Journal Pre-proof

Thermal performance of the packed bed thermal energy storage system with
encapsulated phase change material

Weimin Guo, Zhaoyu He, Yuting Zhang, Peng Zhang

PII: S0960-1481(22)01071-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.07.070
Reference: RENE 17427

To appear in: Renewable Energy

Received Date: 26 April 2022

Revised Date: 8 July 2022
Accepted Date: 14 July 2022

Please cite this article as: Guo W, He Z, Zhang Y, Zhang P, Thermal performance of the packed bed
thermal energy storage system with encapsulated phase change material, Renewable Energy (2022),
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.07.070.

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CRediT author statement
Weimin Guo: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Experiment, Software, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Data Curation, Writing - original draft. Zhaoyu He: Methodology, Experiment, Formal
analysis. Yuting Zhang: Experiment. Peng Zhang: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Resources,
Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition

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1 Thermal performance of the packed bed thermal energy
2 storage system with encapsulated phase change material
3 Weimin Guo, Zhaoyu He, Yuting Zhang, Peng Zhang*
4 Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai
5 200240, China
6

7 Abstract: The thermal performance of the packed bed thermal energy storage (PBTES)
8 system used in waste heat recovery and utilization is studied experimentally and

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9 theoretically. The experiments are conducted to test the thermal performances of the

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10 PBTES system at various charging temperatures and mass flow rates. In addition, a

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11 one-dimensional concentric dispersion model considering heat loss is established and
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12 validated by the experimental results. Furthermore, the non-dimensionalized model is
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13 developed, and the heat transfer processes inside the PBTES system at various Pe,
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14 Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers are simulated. The results show that the time durations of the
15 charging and discharging processes are significantly decreased with the increases of the
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16 Pe and Ste numbers, e.g., reduced by 44.7% of charging duration as the Pe number
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17 increases from 188 to 338, and the time durations are indistinctively affected by the
18 Nuloss,vol number, i.e., increased by 7.1% of charging duration as the Nuloss,vol number
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19 increases from 19.9 to 46.5. The thermal efficiency is significantly increased from 65.6%
20 to 80.1% as the Pe number increases from 188 to 338, and from 59.2% to 77.6% as the
21 Ste number increases from 0.479 to 0.799. The novel dimensionless parameter Nuloss,vol
22 number shows great effect on the thermal performance and the thermal efficiency is
23 significantly decreased from 91.3% to 72.6% when the Nuloss,vol number increases from
—
24 19.9 to 46.5. Besides, a new dimensionless parameter Nr number which is a monotonic

25 function of instantaneous thermal efficiency is proposed and can be used for estimating
26 the heat transfer performance of the PBTES system.
27 Keywords: Packed bed; Phase change material; Thermal energy storage; Thermal

*Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhangp@sjtu.edu.cn (Peng Zhang)
1
28 performance.
Nomenclature
Symbols
Bi Biot number
Cp specific heat capacity (kJ· kg-1· K-1)
d diameter (m)
g gravitational acceleration (m· s-2)
h heat transfer coefficient (W· m-2· K-1)
H height (m)

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k thermal conductivity (W· m-1· K-1)
L latent heat (kJ· kg-1)

r
dimensionless parameter about the efficiency (ratio of heat transfer
-p
Nr
rate of HTF to that of heat loss)
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Nu Nusselt number
Nulosss,vol Nusselt number of volumetric heat loss
lP

Nup,vol Nusselt number of volumetric heat transfer rate of HTF

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P Heat transfer rate (W)

Pe Peclet number
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Pr Prandtl Number
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•
m mass flow rate (kg· s-1)

Q heat (J)
r radial direction of PCM capsule (m)
Ra Rayleigh number
Re Reynolds number
Ste Stefan number
t time (s)
T temperature (K)
u velocity (m· s-1)

Greek symbols

2
 α thermal diffusion coefficient (m2· s-1)
β thermal expansion coefficient (K-1)
γ liquid fraction
δ thickness (m)
ε void fraction
θ dimensionless temperature
μ dynamic viscosity (kg· m-1· s-1)
ρ density (kg· m-3)
τ dimensionless time

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Subscript

r
a ambiance -p
aver average
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c charging
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conv natural convection

dis discharging
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end ending
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eff effective
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f fluid
in inlet
ini initial state
l liquid phase
loss heat loss
m phase change
out outlet
p PCM capsule
s solid phase
vol volumetric
w shell
29

3
30 1. Introduction
31 With the increasing energy demand, the deployment of renewable energy and
32 recovery of waste heat have attracted intensive attentions. Thermal energy storage (TES)
33 system is one of the prospective technologies since it can effectively balance the
34 incongruity of the demand and irregular supply of renewable energy and collect the
35 waste heat through energy storage. Therefore, TES system has been widely used in
36 waste heat recovery and utilization, concentrating solar thermal power plant, building
37 heating, air conditioning, compressed air energy storage and so on [1-4].
38 The TES system can be divided into the thermochemical TES system, latent heat

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39 TES system (LHTES) and sensible heat TES system (SHTES) [5]. In SHTES system,
40 the heat storage material is usually stacked into a packed bed and there are many

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investigations about the SHTES system having been carried out [6-9]. Compared to the
SHTES system, the LHTES system displays the advantages of large energy density,
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42

43 constant operating temperature and high thermal efficiency. Therefore, LHTES system
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44 shows good prospects in the engineering applications. However, phase change materials
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45 (PCM) broadly show very small thermal conductivity and therefore the heat transfer is
46 weakened, which obviously hinders the application of LHTES system. There are many
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47 thermal performance enhancement technologies that have been applied, such as using
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48 metal foams, composite PCMs, metal fins and encapsulation [10-14]. Encapsulating the
49 PCM into capsules can significantly strengthen the heat transfer by increasing heat
50 transfer area. The PCM capsules are usually filled into the TES tank to form a packed
51 bed which is named as the packed bed thermal energy storage (PBTES) system.
52 Different configurations of PCM capsules have been developed and the thermal
53 performances of the PBTES system with different types of PCM capsules were also
54 investigated. Li et al. [15] built a numerical model to conduct parametric investigations
55 of the PBTES system with composite PCM consisting of eutectic carbonate salt bricks.
56 It was discovered that radiative heat transfer could increase the heat transfer efficiency
57 by up to 25.7%. When the content of graphite flakes in the composite PCM was
58 increased from 0 to 30%, the charging duration was reduced by 30.3% and the
59 discharging duration was reduced by 29.2%. Kumar and Saha [16] employed the two-
4
60 dimensional two-energy equation to simulate the heat transfer process inside the
61 PBTES system with cylindrical PCM capsules. It was discovered that the thermal
62 efficiency was increased as the mass flow rate and aspect ratio of the cylindrical PCM
63 capsules were increased. Besides, the thermal efficiency of the PBTES system with
64 spherical PCM capsules was found to be higher than that with cylindrical PCM capsules.
65 Wang et al. [17] presented a novel PCM capsules with the biomimetic alveoli structure
66 and the charging performance of the PBTES system with biomimetic alveoli structural
67 PCM capsules was investigated. With the novel PBTES system, the charging efficiency
68 was increased by 6.4% versus the conventional one, which was benefited from the large

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69 heat transfer area of the biomimetic alveoli structure. Grabo et al. [18] compared the
70 energy storage capacities and thermal performances of a PBTES system with four

