Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

An effectiveness-NTU model of a packed bed PCM thermal storage

system
N.A.M. Amin a,b,⇑, M. Belusko a, F. Bruno a
a
Barbara Hardy Institute, School of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, South Australia 5095, Australia
b
School of Mechatronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Main Campus Ulu Pauh, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia

h i g h l i g h t s

 PCM encapsulated in spheres was experimentally investigated.

 Results were validated with mathematical model for both freezing and melting.
 Effectiveness of the PCM storage relates as a function of number of transfer unit.
 The e-NTU correlation represents the thermal resistances within the PCM storage.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a mathematical model of a thermal energy storage (TES) system filled with phase
Received 23 September 2013 change material (PCM) encapsulated in spheres. Using the e-NTU method, a suitable two dimensional
Received in revised form 31 July 2014 representation was developed capable of predicting the heat transfer during phase change. Previous
Accepted 3 August 2014
research using this method in other configurations has assumed one dimensional phase change, which
is not applicable to packed bed PCM systems. To determine the NTU, an appropriate definition of the ther-
mal resistance between the heat transfer fluid and PCM is required. To account for the varying phase
Keywords:
change process, the thermal resistance was defined in terms of isothermal and parallel path heat transfer.
Phase change material
Heat exchange effectiveness
Comparison of model data to experiment has revealed that the phase change within a PCM tank tends to
Thermal energy storage occur simultaneously as defined by parallel heat transfer. A suitable correlation was developed, demon-
strating the validity of the e-NTU method for packed bed PCM systems.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The sphere type encapsulation has been viewed as an effective
geometry to contain phase change materials (PCMs) in latent heat
thermal storage systems. Spherical encapsulations have the advan-
tage of having a high heat transfer area [1] and can readily achieve
even flow distribution throughout the system [2–4]. Furthermore,
PCMs encapsulated in spheres have the advantage of potentially
being more resistant to segregation due to the reduced distance
allowed for separation [5,6]. Sanderson and Cunningham [5] have
numerically investigated the performance of a packed bed thermal
storage system and the parameters which achieve designs with
higher heat transfer. Numerical models of packed beds have
recently been reviewed [7]. These models determine heat transfer
⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Mechatronic Engineering, Universiti
Malaysia Perlis, Main Campus Ulu Pauh, 02600 Arau, Perlis, Malaysia. Tel.: +61 8
8302 3230; fax: +61 8 83023380.
E-mail address: nasrulamri.mohdamin@unimap.edu.my (N.A.M. Amin).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.020
0306-2619/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
by analysing the thermal resistance between the HTF and the mov-
ing phase change boundary. It has been concluded that the thermal
resistance during phase transition is mainly based on the heat con-
duction within the PCM with natural convection as a factor during
melting. Validated numerical models as presented by Bédécarrats
et al. [8], Arkar and Medved [9], Karthikeyan and Velraj [10] and
more recently Wu et al. [11], are able to effectively determine
the heat transfer through the system. Although ideal for simulation
and parametric analysis, it takes considerable time to develop
these numerical models.
Belusko et al. [12] developed a useful representation of a PCM
storage facility, as a heat exchanger with varying heat exchange
effectiveness as a function of the phase change fraction. This repre-
sentation enabled a simple semi-analytical model to be developed
more quickly than a conventional finite difference numerical
model. The 1-D formulation found by Belusko et al. [12] was based
on approximation of the phase change profile as presented by
numerical modelling of PCM in plates [13,14]. Applying the
e-NTU method to PCM encapsulated in plates, the heat transfer rate
 N.A.M. Amin et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362 357

Nomenclature

A area, m2 r1 PCM phase front, m

Acs tank cross section area, m2 r2 inside diameter of encapsulation or PCM outer diame-
Cp specific heat capacity, J/kg K ter, m
Dh hydraulic diameter, m r3 outer diameter of encapsulation, m
d phase change fraction R Radius of the tank, m
d⁄ active melting/freezing fraction Ra Rayleigh number
Dd small increment in phase change fraction Re Reynolds number
ec charging or freezing effectiveness Renc total heat resistances in encapsulations, K/W
ed discharging or melting effectiveness RencT total heat resistances in encapsulations as in parallel
e|t total effectiveness of heat released/absorbed by PCM to/ resistance, K/W
from HTF Rhtf total heat resistances in HTF, K/W
entu average NTU effectiveness RhtfT total heat resistances in HTFas in parallel resistance, K/W
n porosity or void fraction of the tank Riso total heat resistances in layer measured as in isometric
h convection coefficient or heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K resistance, K/W
i dimensionless time step Riso_1 total heat resistances in the first layer measured as in
j integer isometric resistance, K/W
kenc conduction coefficient, W/m K Riso_2 total heat resistances in the second layer measured as in
kpcm conduction coefficient, W/m K isometric resistance, K/W
keff effective thermal conductivity, W/m K Riso_lmax total heat resistances in the last layer measured as in
j number of active layers isometric resistance, K/W
L length of the tank, m Rpar_T total heat resistances in TES measured as in parallel
l layer’s number resistance, K/W
lmax total number of layers in tank Rpcm total heat resistances in PCM, K/W
m _ mass flow rate of HTF, kg/h RpcmT total heat resistances in PCM as in parallel resistance, K/W
lhtf dynamic viscosity of the HTF, mPa s RT total heat resistances in TES, K/W
n1 total number of spheres in tank T temperature, K
n2 average number of spheres in one layer Tin average inlet temperature, K
NTU number of transfer units Tout average outlet temperature, K
Nu Nusselt number s total number of time steps
p a number between 0 and 1 h artificial enormous heat resistances, K/W
Pr Prandtl number c proportion of PCM in tank
Qact actual heat stored or released, J W width of the TES, m
Qmax maximum or theoretical heat absorbed and released, J Z set of integers (positive, negative, and zero)
r radius, m

