Effect of novel fin distribution on the melting process of thermal storage units

Thermal storage units play a crucial role in storing excess energy and utilizing it when required. Enhancing the thermal performance of these units is of utmost importance for better thermal energy management. Therefore, this paper suggests introducing new fin distributions to decrease the thermal resistance of the storage unit and, thus, enhance the melting process. An octagonal tube and shell unit with nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material are suggested. Three considered fin distributions to improve the heat transfer inside the unit are straight dual -radial fins, tree -like fins, and roots -like fins. Also, since copper has high thermal conductivity, its nanoparticles are incorporated with the phase change material with different concentrations, i.e., 0, 4, and 8 vol%. The Galerkin finite element technique is employed to model the storage unit. The results show that using rootslike fins has a significant effect in reducing the phase change material melting time by 56% and 91% lower than dual -radial fins and tree -like fins, respectively. The higher nanoparticle concentration (8 vol%) can also improve the thermal storage unit performance by 28.9% compared to the pristine phase change materials. Thus, this study recommends using roots -like fins with nanoparticles in the thermal storage units to enhance thermal performance.