Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41

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Energy and Buildings

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Experimental study of melting and solidification of PCM in a triplex

tube heat exchanger with fins
Abduljalil A. Al-Abidi a,b,∗ , Sohif Mat a , K. Sopian a , M.Y. Sulaiman a ,
Abdulrahman. Th. Mohammad a
a
Solar Energy Research Institute, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
b
Department of HVAC Engineering, Sana’a Community College, P.O. Box 5695 Sana’a, Yemen

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Thermal energy storage improves the efficiency and eliminates the mismatch between the energy sup-
Received 10 April 2013 ply and energy demand of solar thermal energy applications. Among the different types of thermal
Received in revised form 9 July 2013 energy storage, a phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage exhibits superior efficiency and
Accepted 3 September 2013
dependability due to its high storage capacity and nearly constant thermal energy. The present work
experimentally investigates the use of a triplex tube heat exchanger with internal–external fins as ther-
Keywords:
mal energy storage. The experiment examined the PCM charging process under steady and non-steady
Melting
heat transfer fluid (HTF) inlet temperature and the influence of the mass flow rates on the PCM melt-
Solidification
Thermal energy storage
ing. The PCM solidification process under different mass flow rates was also investigated, and the PCM
PCM temperature gradients in the radial and angular directions were analyzed. The results indicated that the
Triplex tube heat exchanger HTF inlet temperature has more influence on the PCM melting process than the HTF mass flow rate. The
charging time is reduced to 58% for HTF mass flow rate and 86% for HTF inlet temperature.
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and demand. Compared with the sensible energy storage, this
latent heat thermal energy storage exhibits superior efficiency and
The drawback of the phase change materials (PCMs) is its low dependability because of its high storage capacity and nearly con-
thermal conductivity, an inferior property that hinders the applica- stant thermal energy [8]. Numerous authors have studied the PCM
tion of these materials for thermal energy storage. It prolongs the thermal characteristic during charging and discharging processes
charging and discharging process of the thermal energy storage. For in energy storage systems. Farid et al. [9] presented a review on the
over three decades, researchers have comprehensively studied the investigation of PCM materials, encapsulation and applications. Hu
heat transfer enhancement of the PCM thermal storage. Their stud- and Argyropoulos [10] performed a review of mathematical mod-
ies investigated different techniques to improve the heat transfer eling methods of solidification and melting. Khudhair and Farid
between the PCM and the heat transfer fluid (HTF). These tech- [11] carried out the investigation and analysis of thermal energy
niques are implemented either by increasing the heat transfer area storage systems incorporating PCMs for use in building appli-
(e.g., utilization of finned tubes [1], application of multitubes heat cations. PCMs are used in various engineering applications such
exchangers [2], and using heat pipes [3]) or improving the PCM as thermal energy storage in building structures and equipment
thermal conductivity (e.g., insertion of metal matrix into the PCM, [12], including domestic hot water, heating and cooling systems,
impregnation of porous materials, utilization of bubble agitation in electronic products, drying technology, waste heat recovery, refrig-
the PCMs [4], and application of PCM dispersed with high conduc- eration and cold storage, solar cookers, and solar air collectors
tivity particles [5]). The other enhancement method for the heat [13].
transfer process by maintaining a constant temperature difference Enhancement of the PCM thermal conductivity was the sub-
between the PCM and the HTF involves the use of multiple families ject of several researchers’ studies. Wang et al. [5] used different
of PCMs, which are packed in the decreasing order of their melting densities of compressed expanded natural graphite to enhance the
points in the flow direction of the thermal storage [6,7]. thermal conductivity of neopentyl glycol for PCM thermal storage
The PCM thermal energy storage can improve energy effi- application. They reported that the thermal conductivities of the
ciency while minimizing the mismatch between the energy supply composites could be enhanced from 11 to 88 times compared with
that of pure neopentyl glycol. Shi et al. [14] compared two enhance-
ment methods to improve the thermal conductivity and shape
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +60 176135676; fax: +60 389214593. stability of paraffin PCMs using exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets
E-mail addresses: abo [email protected], [email protected] and graphene.
(A.A. Al-Abidi).