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different types of PCM capsules, i.e., a disc-shaped capsule, two prismatic-shaped
capsules and a blood cell-shaped capsule. The prismatic-shaped capsule was found to
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73 be more promising since it showed larger thermal storage capacity and heat transfer
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74 rate.
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75 Compared to the brick-shaped, cylinder-shaped and disc-shaped capsules, the

76 spherical capsules show the advantages of good mechanical strength, easy
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77 manufacturability and large heat transfer area. Therefore, the PBTES system with the
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78 spherical-shaped PCM capsules has been subjected to intensive researches. Peng et al.
79 [19] numerically studied the effects of capsule diameter, inlet pressure of compressed
80 air and filling approach of packed bed on the performance of a compressed air TES
81 system. The thermal efficiency was discovered to increase with the increase of
82 compressed air inlet pressure and decrease of capsule diameter. Besides, the thermal
83 efficiency of the PBTES system with three-layer cascaded PCMs was higher than those
84 with single-layer PCM and rock. Bhagat and Saha [20] adopted the two-dimensional
85 axisymmetric numerical model to conduct the parametric investigations of the PBTES
86 system used for solar thermal power plant. The results showed that the thermal
87 performance was improved as the capsule diameter was decreased and mass flow rate
88 was increased. He et al. [21] numerically investigated and compared the transient cyclic
89 performances of two compressed air TES systems with packed bed filled with rock and
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90 PCM capsules, respectively. The PBTES system with PCM capsules had a steady-state
91 cyclic efficiency of 56.5%, which was higher than 53.2% of that filled with rock.
92 Lutsenko and Fetsov [22] numerically investigated the effects of narrowing, straight
93 and widening side walls of the TES tank on the heat transfer in the PBTES system. The
94 numerical results showed that straight wall of the TES tank was preferable in most
95 operating situations. Rabbi et al. [23] compared the thermal performances of the PBTES
96 system with and without axially and radially cascaded PCMs. It was found that the time
97 durations of the PBTES system with axially and radially cascaded PCMs were reduced
98 by 17.21% for charging process and 18.5% for discharging process, compared to that

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99 without cascaded PCMs. Wang et al. [24] compared the thermal performances of the
100 PBTES system at constant inlet temperature and variable inlet temperature under direct

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normal irradiance. The numerical results revealed that the exergy efficiency was
evidently decreased as the mass flow rate was increased at the constant inlet HTF
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102

103 temperature, while the exergy efficiency was slightly affected by the mass flow rate at
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104 variable inlet HTF temperature.

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105 In addition to the numerical investigation, a few experimental studies focused on the
106 integration of the PBTES system into the energy system have been carried out. Arfaoui
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107 et al. [25] presented a novel solar air heater collector with PCM packed bed and
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108 conducted experiments to investigate the thermal performance. The PCM encapsulated
109 into the spherical black polyolefin capsules was CaCl2·6H2O with the melting point of
110 27 °C, and PCM capsules could directly absorb and store solar energy. The effects of
111 the inlet and outlet air temperatures, direct normal irradiance, temperature distribution
112 of PCM and external wind speed were discussed. The experimental results showed that
113 the daily energy efficiency of the solar air heater collector was around 47%. Loem et al.
114 [26] studied the thermal performances of the PBTES system at various mass flow rates
115 and inlet temperatures, where the PCM was paraffin wax and the HTF was water. It was
116 discovered that increasing the mass flow rate led to a larger heat transfer coefficient and
117 therefore the durations for melting and solidification were decreased. Afshan et al. [27]
118 experimentally tested the charging processes of the PBTES system at various ratios of
119 height to diameter of the TES tank, i.e., 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 with HS89 as the PCM
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120 encapsulated into the stainless steel capsules in a diameter of 80 mm. These PCM
121 capsules were evenly packed layer by layer and were separated by the steel mesh. The
122 variations of the Richardson number, stratification number and charging efficiency
123 were investigated, where the results showed that the Richardson number and
124 stratification number increased during charging process when the aspect ratio was 1:1.
125 Tafone et al. [28] studied and compared the thermal and economic performances of an
126 innovative low temperature PBTES system applied in the liquid air energy storage. The
127 results showed that the cold storage system with PCM was found to have longer
128 discharge duration and lower electricity consumption compared to that with sensible

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129 heat material. Koide et al. [29] conducted the experiment to study the performance of a
130 high-temperature PBTES system. The packed bed was consisted of the Si-Al capsules

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with 3 mm in diameter and air was used as the HTF. It was showed that the time duration
of phase change was decreased by 45.6% when the mass flow rate of air was increased
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133 from 75 to 150 L· min-1. Besides, the supercooling of micro PCM capsules was noticed
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134 to have little effect on the performance of the PBTES system.

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135 The thermal performance of the PBTES system with encapsulated PCM used for
136 waste heat recovery and utilization is experimentally and numerically investigated in
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137 the present study. The experiments are conducted at various charging temperatures and
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138 mass flow rates. The one-dimensional concentric dispersion model taking heat loss into
139 consideration is established and validated by comparing with the experimental results.
140 In addition, the numerical model is also generalized to a dimensionless one for further
141 investigation of the heat transfer mechanism inside the PBTES system, where a new
—
142 dimensionless parameter Nrr number is defined to estimate the performance. The

143 effects of the Pe number, Nuloss,vol number and Ste number on the heat transfer process
144 in the PBTES system are numerically discussed. In the present study, the innovations
145 are embodied in three parts. Firstly, the model validation takes the heat loss into
146 consideration to further verify the developed one-dimensional concentric dispersion
147 model which is promising for establishing the artificial intelligence database for the
148 optimal design and control of the PBTES system. Secondly, the parametric
149 investigation is conducted based on the non-dimensionalized model and the results can
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150 be extended to the investigation of different PBTES systems. Finally, the newly
—
151 proposed dimensionless parameter, i.e., Nr number is suitable for the investigation of

152 thermal performance. The results presented in this work can be helpful to guide the
153 design and optimization of the PBTES system with PCM capsules, which can be used
154 for waste heat recovery and utilization.
155 2. Experimental method
156 2.1 PCM capsule
157 In the present study, adipic acid is used as the PCM due to the advantages of good
stability, innocuity, large latent heat, low cost and appropriate phase change temperature.

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159 The differential scanning calorimetry (Perkin Elmer, DSC 8000) is used to measure
latent heat as well as phase change temperature of the adipic acid at the heating and

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160

161
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cooling rate of 5 K· min-1 and the results of DSC test are shown in Fig. 1, where the
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162 melting temperature is in the range of 151.38-157.32 °C and the latent heat is about
248.09 kJ· kg-1. For the solidification process, the solidification temperature is in the
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164 range of 142.7-146.64 °C, showing a slight supercooling and the latent heat of about
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165 235.54 kJ· kg-1. Table 1 shows the properties of adipic acid [30-31].
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166
167 Fig. 1. The endothermic (black) and exothermic (red) curves of adipic acid by DSC.

