Experimental and numerical examination of RT35 HC thermal energy storage performance with honeycomb fins of different cell sizes

Abstract

Considering the lack of sustainability of organic fossil fuels, which serve as the fundamental energy source for people, it is imperative to increase the usage of renewable air conditioning applications. The experimental configuration used in this work was specifically engineered to replicate the consistent temperature of the wall present behind solar panels. Several studies in the literature have documented that the efficiency of energy generation from solar panels diminishes as they increase in temperature. Thus, this work aimed to examine the thermal energy storage characteristics of RT35 HC at a constant wall temperature in trials conducted both with and without fins. Furthermore, to facilitate the comparison of the acquired experimental data, the rectangular enclosure of the experimental setup was scaled in a one-to-one ratio and simulated in three dimensions using the COMSOL Multiphysics software. This paper will establish the experimental parameters and thermo-physical characteristics of RT35 HC for the developed model, and thereafter conduct a numerical analysis. The use of a 3.2 mm honeycomb fin increased the melting area from 2233.11 mm2 to 2706.5 mm2. The utilization of the 3.2 honeycomb fin resulted in a 21.2 % enhancement in both melting and thermal energy storage (TES). The COMSOL Multiphysics 3D simulation of the testing apparatus performed effectively, yielding a regression value of 0.9810 for the phase change area and energy storage.