Charging and discharging heat transfer improvement of shell-tube storage utilizing a partial layer of anisotropic metal foam

Latent heat thermal energy storage systems with phase change material are an efficient method to address the variability of renewable energy sources. Despite the prospect of the energy storge systems, the low thermal conductivity of phase change material is their main drawback, which hinders the thermal performance of the system. Recent studies have focused on the use of partial metal foam to increase the thermal response of the system; however, to the author's best knowledge, none of these investigations utilized a partial layer of anisotropic metal foam with tailored local characteristics to improve the heat transfer rate further. The present work investigates the application of an anisotropic layer of metal foam in an energy storage system to improve heat transfer and thermal energy storage rates. Heterogeneous copper metal foam is integrated into a shell-tube energy storage system with paraffin wax. The finite element method was applied to solve the governing equations coupled. Cases with various heterogenicity angles ranging from - 90 degrees to 90 degrees in 15 degrees increments are compared to a case with uniform foam. The cases are compared based on melting and solidification time, as well as the system energy response. The uniform foam case was charged and discharged in 646 and 1007 min. The most effective case in comparison was 0 degrees heterogenicity angle with a charging and discharging time of 623 and 989 min, respectively.