Numerical Study of the Influence of Fins' Geometry on the Thermal Performances of a Vertical Shell and Tube Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage

This study consists of evaluating the impact of radial-fins' configurations on natural convection in liquid PCM and on the thermal performances of a vertical shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage system. The design parameters tested are the fin number for a given tube length, the fins' length and type. Results demonstrated that the use of serrated radial fins enhances the heat transferred by natural convection. However, circular fins of the same configurations resulted in a lower total melting time. Furthermore, the results were applied to a storage sizing application to find an optimal configuration for a given design parameters.