achievable from a specific PCM design could be determined. Tay
et al. [15–17] developed and experimentally validated a one
dimensional e-NTU representation of a coil in PCM tank arrange-
ment. The phase change boundary was assumed to move in one
dimension, and this was validated through CFD modelling [15].
The advantage of this approach is that the effectiveness can
directly determine the heat transfer during charging and discharg-
ing of the PCM facility, enabling designs to be readily determined.
Since this method focuses on the heat transfer to the phase change
boundary, this method is only applicable to PCM storage systems
where sensible energy storage is a small component of the energy
stored in the PCM.
The applicability of the e-NTU method has been experimentally
investigated by the authors for packed bed PCM systems [18]. Pre-
vious experimental research has developed an empirical correla-
tion, for the average effectiveness over the phase change process
for the specific configuration tested. The research highlighted that
an e-NTU correlation is possible for packed bed systems, but no
generalised formulation was presented. However, as shown by
Sanderson and Cunningham [6] and Arkar and Medved [19], it
was demonstrated that unlike other encapsulated systems, the
phase change in a tank with spheres occurs discretely and not con-
tinuously. Therefore defining the phase change process in one
dimension, may not be an appropriate assumption. This paper
extends previous research and applies the e-NTU method to formu-
late a 2D characterisation which can generally be applied and
account for the varying phase change processes within packed
bed systems. This formulation is novel in that it uses simplification
techniques of 2D heat flow developed for thermal bridging in
insulated structures. This paper develops a new mathematical
representation of the e-NTU applicable for packed beds, not yet
presented in the literature. This method enables the simple design
and optimisation of applicable packed bed PCM systems, avoiding
the need for complex and time consuming numerical modelling.
2. Characterisation of the effectiveness-NTU correlation
As presented by Amin et al. [18], the average effectiveness of a
PCM storage system is defined by Eq. (1). Therefore, over the period
of phase change, the actual energy stored and released is defined
by this effectiveness, which directly affects the useful energy that
is stored.
ec;d ¼ Q act =Q max ¼ ðT in  T out Þ=ðT in  T pcm Þ ð1Þ
where ec and ed are charging and discharging effectiveness respec-
tively, Q act is the actual stored energy, Q max is the maximum possi-
ble or theoretical stored energy, Tin and Tout are the inlet/outlet
temperature supplied-to/exited the PCM storage tank respectively
and Tpcm is the phase change temperature of the PCM used in the
tank.
Focusing on a single PCM sphere in the heat transfer fluid (HTF)
tank (Fig. 1b), 1-D heat resistances from point 1 to point 2 can be
expressed as a thermal-electrical circuit (Fig. 2).
358 N.A.M. Amin et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362

where r1 is the radius of the PCM phase front and r2 is the internal
radius of PCM encapsulation or also referred to as the radius of the
PCM.
The thermal resistance within the PCM during phase change
assumes a radially uniformly growing layer of material which
has changed phase. For freezing and melting the resistance is
assumed to be defined by the solid and liquid thermal conductivity
L respectively. Experimental research presented by Tan et al. [20]
and Hosseinizadeh et al. [21] have shown that this is applicable
2r3 to freezing but that for melting, natural convection takes place,
and needs to be considered.
Combining Eqs. (2) and (3) gives the effectiveness at time t,

_ 1
ejt ¼ 1  eðmCpR TÞ
ð7Þ
Therefore, the average phase change effectiveness calculated
2R using the e-NTU method, entu is then calculated by the integration
(a) (b) of e|t over the limits of the phase change fraction of 0–1.
Z 1
Fig. 1. TES tank containing (a) 60 spheres, and (b) single sphere.
entu ¼ ejt dd ð8Þ
0