0378-7788/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.09.007
34 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41

Kurnia et al. [15] numerically investigated the different config- reduced to 34.7% compared with that of the triplex tube without
urations of the PCM thermal storage (including the U-tube, U-tube fins.
with in line and staggered fins, and novel festoon design) to improve The time required to complete the PCM melting is an important
the heat transfer between the PCM and the HTF. Moreover, they factor in determining the amount of energy absorbed or released.
used multi PCMs to enhance the heat transfer under different PCM On the other hand, the charging process depends on the HTF mass
arrangements. Tay et al. [16] investigated a new heat transfer- flow rate and inlet temperature. The effects of the non-steady state
enhancement technique by implementing dynamic melting for a of the HTF inlet temperature and the mass flow rate on the ther-
tube-in-tank thermal storage. They circulated melted PCM using mal performance of the shell-and-tube PCM thermal storage were
pre-melt tubes in the frozen PCM. The result indicated that, for numerically analyzed by Tao and He [23]. The results showed that
high- and low-temperature gradients, the average effectiveness the PCM melting time decreases with the increase in the initial
increased between 33% and 89% and between 58% and 82%, respec- HTF inlet temperature and initial HTF inlet mass flow rate when
tively. Another technique to enhance the heat transfer in the PCM the average inlet temperature and the average inlet mass flow
thermal storage by increasing the heat transfer area involves the are fixed within an hour. Ismail and Moraes [24] numerically and
use of a triplex tube heat exchanger (TTHX). Al-Abidi et al. [17] experimentally studied the effect of the PCM container materials,
experimentally investigated the PCM melting process in the mid- configuration, and dimensions on the PCM solidification to deter-
dle tube of TTHX. They studied three heating approaches to melt the mine the time required for complete solidification.
PCM: inside heating method, outside heating method, and heating The TTHX with a PCM in the middle tube can be used as ther-
at both sides. The charging process totally depended on the solar mal energy storage to increase the heat transfer area and improve
heating. Temperature distributions in three directions were stud- the heat transfer process compared with the other heat exchanger
ied. They reported that heating both sides of the middle tube is configurations. In addition, the time required for the total melt-
preferable because low HTF inlet temperature is used, and the PCM ing/solidification decreases, and low inlet HTF temperatures are
melting time was reduced in contrast to those of the other methods. required to charge the PCM. Welding of different fins at the middle
The use of fins embedded in the PCM is considered the most and inner tube enhances the heat transfer process, and more time
efficient method to enhance the heat transfer in the PCM ther- reduction can be achieved.
mal storage and has been extensively investigated by researchers The experiment in our present work primarily studied the ther-
recently. This method is characterized by simplicity, efficiency, and mal performance of a TTHX with internal and external fins. The
ease in fabrication. experiment examined the PCM charging process under steady and
Tay et al. [18] compared different pin and fin configurations non-steady heat transfer-inlet temperature and the influence of the
for the tube-coiled PCM thermal energy storage for heat transfer mass flow rates on the PCM melting. The PCM solidification process
enhancement. The results indicated that the finned tube method was investigated under different mass flow rates. The experiment
was better than the pin method because of its average effective- was performed to reduce the time required to complete the PCM
ness as well as shorter phase-change duration. They concluded melting using the available solar energy in the application location.
that the use of fins is a more effective heat transfer-enhancement The other important objective of this experiment was to determine
technique for all shell-and-tube-type and tube-in-tank-type PCM the influence of the operation parameters on the charging process
thermal storage systems. Agyimen et al. [2,19] used a circular fin, to develop a control operation strategy that can achieve complete
longitudinal fin, and multitubes heat transfer enhancements to melting of the PCM by the available sunlight, especially in loca-
achieve the complete melting of erythritol as a PCM thermal stor- tions where the sky is often overcast. The stored energy delivers the
age to power an absorption-type air-conditioning system. The main thermal energy that can power a liquid desiccant air-conditioning
objective of these techniques was to melt the PCM through the solar system.
energy availability in Europeans countries where the sunshine is
less than 8 h. They reported that the longitudinal fin and the multi-
2. Experimental test and procedure
tubes thermal energy storage systems are suitable for charging and
discharging in a concentric tube PCM system because they achieved
2.1. PCMs
the best charging performance with insignificant subcooling during
discharge.
The operating temperature required for the regeneration of the
The different design parameters of vertically axial fins, such as
liquid desiccant air conditioning is the basis in the selection of the
the number of fins, fin length, fin thickness, and aspect ratio of
PCM, which is in the range from 65 ◦ C to 70 ◦ C. The RT 82 paraffin
the annular space, affect the time of solidification, solid mass frac-
(RUBITHERM GmbH-Germany) with an 82 ◦ C melting temperature
tion, and the total stored energy have been studied by Ismail et al.
satisfies the minimum temperature required for the liquid des-
[20]. They reported that the annular space size, the radial length
iccant cooling system. The thermophysical properties of RT82 as
of the fins and the fins number have a strong effect on the time of
reported by the manufacturer and independently investigated by
complete phase change. A two-dimensional (2D) analytical model
the authors have been reported in [17].
of the PCM solidification process in a shell-and-tube exchanger
with radial fins was presented by Mosaffa et al. [21]. Two geo-
metrical configurations (cylindrical and rectangular) with the same 2.2. Experimental apparatus
volume and heat transfer-surface area were compared for the PCM
solidification process. The PCM solidified more quickly in the cylin- A thermal energy storage system using the triplex concentric
drical shell than in the rectangular shell storage. In addition, the tube heat exchanger with internal and external fins was fabricated
solid fraction of the PCM increased more quickly when the cell to investigate the heat transfer enhancement on the thermal perfor-
aspect ratio was small. Al-Abidi et al. [22] introduced external and mance from the use of the fins. Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram
internal fins to TTHX as a heat transfer-enhancement technique. of the experimental apparatus that includes three main circuits:
They numerically investigated the effect of different design and the main heating, the charging, and the discharging circuits. The
operation parameters such as the fin length, fin thickness, num- main heating circuit contained an evacuated-tube solar collector,
ber of fins, and PCM geometries, as well as the TTHX materials a main circulation pump, and two storage tanks with an elec-
and Stefan number, on the melting process. The result indicated tric heater. The charging circuit consisted of a charging circulation
that the melting time for the eight-cell PCM unit geometries was pump, a PCM thermal storage with fins, and the charging storage
 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41 35

