock zone. These analytical formulations prove to be generic and critical to relieve computational effort in the face of strong heat flux. This model is validated by a typical high-temperature heat storage case from the literature, as well as the pilot demonstration project in China. It was discovered that a large prediction error of the heat transfer model only exists in very short operation days during the initial unsteady stages of charging and discharging. Both relative errors under charging and discharging phases are within 5% during the steady-state period. A comparison of the simulation cost with OpenGeoSys software demonstrates its high efficiency. It proves that this heat transfer model achieves an acceleration ratio of 30 times relative to the fully numerical method. In general, the heat transfer model has four advantages: generic applicability, good accuracy, easy implementation, and high efficiency, but it is limited to the heat transfer of a single deep borehole heat exchanger under pure heat conduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Systems)
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14 pages, 3605 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study of Varying Heat Transfer Fluid Parameters within a Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage System Enhanced by Fins
by Kyle Shank, Jessica Bernat, Ethan Regal, Joel Leise, Xiaoxu Ji and Saeed Tiari
Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8920; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14148920 - 21 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1835
Abstract
Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems can be used to combat the limited collection and long-term storage of renewable energy sources. The key component of an LHTES system is its phase change material (PCM), which thermally stores energy. Despite extensive research on [...] Read more.
Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems can be used to combat the limited collection and long-term storage of renewable energy sources. The key component of an LHTES system is its phase change material (PCM), which thermally stores energy. Despite extensive research on thermal conductivity enhancement within PCM, little attention has been paid to the heat transfer fluid (HTF) within the system. This study aimed to observe the impact of variable HTF flow rates and temperatures on the speed of charging and discharging an LHTES system enhanced with annular fins. Two copper fin configurations of 10 and 20 annular fins were tested within an LHTES system with Rubitherm RT-55 PCM. The configurations were tested during charging processes with HTF parameters of 65 °C and 70 °C at 1, 2, and 3 gpm. Discharging processes were tested with HTF parameters of 15 °C and 20 °C at 0.5, 1, and 1.5 gpm. The system energy response and PCM temperature were recorded throughout the tests. The results of the study revealed that a higher flow rate produced a shorter processing time, but furthermore, that a larger temperature gradient between the PCM and HTF caused a more significant decrease in charging and discharging times. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Systems)
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22 pages, 7828 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Variable-Length Fins and Different High Thermal Conductivity Nanoparticles in the Performance of the Energy Storage Unit Containing Bio-Based Phase Change Substance
by Mohammad Ghalambaz, Seyed Abdollah Mansouri Mehryan, Masoud Mozaffari, Obai Younis and Aritra Ghosh
Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2884; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13052884 - 07 Mar 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1762
Abstract
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is a key feature in the sizing of thermal systems and energy management. The Phase Change Material (PCM) can store a huge amount of heat in the form of latent heat. However, a good design of the TES unit [...] Read more.
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is a key feature in the sizing of thermal systems and energy management. The Phase Change Material (PCM) can store a huge amount of heat in the form of latent heat. However, a good design of the TES unit is required to absorb thermal energy and charge quickly. In the present study, a combination of optimum fin design and nanoadditives are used to design a shell and tube shape TES unit. The Taguchi optimization method is employed to maximize the melting rate by optimizing the arrangement shape of fins and the type and the volume fractions of nanoparticles. The results showed that long fins should be mounted at the bottom and short fins at the top, so that the PCM melts down at the bottom quickly, and consequently, a natural convection circulation occurs at the bottom and advances in the solid PCM. The short fins at the top allow a good natural convection circulation at the top. An increase in the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases the melting rate. An optimum design shows a 20% more melting rate compared to a poor design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Systems)
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