Numerical Study on the Effect of Heat Source and Fin Arrangement on the Melting Performance of Phase Change Materials in a Latent Heat Storage System

The effects of the arrangement of heat sources and fins within an LHTES on the melting performance of a PCM were numerically analyzed. The enthalpy-porosity method was employed to simulate the phase change process of the PCM. Changes in the average liquid fraction, streamlines, and temperature distribution were compared to analyze the melting characteristics. We observed that the lower the position of the heat source and the greater the angle between the fins, the more the upper and side areas dominated by natural convection expanded, reducing the total melting time of the PCM. The maximum total melting time was 4,982 s, and the minimum was 690 s, showing a difference of about seven times. Additionally, an ANN model was developed to predict the total melting time, with predicted results exhibiting an averaged relative error of less than 2% compared with numerical simulation results.