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus which includes an evacuated tube solar collector (1), main heating circulation pump (2), charging storage tank (3),
discharging storage tank (4), charging circulation pump (5), rotameter to measure the flow rate (6), manual shut off valve (7), a triplex concentric tube’s heat exchanger (8),
discharging circulation pump (9), thermocouples (10), data logger (11) and personal computer (12).

tanks. The discharging circuit comprised the discharging circula- to the outer tube from above and below the entrance and exit of
tion pump, the PCM thermal storage, and the discharging storage the HTF to deliver the hot water in and out of the outer tubes, as
tanks. Fig. 2 shows the PCM thermal storage section that includes a shown in Fig. 2. The inner and outer tubes were used to hold the HTF
TTHX that comprises three horizontally mounted concentric tubes (water), and the middle tube was filled with 5.6 kg of liquid PCM (RT
with lengths of 500 mm. The inner tube has a radius (ri) of 25.4 mm 82). Four longitudinal fins (fin pitch = 42 mm, length = 480 mm, and
and a thickness of 1.2 mm. The middle tube has a radius (rm) of thickness = 1 mm) were welded onto each of the inner and middle
75 mm, and the outer tube has a radius (ro) of 100 mm. Both tubes tubes to improve the heat transfer in the PCM thermal storage. A
are 2 mm thick. All pipes were made of copper to ensure high ther- short tube with a diameter of 32 mm was connected to the middle
mal conductivity. The inner tube was extended to approximately tube from the two faces, which enables the change in the PCM. Two
300 mm from the entrance to ensure a fully developed dynamic copper end plates with a 2 mm thickness were welded to the tubes.
flow. Two tubes with a 32 mm diameter were welded eccentrically The data monitoring system comprised the K-type thermocouples

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the TTHX; (a) cross section of TTHX, (b) longitudinal section of TTHX.
36 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41

Fig. 3. Temperature contour of the PCM during melting, average charging temperature (Ti = 90 ◦ C); (a) t = 15 min, (b) t = 30 min, (c) t = 45 min, (d) t = 60 min.