168 Table 1. Thermo-physical properties of adipic acid and 304 stainless steel [30-31].

Adipic acid 304 stainless steel

Density (kg·m-3) 1360 (solid), 1088 (liquid) 7930

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 Thermal conductivity (W·m-1·K-1) 0.45 16.3

Specific heat capacity (kJ·kg-1·K-1) 1.59 (solid), 2.26 (liquid) 0.5

Phase change temperature (°C) 151.38

Latent heat (kJ·kg-1) 241

169

170 It is important to encapsulate adipic acid with a good stability to ensure that there
171 is no leakage of the PCM after multiple heating and cooling cycles. In the present study,
172 the spherical capsules with 1 mm in thickness and 50 mm in outer diameter are made
173 of 304 stainless steel, as shown in Fig. 2(a) since it has good corrosion resistance,

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174 thermal conductivity and tensile strength. The thermo-physical properties of the 304
175 stainless steel are also summarized in Table 1. The encapsulation procedures of the

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PCM capsules are as follows. First, the powder of adipic acid is filled into the capsules
and compressed until the mass of adipic acid in every PCM capsule is about 48.5±0.5
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178 g. Then, the PCM capsules are heated at 200 °C in an oven for 2 h to make sure that the
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179 adipic acid inside the PCM capsule is completely melted. For the locations where the
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180 temperatures of PCM capsules are needed to be recorded, the K-type armored
181 thermocouples, as shown in Fig. 2(b), are screwed into the PCM capsules, as shown in
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182 Fig. 2(c). The PCM capsules without K-type armored thermocouple are sealed by laser
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183 welding, as shown in Fig. 2(d). Finally, all the PCM capsules are heated at 200 °C for
184 2 h again to ensure the tightness. For the PCM capsules with K-type armored
185 thermocouple, the K-type armored thermocouple was artificially fixed at the top of the
186 PCM capsule. In this situation, the liquid PCM was maintained at the bottom of the
187 PCM capsule by the gravity and there was no leakage of liquid PCM observed in the
188 experiments. It is noted that the spherical capsules cannot be fully occupied by adipic
189 acid and a certain space should be left on the upper of capsules to accommodate thermal
190 expansion of air. It is estimated that the inner volume of a PCM capsule is about
191 5.79×10-5 m3 and the liquid adipic acid occupies around 77% of the inner space.

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193 Fig. 2. (a) The shell of spherical capsules with internal thread, (b) K-type armored
194 thermocouple with external thread, (c) PCM capsule with the K-type armored

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195 thermocouple and (d) PCM capsule sealed by the laser welding.

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196 2.2 Phase change material packed bed

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The cylindrical TES tank with 3 mm in thickness is made of 304 stainless steel and
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198 the dimensions of the PBTES system are summarized in Table 2. There are totally 355
199 PCM capsules randomly placed in the TES tank and therefore the average porosity in
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200 the packed bed ε is about 0.452 according to Eq. (1).

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N  Vp
 =1− (1)
Vtan k
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201 where N is the number of the PCM capsules. Vp and Vtank refer to the volume of a single
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202 PCM capsule and the inner volume of the TES tank, respectively.

203 Table 2. Structural dimensions of the PCM capsules and packed bed.

Content Value Content Value

Height of TES tank Htank (m) 0.6 Diameter of PCM capsules dp (m) 0.05

Outer radius of TES tank rtank (m) 0.153 Thickness of PCM capsule δP (m) 0.001

Thickness of TES tank δtank (m) 0.003 Mass in a PCM capsule mp (g) 48.5±0.5

Height of packed bed Hbed (m) 0.6 Number of PCM capsules N 355

Radius of packed bed rbed (m) 0.15 Volume of a PCM capsule Vp (m3) 6.545×10-5

Total volume of TES tank Vtank (m3) 0.0424 Void fraction in TES tank ε 0.452

204

205 Fig. 3(a) displays the inner view of the PBTES tank with orifice plate and metal

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206 bars. The T-type thermocouples are fixed on these metal bars, as shown in Fig. 3(b).
207 There are 6 PCM capsules with the K-type armored thermocouples to measure the
208 temperatures of PCM capsules as well as 6 T-type thermocouples to record the HTF
209 temperatures, and locations of these thermocouples are shown in Fig. 3(c). Besides, two
210 K-type armored thermocouples are fixed in the upper and bottom pipes to record the
211 inlet and outlet temperatures. The glass wool with 30 mm in thickness and the thermal
212 conductivity of 0.043 W· m-1· K-1 is wrapped on the outer surface of the TES tank.

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213
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214 Fig. 3. (a) The inner view of the TES tank with orifice plate and metal bars, (b) the TES
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215 with T-type thermocouples and PCM capsules and (c) the locations of the
216 thermocouples. The crosses indicate the locations of T-type thermocouples recording
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217 the HTF temperatures and the solid points represent K-type armored thermocouples
218 recording the temperatures of PCM capsules.

219 2.3 Experimental setup

220 Fig. 4(a) shows the image of the PBTES system used in the experiments, where the
221 experimental setup is designed to be an open circuit, and air as the HTF is driven by the
222 blower. The air heater with a temperature controller is used to heat the HTF at a preset
223 temperature and the HTF is cooled by the cooling coil before being exhausted. The
224 mass flow rate of the HTF is recorded by a mass flowmeter, based on which the butterfly
225 valve is adjusted. The data acquisition is connected to the thermocouples and the
226 temperatures of the HTF and PCM are automatically recorded with a time interval of
227 10 s. The uncertainty of the mass flowmeter is ±0.01 kg· h-1 and is ±0.5 °C for the
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228 thermocouples.
229 In the charging process, the valves 2 and 4 are opened and valves 1 and 3 are closed,
230 to make the HTF flow downwards, as shown in Fig. 4(b). When the temperature inside
231 the TES tank reaches a steady state, the charging process is completed. Then, the
232 discharging of the TES system started with the air heater reset to a lower temperature.
233 In the discharging process, the valves 1 and 3 are opened and valves 2 and 4 are closed
234 to make the HTF flow upwards in TES tank.

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235
236 (a)
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237
238 (b)
239 Fig. 4. The image (a) and schematic illustration (b) of the PBTES system.

240 To investigate the thermal performance of PBTES system, the heat transfer rate
241 during charging and discharging processes is estimated through the upper and bottom

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242 temperatures of the HTF.

m f C P , f (Tupper − Tbottom), charging


P= (2)
m f C P , f (Tbottom − Tupper ), dischargin g

•
243 where, CP,rf refers to the specific heat capacity andr mf is the mass flow rate. Besides,
244 Tupper and Tbottom represent the temperatures at the upper and bottom parts of the TES
245 tank, respectively. The total thermal energy released or absorbed by the HTF can be
246 calculated by integrating heat transfer rate of the HTF.
t c , end

Q f ,c =  Pdt (3)

f
tc , ini

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t dis, end

Q f , dis =  Pdt (4)

r
t dis, ini

247
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where, tc,ini, tc,end, tdis,ini and tdis,end are the time instants starting the charging process,
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248 completing charging process, starting discharging process as well as completing
discharging process, respectively. The thermal efficiencies during charging and
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249

250 discharging processes are defined as follows.

