• Title: Enhancing Latent Heat Energy Storage with Heat Pipe-Metal Foam:
An Experimental Investigation of the Partial Filling Strategy
Abstract
Melting and solidification of a phase change material (PCM) is
investigated experimentally by applying a partial filling strategy to
the hybrid enhancement of heat pipe-metal foam (HP-MF) in a vertical
cylinder. HP-MF enhancement can improve the heat transfer capacity of
the PCM system as it combines HP’s efficient heat transfer capacity with
MF’s highly effective thermal conductivity capability. The experimental
results demonstrate that the partial filling strategy in the melting and
solidification of HP-MF PCM can be optimized for effective MF
utilization in the HP-MF PCM system. A filling ratio of 83% of MF in
HP-MF PCM shows almost identical total melting and solidification along
with a temperature distribution to that of an HP-MF PCM (95% porosity,
20 pore density (PPI)). It is plausible to conclude that the removal of
33% or less mass had no significant effect on the overall melting
process of HP-MF PCM. It should be noted that the HP-MF PCM system’s
heat pipe heat transfer efficiency significantly decreased during the
melting process when the MF filling ratio was 37.5% and 12.5%.