(measured at 0.5% accuracy), a data logger, and a personal computer 3. Experimental results
to measure the temperature in the PCM thermal storage. The HTF
flow rate was measured by a rotameter (measured at 5% accuracy). 3.1. Melting with steady-state HTF inlet temperature
Fifteen thermocouples were installed in the PCM at 10 mm
intervals, fitted in the radial and different angular directions and Different experimental studies were conducted to charge the
located 100 mm from the entrance of the HTF, as shown in Fig. 2. PCM thermal storage with steady state HTF inlet temperature. The
Two thermocouples were also installed at the inlet and outlet of charging process to melt the PCM depended on the electrical heat
the HTF tube to measure the HTF inlet and outlet temperatures. sources. Heating up of the storage tank was done by solar heat-
The PCM thermal storage was wrapped with a 70 mm-thick glass ing source until the required temperature was achieved. Then, the
wool insulation to decrease the heat loss and achieve an adiabatic electric heater, controlled by a thermostat, was run to maintain a
surface. constant inlet temperature. In some experiments, the inlet temper-
The hot water used for the charging and discharging process ature fluctuated (±1.5 ◦ C) from the set point temperature. A number
was delivered from the central heating station of the Green Tech- of experiments have been conducted to study the effect of the oper-
nology Park at Solar Research Energy Institute, National University ating parameters on the melting time of the thermal storage, such
of Malaysia. This heating station is tapped to deliver the hot water as the HTF inlet temperature variation and the mass flow rate. Tem-
requirements of various solar thermal systems. The central heating perature readings of the 15 thermocouples immersed in the PCM
station comprises 300 evacuated-tube solar collectors with three thermal storage were taken 100 mm from the entrance.
200 L storage tanks. Two of these storage tanks were used for the
current application: one for charging and the other for discharging. 3.1.1. Temperature contour of the PCM
The charging of the thermal storage was facilitated by the heat The temperature contours of the PCM thermal energy storage
delivered by the main circulation pump from the solar collector at t = 15 min, t = 30 min, t = 45 min, and t = 60 min from a selection
to the storage tank. As the temperature of the storage tank reached of the charging experiments (Ti = 90 ◦ C, m = 8 kg/min) are shown in
the PCM melting temperature, the charging pump was activated Fig. 3. The temperature readings were based on the thermocouples
to deliver hot water to melt the PCM in the thermal storage. For imbedded in the PCM thermal storage entrance and from linear
the non-steady HTF inlet temperature, the inlet temperatures were interpolation between points [1,25]. During 15 min of charging, a
varied relative to the solar radiation, whereas the steady state HTF thin liquid formed in the narrow melt layer beside the inner and the
inlet temperature was operated by thermostat-controlled electrical outer tubes. The average temperature at the upper region was lower
heating, which maintained the required set temperature. The PCM than that at the bottom region for the PCM thermal storage, which
freezing process started when the entire PCM melted. The tem- was between 68 ◦ C and 72 ◦ C. After 30 min of charging, the thin
perature of the discharging storage tank was maintained at 68 ◦ C, liquid expanded, whereas the temperature distributions in the PCM
considered the minimum temperature to power the liquid desic- remained uniform. The temperature distributions in the PCM were
cant air conditioning. The initial temperature of the PCM was set at equal, which were between 73 ◦ C and 80 ◦ C. As time progressed, the
ambient temperature. differences in the temperature between the bottom and top regions
 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41 37

Fig. 4. HTF mass flow rate effect on the PCM melting time. Fig. 5. HTF inlet temperature effect on the PCM melting time.