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Q f , c − Qloss, c
c = (5)
Q f ,c
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Q f , dis Q f , dis
 dis = =
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(6)
Q f , dis + Qloss, dis Q f , c − Qloss, c

 = c  dis (7)

251 where, ηc and ηdisr represent the thermal efficiencies of the charging and discharging
252 processes, respectively and, η is the cyclic thermal efficiency. The heat loss of the TES
253 system, Qloss,c andrQloss,dis, cannot be neglected and they are estimated as follows.
t c , end

Qloss, c =  Ah
tc , ini
loss, eff (T f − Tamb )dt (8)

t dis, end

Qloss, dis =  Ah
t dis, ini
loss, eff (T f − Tamb )dt (9)

1
hloss, eff =
1 rbed rbed +  tan k rbed rbed +  tan k +  wool rbed (10)
+ ln( )+ ln( )+
hinner tan k rbed wool rbed +  tan k (rbed +  tan k +  wool )houter

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254 where, hloss,eff is the heat transfer coefficient to estimate heat loss. The thermal resistance,
255 1/hinner can be neglected since hinner>>houter. Tamb is the temperature of the ambiance.
256 δtank and δwool are the thicknesses of the shell of the TES tank and glass wool,
257 respectively. houter=0.59(GrPr)0.25kf/Htank represents the convective heat transfer
258 coefficient on the outside of glass wool.
259

260 3. Numerical model

261 In the experiment, the wires of thermocouples occupy a certain space volume inside
262 the TES tank and inevitably affects the flow and heat transfer. Therefore, there should

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263 not be too many thermocouples placed in the TES tank. Besides, it takes a long time to
264 complete the charging and discharging processes of the PBTES system. In the present

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study, a numerical model is established to numerically investigate the heat transfer
inside the PBTES system, which is more time-efficient and cost-efficient compared to
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266

267 the experiment and is able to obtain more detailed information like temperature field
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268 inside the TES tank.

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269 3.1 Mathematical model

270 In the present study, therBi number is larger than 1.671 and the Ste number is larger
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271 than 0.479. Therefore, the charging and discharging processes of the PBTES system are
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272 numerically studied by the concentric dispersion model, which is validated to be

273 effective at various Bi and Ste numbers [32]. The one-dimensional concentric dispersion
274 model is adopted to rapidly and accurately solve this problem, where heat loss is taken
275 into consideration by introducing a heat source term in governing equation of the HTF
276 and the validity of this model is verified in section 4.1. In the present study, the variation
277 of the HTF temperature is large, from 30 °C to 200 °C and the variations of the thermo-
278 physical properties are necessarily considered, as shown in Table 3. Furthermore, the
279 following reasonable assumptions are made to simplify the numerical calculation.
280 (a) The density, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of the PCM are
281 taken as constant.
282 (b) The PCM capsules are uniformly packed, and the void fraction is uniform in
283 the packed bed.
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284 (c) Since the temperature is below 200 °C, the radiative heat transfer is neglected.
285 (d) Thermal resistance of capsule shell is neglected as it is made of 304 stainless
286 steel with only 1 mm in thickness.

287 Table 3. Thermo-physical properties of air in the temperature range of 300-500 K.

Parameter Value

ρ (kg· m-3) ρ=2.73614-0.00698T+5.85101×10-6T2

kr(W· m-1· K-1) k=0.00625+6.64768×10-5T

Cp (kJ· kg-1· K-1) Cp=1.03103-2.01317×10-4T+3.99379×10-7T2

f
μ (kg· m-1· s-1) μ=2.13719×10-6+6.2072×10-8T-2.40936×10-11T2

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288

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289 With the above assumptions, the transient heat transfer and flow of the HTF can be
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290 formulated. Since one-dimensional numerical simulation is conducted, the velocity of
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291 the HTF can be calculated according to the mass conservation.
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292 Velocity of the HTF:

m f
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uf = (11)
rbed 2  f 
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293 Energy equation of the HTF:

T f T f  2T f
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ερ f c p,f + ερ f c p,f u f = k f , eff + hvol (TP,w − T f ) + hloss, vol (Ta − T f ) (12)

t x x 2
294 where, hvol represents the volumetric heat transfer coefficient between the HTF and
295 PCM capsules, which can be formulated as follows.

6k f (1 −  )
hvol = Nu (13)
d p2

Nu = 2 + 1.1 Re 0.6 Pr1/3 (14)

296 where, kf refers to the thermal conductivity of the HTF, andrdp is the particle diameter.
297 In porous medium, the heat transfer of the HTF is complex, including the heat
298 conduction and convection, which is made equivalent and considered to be effective
299 heat conduction of the HTF. Therefore, effective thermal conductivity kf,eff is used as
300 follows [33].
15
 k f (1 + 2 + (2 3 − 0.1 ) 2 + 0.05 3 exp( 4.5 ))
k f , eff = (15)
1 − 

301 where, ϕ=(kp-kf)/(2kf+kp) and β=1-ε. hloss,vol in the rightmost term of Eq. (12) is the
302 volumetric heat loss, which can be formulated as follows.

2rbed dx 2
hloss, vol = hloss, eff = hloss, eff (16)
rbed dx
2
rbed

303 where, hloss,eff can be obtained by Eq. (10).

304 The boundary and the initial conditions of the governing equation of the HTF, i.e.,
305 Eq. (12), are as follows.

f
oo
306 Charging process:
307 Velocity inlet (x=0): Tf=rTinr;

r
308 Outflow (x=Hbed):
T f
= 0;
-p
x
re
309 t=0: Tfr=Tf,ini;
lP

310 Discharging process:

na

T f
311 Outflow (x=0): = 0;
x
ur

312 Velocity inlet (x=Hbed): Tf=rTinr;

Jo

313 t=0: Tfr=Tc,end;

314 The temperature variation of the PCM capsules is described by a one-dimensional
315 energy equation as follows.

L  p Tp  2Tp 2 Tp

(1 + ) ρ pC p,p = kp ( 2 + ) (17)
C p,p Tp t r r r

316 where, γP is the liquid fraction of the PCM which can be obtained by the temperature of
317 PCM as follows.
0, TP  Ts

T − T
 P =  p s , Ts  TP  Tl (18)
 Tl − Ts

1, TP  Tl

318 During the charging process, there is a non-negligible natural convection within
319 the PCM capsule which enhances the heat transfer since the capsule diameter is
16
320 relatively large [34]. The enhancement of heat transfer caused by the natural convection
321 of liquid PCM is considered by increasing the thermal conductivity as follows.
k P ,s , TP  Ts

k + k
k P =  P , s P ,l , Ts  TP  Tl (19)
 2
k P ,l Nuconv , TP  Tl

322 The Nuconv which reflects the heat transfer enhancement due to natural convection
323 can be formulated by the Ra number.

Nuconv = 0.18Ra 0.25 (20)

f
 P 2 gCP, P P 3T

oo
Ra = (21)
kP P

r
324 where, ΔT=TP,w-Tm is the temperature difference inside the PCM capsules. δP=r0-r(t)
-p
325 represents the thickness of liquid PCM. The boundary conditions and initial parameters
re
326 of the energy equation of the PCM capsules, i.e., Eq. (17), are as follows.
lP

327 Charging process:

r=r0: − k p Tp
na

328 = h(T p , w − T f )
r r = r0
ur

T p
329 r=0: =0
r
Jo

330 t=0: TPr=TP,ini;

331 Discharging process:

332 r=r0: − k p Tp = h(T p , w − T f )

r r = r0

T p
333 r=0: =0
r

334 t=0: TPr=Tc,end;

335 3.2 Dimensionless model
336 In order to further investigate the heat transfer mechanism inside the PBTES
337 system and generalize the numerical models mentioned above, the following
338 dimensionless parameters are defined.

17
 tk f , eff (22)
 =
 f CP , f H bed 2

 f C P , f u f H bed (23)
Pe =
k f , eff

x (24)
X =
H bed

r (25)
R=
r0

T − Td (26)
 =

f
Tc − Td

oo
339 Therefore, the dimensionless energy equations can be obtained as follows.

r
 f

+ Pe
 f
X
=
 2 f
X 2
+
6(1 −  )k f H bed Nu
2
d P k f , eff
-p 2

( P,w −  f ) +
2hloss, eff H bed
rbed k f , eff
2

( a −  f )
(27)
re
L  p  f r0  p  2 p 2  p
2
(28)
lP

(1 + ) = ( + )
C p,p (Tc − Td )  p  P H bed 2  R 2 R R
na

340 where,  f = k f , eff and  P = k P . In order to further simplify the dimensionless

 f C P , f  P CP , P
ur

341 energy equations of the HTF and PCM capsules, the following dimensionless
Jo

342 parameters are introduced.

6(1 −  )k f H bed Nu
2
6(1 −  )k f H bed (2 + 1.1 Re 0.6 Pr1 / 3 )
2
(29)
NuP , vol = 2
= 2
d P k f , eff d P k f , eff

2hloss, eff H bed

2
(30)
Nuloss, vol =
rbed k f , eff

CP, P (Tc − Td ) (31)

Ste =
L

343 where, NuP,vol and Nuloss,vol are the effective Nu numbers with respect to the volumetric
344 heat transfer between the PCM capsule and HTF as well as heat loss. Based on these
345 dimensionless parameters, the dimensionless energy equations are formulated as
346 follows.

18
  f  f  2 f (32)
+ Pe = + NuP , vol ( P,w −  f ) + Nuloss, vol ( a −  f )
 X X 2

1  p  f r0  p  2 p 2  p (33)
2

(1 + ) =( 2 + )
Ste  p  P H bed 2  R R R

347 The two rightmost terms of Eq. (32) represent the heat transfer between the PCM
348 capsule and HTF as well as heat loss, respectively, and the dimensionless energy
349 equation of the HTF is further simplified by combining these two terms.

 f  f  2 f
+ Pe = + Nuloss ,vol ( a −  f )( Nr + 1) (34)
 X X 2

f
oo
350 It can be discovered from Eqs. (33) and (34) that the heat transfer inside the PBTES
351 system are mainly affected by three dimensionless parameters, i.e., Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste

r
352 -p
numbers. A new dimensionless parameterrNrrappears in Eq. (34) which represents the
ratio of heat transfer between the PCM capsule and HTF to heat loss.
re
353

NuP , vol ( p , w −  f ) 3(1 −  )k f rbed (2 + 1.1 Re 0.6 Pr1 / 3 )( p , w −  f ) (35)

lP

Nr = =
Nuloss, vol ( a −  f ) hloss, eff d P ( a −  f )
2
na

354 Since the Nr number is the function of temperatures of the HTF and PCM capsule,
355 it is different at different locations in the TES tank. In order to facilitate analysis, the
ur

—
356 average Nr number, Nr is defined as follows.
Jo

NuP ,vol ( p ,w −  f ) (36)

Nr =
Nuloss ,vol (a −  f )
— — —
357 where, the θrf, θrP,w and θra are the average dimensionless temperatures of the HTF,

358 surface of PCM capsules and ambiance, respectively, at different locations in the TES
359 tank.
360 The thermal efficiency is determined by the heat transfer between the PCM capsule
361 and HTF as well as heat loss. Therefore, the instantaneous thermal efficiency can be
—
362 formulated as the function of the Nr number.

Pp ,c NuP ,vol ( p ,w −  f ) Nr
ins ,c = = = (37)
Pp ,c + Ploss ,c NuP ,vol ( p ,w −  f ) + Nuloss ,vol (a −  f ) Nr + 1

19
 Pp ,c − Ploss ,c NuP ,vol ( p ,w −  f ) − Nuloss ,vol ( f − a ) 1
ins,dis = = = 1+ (38)
Pp ,c NuP ,vol ( p ,w −  f ) Nr

363 where, ηins,c and ηins,disrrepresent the instantaneous thermal efficiencies in the charging
364 process and discharging process, respectively.
365

366 3.3 Numerical approach

367 The heat transfer inside the PBTES system can be described by the above
368 governing equations and are numerically solved by self-programming using MATLAB
369 in the present study. The effect of grid elements of computational domain on the

f
oo
370 numerical results are investigated and there is little deviation (less than 0.5%) of the
371 HTF temperature of the numerical results, when the grid elements of the computational

r
372 -p
domain are 300 and 400. Besides, the independence of the grid elements of energy
equation for the PCM capsules is also verified by simulating the charging processes
re
373

374 with 20, 40 and 80 grid elements of the PCM capsules. The numerical results show that
lP

375 the deviation is less than 1% when the number of the grid element is over 40. The effect
na

376 of the time interval is further checked in four cases with time intervals of 0.5 s, 1 s, 2 s
377 and 5 s, respectively. It is found that there is little deviation, less than 1%, between the
ur

378 numerical results when the time intervals are 1 s and 2 s. Therefore, the heat transfer
Jo

379 process in the PBTES system can be accurately and efficiently simulated with 300 grids
380 of the computational domain, 40 grids of PCM capsules and the time interval of 2 s.
381

382 4. Results and discussion

383 4.1 Comparison of the experimental and numerical results
384 The heat transfer process inside the PBTES system is experimentally tested and
385 numerically investigated. During the charging process, three different charging
386 temperatures of the HTF, i.e., 180 °C, 190 °C and 200 °C are set in the experiments
387 while the discharging temperatures are all around 60 °C. The experiments are also
388 conducted at different mass flow rates, i.e., 20 kg· h-1, 29 kg· h-1 and 40 kg· h-1.
389 4.1.1 The temperature evolutions of the PCM capsules and HTF
390 Fig. 5 depicts the temperature variations of the PCM capsules and HTF in the
20
 •
391 PBTES system at mf=40 kg· h-1, Tc=200 °C and Tdis=60 °C. The locations where the
392 temperatures of the PCM capsules and HTF are taken are shown in the insets of Fig.
393 5(a) and 5(b), respectively. In the charging process, Tupper increases rapidly to about
394 200 °C and then remains nearly constant. It is shown in Fig. 5(a) that the phase change
395 period can be obviously distinguished, and three stages can be visible, including the
396 sensible stage of solid phase, phase change stage and sensible stage of liquid phase.
397 Besides, the PCM capsules are found to successively complete charging process along
398 the flow direction (from level 2 to level 6). At t=400 min when charging process is
completed, there is a significant temperature difference of approximately 8.7 °C

f
399

oo
400 between the HTF of level 2 and level 6, as shown in Fig. 5(b), and the temperature
difference reflects the effect of heat loss. In the discharging process, the HTF flows

r
401

402
-p
upwards in the TES tank and Tbottom decreases rapidly to 60 °C. All the PCM capsules
re
403 undergo the sensible heat stages of liquid phase, phase change stage and sensible stage
of solid phase and successively complete the discharging process from the bottom to
lP

404

405 the top (from level 6 to level 2).