reappeared in which that at the bottom zone was higher, which was Fig. 6 shows the HTF inlet temperatures (charging temperatures)
attributed to a good thermal diffusion in the bottom part, whereas versus time for different mass flow rates of 4, 8, 16, and 24 kg/min
the upper part was affected by the entrance disturbance. The flow to charge the thermal storage. The initial charging temperature for
was disturbed by changing the flow path from the 32 mm-inlet pipe the mass flow rates of 4, 8, 16, and 24 kg/min were 82, 83.4, 87.7,
to the outer tube. The other source that affected the heat diffusion and 88.6 ◦ C, respectively. The charging temperature at the mass
in this part was the location of the outer tube inlet pipe, which was flow rates of 4 and 24 kg/min increased with time, whereas the
not centered but was soldered at the left side, as shown in Fig. 2. mass flow rate of 16 kg/min increased in the beginning of the charg-
The melting process continued until the entire PCM melted. ing, remained steady with the charging temperature, and increased
again until the entire PCM melted. Fluctuation in the charging tem-
3.1.2. Effect of mass flow perature occurred at the mass flow rate of 8 kg/min.
Different mass flow rates of the HTF were used to study their Fig. 7 shows the average PCM temperature versus time for
effect on the PCM melting process. All experiments were conducted the non-steady state mass flow rates of 4, 8, 16, and 24 kg/min.
using a constant HTF temperature of 90 ◦ C. Fig. 4 shows the aver- The average PCM temperature at 4 and 8 kg/min were the same
age temperature versus time for the HTF mass flow rates of 4, 8, for the 40 min of charging. Then, the PCM average tempera-
and 16 kg/min. The average PCM temperatures were equal for the ture at 4 kg/min increased as the charging temperature increased,
4 and 8 kg/min HTF flow rates, attributed to the still flow in the whereas the 8 kg/min flow rate consumed more time in melting
laminar flow. A good enhancement was apparent when the flow the PCM because its charging temperature fluctuated according to
rate increased to 16 kg/min, which is considered a turbulent flow the solar radiation. The average PCM temperatures at the 16 and
and regarded as good for the heat transfer process. The charg- 24 kg/min mass flow rates were equal until the melting process
ing time decreased by 58%. We can conclude that the influence was completed, whereas the charging temperatures were differ-
when the mass flow rate changed from 4.0 to 8.0 is insignificant, ent. Therefore, we can conclude that the effect of the mass flow
whereas the melting rate accelerated when the flow rate increased rate was insignificant relative to that of the charging temperature.
to 16.0 kg/min. For thermal energy storage by solar energy, a control device in the
charging circuit is recommended because the solar radiation fluc-
3.1.3. Effect of HTF inlet temperature tuation leads to different HTF inlet temperatures. When the HTF
The charging of the PCM under different HTF inlet tempera- temperature decreases, the mass flow rate should be increased, and
tures was performed at an 8 kg/min mass flow rate. Various HTF vice versa to maintain steady state condition for charging and fast
inlet temperatures of 85, 90, 95, and 100 ◦ C to melt the PCM were melting.
investigated. The selection of these temperature values was based
on the minimum temperature required to achieve PCM melting,
which was above the PCM melting temperature and the maximum
temperature using water as HTF. Fig. 5 shows the average PCM tem-
perature versus time for HTF inlet temperatures of 85, 90, 95, and
100 ◦ C. Complete melting occurred when the HTF inlet tempera-
ture was 90, 95, and 100 ◦ C. The 85 ◦ C HTF inlet temperature did not
achieve entire PCM melting, and the melting time was extended to
170 min. No significant difference was observed between 90 and
95 ◦ C, possibly because of the fluctuation in the inlet temperature
at 95 ◦ C. The total melting times of the PCMs were reduced to 86%
by increasing the HTF inlet temperature from 85 ◦ C to 100 ◦ C.

3.2. Melting with non-steady state HTF inlet temperature

Most solar energy-application systems operate under a non-

steady state condition. Thus, the PCM thermal storage was
investigated by varying the HTF inlet temperature because of the
dependence of the charging process on the solar energy sources. Fig. 6. HTF inlet temperature (charging temperature) of the thermal storage.
38 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41

uniform, and two solid layers were formed near the inner and outer
tubes. The average temperature in the upper part of the storage was
lower than those at the other regions, which may be attributed to
the trapped air in this part during the filling of the storage with
liquid PCM and the formation of void during the freezing process.
As time progressed, the average temperature became uniform
except for the upper part at t = 45 min. The solidification front
increased at the lower part of the inner tube and the upper part
of the thermal storage, which indicated a mushy layer of the PCM
trapped between the inside and outside solid layers. This layer
required more time to solidify because as the solid layer increased,
the thermal resistance increased. The entire PCM solidified after
60 min of freezing.