na

(a) 200 Charging Discharging

180
ur

160
Temperature (°C)

140
Jo

120
Exp-Level 2
100
Exp-Level 4
80 Exp-Level 6
Num-Level 2
60 Num-Level 4
Num-Level 6
40

20
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Time (min)
406

21
 (b) 200 Charging Discharging
180

160

Temperature (°C)
140

120
Exp-Level 2
100
Exp-Level 4
80 Exp-Level 6
Exp-upper
60 Exp-lower
Num-Level 2
40 Num-Level 4
Num-Level 6
20
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Time (min)
407

f
408 Fig. 5. The temperature variations of PCM capsules (a) and HTF (b) in the PBTES

oo
•
409 system at the charging temperature Tc=200 °C and mass flow rate, mf=40 kg· h-1.

r
410
-p
The heat transfer process inside the PBTES system is numerically simulated, as
re
411 shown in Fig. 5(a) and 5(b). Since the heat loss is considered, a temperature difference
lP

412 between level 2 and level 6 is evident in the numerical results, which is approximately
413 8.4 °C and is close to 8.7 °C of the experimental results, as shown in Fig. 5(b). It should
na

414 be noted that the PCM temperatures measured in the experiments are not at the exact
point of the center of PCM capsule, being the average temperature of the PCM around
ur

415

416 the center instead, because the diameter of the probe of K-type armored thermocouple
Jo

417 is large, about 4 mm. Therefore, the shorter phase change durations of the PCM and
418 more gradual temperature variation of the PCM after phase change are found in the
419 experimental results compared to the numerical results. It is found that the numerical
420 and experimental results are in good agreements, which proves that the numerical
421 simulation can effectively describe the heat transfer process inside the PBTES system.
422 4.1.2 The temperature difference in the TES tank
423 The temporal variation of the HTF temperatures of level 1 and level 6 as well as
424 the corresponding temperature difference ΔT1-6 are shown in Fig. 6. It is found from the
425 experimental results that there are two peaks of ΔT1-6 in the charging process which
426 shows the effects of the sensible and latent heat, respectively. The temporal variation of
427 ΔT1-6 can be explained by the temperature variations of the HTF at level 1 and level 6.

22
428 At the beginning of the charging process, the HTF reaches level 1 first and the HTF
429 temperature at level 1 increases, resulting an increase of ΔT1-6. At approximately
430 t=23.67 min, ΔT1-6 can reach as large as 85.7 °C, which indicates that a lot of heat is
431 released by the HTF. At t>23.67 min, the HTF temperature at level 6 increases rapidly
432 while the HTF temperature at level 1 increases slowly since it is close to the phase
433 change temperature of the PCM and a lot of heat is released by the HTF to melt the
434 PCM. Therefore, ΔT1-6 decreases rapidly and reaches about 37 °C at t=109.5 min.
435 Afterwards, the HTF temperature at level 6 is close to the melting temperature of the
436 PCM and it increases slowly while the HTF temperature at level 1 increases rapidly

f
oo
437 since the PCM at level 1 already completes phase change. Therefore, ΔT1-6 increases
438 and shows another peak as large as 41.2 °C at t=198.5 min. At t>198.5 min, the HTF

r
439 -p
temperature at level 1 is close to the inlet temperature and keeps nearly constant. With
the increase of the HTF temperature at level 6, ΔT1-6 gradually decreases. It is noticed
re
440

441 that ΔT1-6 keeps nearly constant at about 8.7 °C at t>400 min when the charging process
lP

442 is completed, which is caused by the effect of heat loss. There are also two peaks in
na

443 ΔT1-6 in the discharging process for the same reason as that in the charging process.

200 Charging Discharging

ur

180 Peak due to 100

Peak due to
latent heat
Temperature difference (°C)

sensible heat
160
Jo

Peak due to 80
Temperature (°C)

140 sensible heat

Peak due to
120 60
latent heat
100
40
80

60 Exp-Level 1 20
Exp-Level 6
40 Num-Level 1
Num-Level 6 0
20
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Time (min)
444
445 Fig. 6. The temperature variations of the HTF at level 1 and level 6 and the variations
446 of temperature difference between the temperatures of the HTF at level 1 and level 6.

447 It is discovered from Fig. 6 that the temporal variations of the numerical and
448 experimental results of ΔT1-6 inside the TES tank are in a good agreement in both the
449 charging and discharging processes of the PBTES system, which indicates again that
23
450 the one-dimensional concentric dispersion model can accurately depict the temporal
451 variations of the temperature field inside the TES tank and the effect of heat loss can be
452 accurately considered by introducing the volumetric heat transfer of heat loss, i.e., Eq.
453 (16) into the energy equation of the HTF, i.e., Eq. (12).
454 4.1.3 Charging and discharging time durations
455 Fig. 7 shows the time-durations of the numerical and experimental results of the
456 charging and discharging processes. It is discovered that the time duration of the
457 charging process is decreased with the increase of the charging temperature, as shown
458 in Fig. 7(a). However, the time duration of discharging process is only slightly increased

f
oo
459 as charging temperature increases, which is because that the stored thermal energy is
460 increased as the charging temperature increases. It is shown in Fig. 7(b) that the

r
461 -p
charging and discharging time durations are both decreased as the mass flow rate
increases. Besides, the numerical time durations of the charging and discharging
re
462

463 processes under different operating conditions of the PBTES system agree well with
lP

464 those of the experimental results, as shown in Fig. 7(a) and 7(b).
na

(a) Exp-Charging
500
Exp-Discharging
Num-Charging
ur

Num-Discharging
Time duration (min)

400
Jo

300

200

100

0
180 190 200
Charging temperature (°C)
465

24
 (b) Exp-Charging
600
Exp-Discharging
Num-Charging
500 Num-Discharging

Time duration (min)

400

300

200

100

0
20 29 40
Mass flow rate (kg/h)
466

f
467 Fig. 7. The charging and discharging time durations of the PBTES system at various

oo
468 charging temperatures (a) and various mass flow rates (b).

r
469 4.2 Parametric investigation
-p
re
470 In the present study, the dimensionless governing equations are obtained in section
471 3.2 to further explore the heat transfer mechanism. The parametric investigation is
lP

472 conducted based on the non-dimensionalized model and the results can be generalized
na

473 and guide the design of different types of the PBTES system with PCM capsules. It is
474 discovered that the heat transfer inside the PBTES system are mainly affected by the
ur

475 Pe number, Nuloss,vol number and Ste number which reflect the effects of fluid flow, heat
Jo

476 loss and driving force of heat transfer, respectively. The effects of Pe number, Nuloss,vol
•
477 number and Ste number are considered by varying mass flow rate mrf, heat transfer
478 coefficients of heat loss hloss,eff as well as the charging and discharging temperatures,
479 respectively. Table 4 shows the working conditions of the numerical simulation.

480 Table 4. The dimensionless parameters investigated in the present study and the
481 corresponding operation conditions.
•
Case Pe Nuloss,vol Ste mf hloss,eff Tc Tdis

(kg· h-1) (W· m-2· K-1) (°C) (°C)

Case A 188-338 38.9 0.799 25-45 1.169 200 100

Case B 300 19.9-46.5 0.799 40 0.6-1.4 200 100

25
 Case C 300 38.9 0.479-0.799 40 1.169 180-200 120-100

482

483 4.2.1 The variations of outlet temperatures

484 The variations of the dimensionless outlet temperature θout of the PBTES system at
485 various Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers are depicted in Fig. 8. In the charging process
486 shown in Fig. 8(a), the outlet refers to the top of the packed bed while the outlet refers
487 to the bottom of the packed bed in the discharging process, as shown in Fig. 8(b), since
488 the flow direction of the HTF in the PBTES system is different for charging and
489 discharging processes of the PBTES system.

f
oo
(a) 1.0
Inlet temperature Δθ=0.092
Δθ=0.16
Dimensionless outlet temperature

Pe=188

r
0.8 Pe=263

0.6
Pe=338
Nuloss,vol =38.9
Ste=0.799
-p
re
0.4 Nuloss,vol =19.9
lP

Pe=300
Nuloss,vol =33.2
Ste=0.799
Nuloss,vol =46.5
0.2
Ste=0.479
na

Pe=300
Ste=0.639
Nuloss,vol =38.9
0.0 Ste=0.799
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
ur

Dimensionless time
490
Jo

(b) 1.0 Nuloss,vol =19.9

Pe=300
Nuloss,vol =33.2
Dimensionless outlet temperature

Ste=0.799
0.8 Nuloss,vol =46.5
Ste=0.479
Pe=300
Ste=0.639
Nuloss,vol =38.9
0.6 Ste=0.799

0.4 Pe=188
Pe=263
Pe=338
Nuloss,vol =38.9
0.2
Ste=0.799
Inlet temperature
0.0
0 5 10 15 20
Dimensionless time
491
492 Fig. 8. The temporal variation of the dimensionless outlet temperature during charging
493 process (a) and discharging process (b) of the PBTES system at different Pe, Nuloss,vol
494 and Ste numbers.

26
495 As defined in Eq. (23), the Pe number reflects the effects of thermo-physical
496 properties, velocity of the HTF and so on. The temporal variations of the θout at different
497 Pe numbers are depicted by the black curves with black solid symbols, as shown in Fig.
498 8(a) and 8(b). It is found that the θout of the PBTES system at higher Pe number
499 increases faster in charging process and decreases faster in discharging process since
500 the convective heat transfer is enhanced as the Pe number increases. Besides, the θout is
501 found lower than inlet temperature when charging process is completed due to heat loss,
502 and dimensionless temperature difference Δθ=θin – θout is found to decrease from 0.16
503 to 0.092 when the Pe number increases from 188 to 338, which can be explained from

f
oo
•
504 the equation, P=mfCPΔT. In the present study, the increase of the Pe number indicates
•

r
505 the increase of the mass flow rate mf, therefore the Δθ decreases as the Pe number
-p
506 increases.
re
507 The dimensionless parameter Nuloss,vol number is defined in Eq. (30) which
lP

508 indicates the effect of heat loss on the heat transfer inside the PBTES system. The
509 temporal variations of θout of the PBTES system at different Nuloss,vol numbers are
na

510 depicted by the red curves, as shown in Fig. 8(a) and 8(b). The increase of Nuloss,vol
ur

511 number indicates the increase of heat loss which results in the reduction of the heat
512 transfer rate between the PCM capsule and HTF in charging process. Therefore, the θout
Jo

513 of the PBTES system with higher Nuloss,vol number increases slower in charging process,
514 as shown in Fig. 8(a). For discharging process, the heat released by the PCM capsule is
515 absorbed by the HTF or released to the ambiance in the form of heat loss. Therefore,
516 the θout of the PBTES system with higher Nuloss,vol number decreases faster in
517 discharging process since the heat loss increases, as shown in Fig. 8(b).
518 The Ste number defined in Eq. (31) reflects the effects of charging and discharging
519 temperatures, specific heat capacity and latent heat of the PCM on heat transfer. The
520 evolutions of θout of the PBTES system at different Ste numbers are depicted by the blue
521 curves with blue hollow symbols, as shown in Fig. 8(a) and 8(b). It is found that the
522 PBTES system with higher Ste number can complete the charging and discharging
523 processes more quickly since the increase of the Ste number indicates the increase of

27
524 driving force of heat transfer. Therefore, the PBTES system with higher Ste number
525 takes less time for phase change and θout increases more quickly after phase change of
526 the PCM, as shown in Fig. 8(a) and 8(b).
—
527 4.2.2 The temporal variations of Nr number and instantaneous thermal efficiency.

528 In order to further explore heat transfer mechanism inside the PBTES system, a
—
529 dimensionless parameter Nr number is defined in Eq. (36) and it is found to be the

530 monotonic function of instantaneous thermal efficiencies, as defined in Eqs. (37) and
—
531 (38), where it is shown that the instantaneous thermal efficiency increases as the Nr

f
oo
—
532 number increases for the charging process and decreases as the Nr number increases

for the discharging process.

r
533

534
-p —
Fig. 9 depicts the temporal variations of the Nr number and instantaneous thermal
re
535 efficiency of the PBTES system at different Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers. Taking the
lP

536 case of Pe=300, Nuloss,vol=19.9 and Ste=0.799 (depicted by the red solid curve) as an
—
example, it is discovered form Fig. 9 (a) that the Nr number firstly increases to the
na

537

538 peak rapidly since the HTF temperature inside the TES tank increases rapidly and the
ur

—
539 heat transfer rate between the PCM capsules and HTF increases. Then, Nrr number
Jo

540 gradually decreases to 0, since the outlet HTF temperature gradually increases and the
541 temperature difference Δθr(θin – θout) decreases, as shown in Fig. 8(a), indicating the
542 heat released by the HTF decreases. For discharging process, temperature on the surface
— —
543 of the PCM capsule θP,w is higher than that of the HTF θf while the temperature of
— — —
544 ambiance θa is lower than θf. Therefore, it is shown in Fig. 9 (b) that the Nr is negative
—
545 according to Eq. (36). The variation of the absolute value of Nr number is similar to
—
546 that in the charging process and it is noticed that the Nr number increases to -1 when

547 the discharging process is finished, which means the thermal energy released by the
548 PCM capsule is totally due to heat loss and the rightmost term of Eq. (34) is 0. The
—
549 variations of instantaneous thermal efficiency are found to be similar to those of the N
28
 —
550 r number, as shown in Fig. 9(a)-(d) since the Nr number is the monotonic function of
—
551 instantaneous thermal efficiency. Therefore the Nr number is able to reflect the thermal

552 efficiency of the PBTES system.