3.3.2. Effect of the flow rate

To study the effect of the mass flow rate on the solidification
Fig. 7. PCM average temperature of the thermal storage. processes, Fig. 9 shows the experimental data of the PCM freezing
under different mass flow rates of 4, 8, and 16 kg/min. The solidi-
fication rate increased as the mass flow rate increased, attributed
3.3. Solidification process to the improvement in the heat transfer. The determination of the
HTF flow rate during the solidification process depends on the load
3.3.1. Temperature contour of the PCM mass flow rate requirement.
The solidification process starts directly after the entire PCM
melting. Fig. 8 shows the temperature contours at 15, 30, 45, 3.4. Radial and angular temperature variation for thermal storage
and 60 min from a selection of discharge experiments (Ti = 68 ◦ C;
m = 8 kg/min). The temperature readings depended on the same In this study, 2D directional measurements along the radial and
thermocouple location mentioned in the melting process and the angular directions were considered to investigate the tempera-
interpolation between these points. At the initial time of solidi- ture variation for the thermal storage. The radial distance extends
fication (15 min), the entire PCM was in the mushy zone which is from the outer surface of the inner tube to the inner surface of
the region between the liquidus and solidus isotherms, where solid the middle tube. The angular direction starts from 0◦ clockwise
and liquid coexist in thermal equilibrium, the temperature readings to 157.5◦ , as shown in Fig. 10. Figs. 11 and 12 show the average
were between 73 and 80 ◦ C. The average PCM temperature was not temperature variations along the radial and angular directions for

Fig. 8. Temperature contour of the PCM during solidification, average discharging temperature (Ti = 68 ◦ C); (a) t = 15 min, (b) t = 30 min, (c) t = 45 min, (d) t = 60 min.
 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41 39

Fig. 9. HTF mass flow rate effect on the PCM solidification time.

the melting and solidification processes. These averages were col-

lected from different thermocouple readings in different locations
at the thermal storage entrance. Radial average temperature vari-
ation was observed in the thermocouples located within the same
distance from the inside tubes (r = 10 mm, r = 20 mm, r = 30 mm,
and r = 40 mm). The angular average temperature-variation read-
ings were taken from thermocouples at the same angles (22.5, 67.5,
112.5, and 157.5◦ ) as shown in Fig. 10.

3.4.1. Radial and angular temperature variations in melting

process
Fig. 11. Average temperatures recorded in the thermal storage during the melting
The temperature variation along the radial direction during the process, (a) radial direction, (b) angular direction.
melting process is shown in Fig. 11(a), which shows the average
temperature versus time at different melting times. The melt-
ing front appeared at different times. The temperature differences at r = 20 mm and r = 30 mm were approximately equal at t = 20 min.
between the four distances were clearly observed during the early At the end of the melting process, the average temperature at
stage after 10 min of melting. The highest temperature was at r = 10 mm was high due to the early appearance effect of the natu-
r = 10 mm, followed by r = 40 mm. This result was attributed to the ral convection until the completion of the melting process, whereas
heat transfer from the inner and outer tubes in which the conduc- those at the three distances of r = 20 mm, r = 30 mm, and r = 40 mm
tion mechanism dominates the heat transfer process between the were equal, and the entire PCM melted after 60 min.
PCM and the HTF. No significant difference in the temperature was The average PCM temperature along the angular direction at
observed between r = 20 mm and r = 30 mm that followed the two different times of melting is shown in Fig. 11(b). After 10 min of
positions near the tubes. As time progressed, the temperature in heating, the average temperature at  = 157.5◦ , located at the bot-
the inner region where r = 10 mm continued to increased and was tom of the thermal storage, was higher than that at the other
considered higher than those of the other regions, whereas those directions due to the good thermal diffusion, followed by  = 22.5◦

Fig. 10. Thermocouple locations along the radial and angular locations in the PCM.
40 A.A. Al-Abidi et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 33–41

4. Conclusion

The melting and solidification processes in a TTHX with internal

and external fins have been experimentally investigated. Different
mass flow rates for the PCM transition process were studied. The
experiments were performed under steady and non-steady state
inlet HTF for the melting process. The temperature gradients along
the angular and radial directions were investigated. The results
indicated that the HTF inlet temperature has a significant effect on
the melting process compared with the mass flow rates. A control
strategy is recommended to achieve complete melting of the PCM
when the energy source depends on solar energy.

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