553
28
(a)
Charging
24 Nuloss,vol =19.9
Pe=188
Pe=300
Pe=263 Nuloss,vol =33.2
20 Ste=0.799
Pe=338 Nuloss,vol =46.5
Nuloss,vol =38.9
16 Ste=0.799 Ste=0.479
Pe=300
Ste=0.639
Nr

Nuloss,vol =38.9

f
12 Ste=0.799

oo
8

r
4

0
0 5 10
-p 15 20 25 30
re
Dimensionless time
554
0
lP

(b)
Discharging
Nr = -1
-4
na

-8 Nuloss,vol =19.9
Nuloss,vol =33.2
Nuloss,vol =46.5
ur
Nr

-12 Pe=300
Ste=0.799
Jo

-16 Ste=0.479
Ste=0.639
Pe=188 Nu
loss,vol =38.9 Ste=0.799
-20 Pe=263
Ste=0.799 Pe=300
Pe=338
Nuloss,vol =38.9
-24
0 5 10 15 20
Dimensionless time
555

29
 (c) 100
Charging
Pe=188
Nu =38.9
Pe=263 loss,vol
80 Pe=338 Ste=0.799

Thermal efficiency (％)

Nuloss,vol =19.9
60
Nuloss,vol =33.2
Nuloss,vol =46.5
40 Pe=300
Ste=0.799
Ste=0.479
20 Ste=0.639
Ste=0.799
Pe=300
Nuloss,vol =38.9
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Dimensionless time
556

f
(d) 100

oo
Discharging

80

r
Thermal efficiency (％)

Pe=188
Nuloss,vol =38.9
60
Pe=263
Pe=338
-p Ste=0.799
re
Nuloss,vol =19.9
40 Nuloss,vol =33.2 Pe=300
Ste=0.799
Nuloss,vol =46.5
lP

20 Ste=0.479
Pe=300
Ste=0.639
Nuloss,vol =38.9
na

Ste=0.799
0
0 5 10 15 20
Dimensionless time
ur

557
—
558 Fig. 9. The temporal variations of the Nr number during the charging process (a) and
Jo

559 discharging process (b), and the variations of instantaneous thermal efficiency during
560 the charging process (c) and discharging process (d) of the PBTES system at different
561 Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers.

562 It is discovered from Fig. 9(c) and 9(d) that therinstantaneous thermal efficiency of
563 the PBTES system at larger Pe and Ste numbers is higher than those at smaller Pe and
564 Ste numbers and it takes shorter time to finish the charging and discharging processes.
565 However, therinstantaneous thermal efficiency of the PBTES system at smaller Nuloss,vol
566 number is higher than those at larger Nuloss,vol number, as shown by the red curves in
567 Fig. 9(c)-9(d). Therefore, it is concluded that the thermal performance of the PBTES
568 system is improved as the Pe and Ste numbers increase and Nuloss,vol number decreases.
569 4.2.3 The time durations and thermal efficiency
30
570 The dimensionless charging and discharging time durations and thermal efficiency
571 of the PBTES system at various Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers are obtained and
572 investigated, as shown in Fig. 10(a), 10(b) and 10(c), respectively. The thermal
573 efficiency is defined in Eq. (7). It is shown in Fig. 10(a) that the dimensionless time
574 durations of charging and discharging processes are decreased from 26.9 to 14.9 and
575 from 19.5 to 12.8, respectively, which are reduced by about 44.7% and 34.7%,
576 respectively, as the Pe number increases from 188 to 338. The heat loss is increased as
577 the Nuloss,vol number increases and therefore, it is found from Fig. 10(b) that the
578 dimensionless charging time duration is increased from 15.8 to 17.0, increased by about

f
oo
579 7.1%, as the Nuloss,vol number increases from 19.9 to 46.5. However, the dimensionless
580 discharging time duration is decreased from 14.7 to 13.6, decreased by about 7.9%.

r
581 -p
This is because that the heat loss increases and less energy can be released from the
PCM capsules to the HTF when the Nuloss,vol number increases, resulting in a shorter
re
582

583 discharging time duration. It is discovered from Fig. 10(c) that the dimensionless
lP

584 charging time duration is decreased from 26.3 to 16.6, reduced by 36.6%, and the
na

585 dimensionless discharging time duration is decreased from 17.3 to 13.9, reduced by
586 19.7%, when the Ste number increases from 0.479 to 0.799. Based on the above results,
ur

587 the charging and discharging time durations are shown to be significantly affected by
Jo

588 the Pe and Ste numbers but is insensitive to the Nuloss,vol number.

(a) 85
30 Charging time duration
Discharging time duration
Dimensionless time duration

80
Thermal efficiency (％)

25 Thermal efficiency

20 75

15
70
10
65
5

0 60
188 225 263 300 338
Pe number
589

31
 95
(b) 22
Charging time duration
20 Discharging time duration

Dimensionless time duration

90

Thermal efficiency (％)

18 Thermal efficiency
16
14 85
12
10
80
8
6
4 75

2
0 70
19.9 26.6 33.2 39.9 46.5
Nuloss,vol number
590

f
80

oo
(c) 30 Charging time duration
Discharging time duration
Dimensionless time duration

Thermal efficiency 75

Thermal efficiency (％)

25

r
20
-p 70
re
15
65
lP

10
60
5
na

0 55
0.479 0.559 0.639 0.719 0.799
Ste number
ur

591
592 Fig. 10. The variations of the dimensionless charging and discharging time durations
Jo

593 and thermal efficiency of the PBTES system at different Pe numbers (a), Nuloss,vol
594 numbers (b) and Ste numbers (c).

595 The thermal efficiency is a key parameter to estimate the cyclic heat transfer
596 performance of the PBTES system and it is found to increase from 65.6% to 80.1%
597 when the Pe number increases from 188 to 338, as shown in Fig. 10(a). However, the
598 thermal efficiency is decreased from 91.3% to 72.6%, showing a great variation when
599 the Nuloss,vol number increases from 19.9 to 46.5, as shown in Fig. 10(b). This indicates
600 that the novel dimensionless parameter Nuloss,vol number is important for the
601 investigation of thermal performance. It is discovered in Fig. 10(c) that the thermal
602 efficiency is increased from 59.2% to 77.6% when the Ste number increases from 0.479
603 to 0.799. It is concluded from the above results that the thermal efficiency of the PBTES

32
604 system is significantly affected by the Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers.
605

606 5. Conclusion
607 In the present study, the experiments are conducted to investigate the thermal
608 performance of the PBTES system at various charging temperatures and mass flow
609 rates. The concentric dispersion model is employed in the numerical simulation, and
610 the numerical results and experimental results are found to be in good agreements. The
611 numerical model is further generalized into the dimensionless model and the effects of
612 the Pe, Nuloss,vol and Ste numbers on the thermal performance are studied. The main

f
oo
613 conclusions are drawn as follows.
614 (1) The one-dimensional concentric dispersion model established in the present

r
615 -p
study can accurately depict the heat transfer processes inside the PBTES system since
the numerical results agree well with the experimental results, including the
re
616

617 temperature variations of the HTF and PCM capsules, temperature difference along the
lP

618 axis of the PBTES system as well as the charging and discharging time durations.
na

619 (2) The heat transfer between the HTF and PCM capsules is enhanced as the Pe
620 number and Ste number increase, leading to the increase of thermal performance. The
ur

621 thermal efficiency of the PBTES system is increased from 65.6% to 80.1% as the Pe
Jo

622 number increases from 188 to 338, and from 59.2% to 77.6% as the Ste number
623 increases from 0.479 to 0.799. The heat loss increases as the Nuloss,vol number increases
624 and the thermal efficiency of the PBTES system is found to decrease from 91.3% to
625 72.6% as the Nuloss,vol number increases from 19.9 to 46.5.
—
626 (3) The newly defined dimensionless parameter Nrr number is the monotonic

627 function of instantaneous thermal efficiency, and it can be used to estimate the thermal
628 performance of the PBTES system.
629

630 Acknowledgements
631 This research is supported by the National Key Research and Development Program
632 of China under the contract No. 2018YFA0702300. A few characterizations are
633 conducted in the AEMD of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
33
634

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 Declaration of interests
☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be
considered as potential competing interests:

f
r oo
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lP
na
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