The effectiveness of heat absorbed and released by PCM spheres

to the HTF occurs from the phase change boundary to the HTF and
therefore can be calculated using Eq. (2). 3. Mathematical formulations
NTU
ejt ¼ 1  e ð2Þ Eq. (4) defines the thermal resistance between the HTF and the
where e|t is the phase change effectiveness with number of transfer PCM phase change front in 1-D and is applicable to the case of a
unit, expressed as below. single sphere in a tank. However, within a tank of spheres, at any
given phase change fraction, the amount of phase change within
_
NTU ¼ UA=mCp _
¼ ð1=RT Þð1=mCpÞ ð3Þ each sphere can vary. This variation in the phase change process
The overall heat transfer coefficient, U and the heat transfer area will affect the total thermal resistance.
A is replaced with the total thermal resistance, RT. Meanwhile m _ Research by Xia et al. [22] has shown that spheres at the inlet
represents the mass flow rate and Cp is the specific heat of the melt first. Nevertheless, the experimental study presented in Amin
HTF respectively. et al. [18] investigated the distribution of the phase change times
Generally, from Fig. 2, the general expression for the total ther- across the spheres throughout the tank. It was discovered that
mal resistances for a sphere in a tank is shown as in Eq. (4). the spheres essentially all change phase at the same time. These
two examples fall within the two extremes of two dimensional
RT ¼ Rpcm þ Renc þ Rhtf ð4Þ heat flow, defined in terms of isothermal and parallel heat flow
where the thermal resistance in a single PCM sphere, Rpcm_1, is as described by Holman [23]. Parallel heat flow assumes that all
spheres are in parallel and change phase simultaneously, with no
1  d1=3 heat transfer between spheres or the HTF. Isothermal heat flow
Rpcm 1 ¼ ð5Þ
4pkpcm d1=3 r2 assumes that all spheres change phase sequentially where the
HTF and the sphere are at the same temperature, experiencing infi-
Hence, the one dimensional representation of a volumetric ratio nite heat transfer. Isothermal heat flow in a tank of spheres infers
of the phase front in the PCM sphere, can be simplified as a single that all spheres at each horizontal layer are changing phase simul-
independent variable, d that ranges from 0 to 1. taneously and each layer changes phase sequentially, with heat
d ¼ ð4=3Þpr 31 =ðð4=3Þpr32 Þ ¼ r 31 =r 32 ð6Þ transfer within each layer infinite. The analysis of parallel path
and isothermal heat flow has been well researched in heat transfer
through composite walls and roofs [24,25]. This research deter-
mines the actual thermal resistance by assuming a combination
of parallel and isothermal heat flow. Therefore the heat transfer
PCM phase front
can be described as two dimensional. To characterise this 2-D heat
Encapsulation transfer, the heat transfer was assumed to lie between parallel
HTF path and isothermal, defined by a p factor. Therefore, the packed
1 bed of spheres can be bounded by two arrangements as shown
in Fig. 3.
2
Thermal resistances assuming these types of heat flows are
illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, and presented in Eqs. (13) and (21).
Accordingly, the total heat resistances for a tank filled with PCM
Center of the PCM sphere spheres, RT can be defined as:

RT ¼ pRpar T þ ð1  pÞRiso T ð9Þ

Rpcm Renc Rhtf
1
where p is a number between 0 and 1, representing the proportion
2
of parallel-isothermal resistances for a tank full of PCM spheres. The
Fig. 2. Section view of PCM sphere in the flowing HTF and the heat resistances on a terms used in the following equations include; total number of
sphere. spheres in each layer in a tank (n2), total number of spheres in a
 N.A.M. Amin et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362 359

(b) Parallel resistances (R-squared) of 0.999876 when using the genetic programming
software, Eureqa, as applied by Bongard and Lipson [27]. Eqs.
(all spheres are assumed
(14) and (15) are only valid with lmax < L/2r3.
to be placed on one plane)
0:0639
n2 ¼ 0:6852 þ ðR=r 3 Þ  0:06391:9657 þ
OR ðR=r 3 Þ  8:1612
0:05141 0:0083
þ  ð14Þ
1st layer ðR=r 3 Þ  10:1313 ðR=r 3 Þ  4:8729
(c) Isothermal resistances
2nd layer
(phase change is assumed n2 ¼ n1 =lmax ð15Þ
3rd layer to start and finish by layer)
The main assumption with the isothermal process is that the
next layer of PCM spheres will start to change phase only after
(a)
lmax
all the PCM spheres in the previous layer have finished changing
phase, therefore the thermal resistance must be numerically deter-
mined layer by layer defined by Eqs. (16) and (17).
Fig. 3. (a) Packed bed thermal storage system filled with PCM spheres; (b) all
spheres placed on one plane, and (c) spheres located in layers.
 
l 1 1
Riso ¼ þ ð16Þ
n2 kpcm Spcm kenc Senc

RhtfT  
RpcmT RencT l 1  d1=3 lðr 3  r 2 Þ
Riso ¼ þ ð17Þ
n2 kpcm 4pr 2 d1=3

n2 kenc 4pr 3 r2
Fig. 4. Parallel heat resistances during phase change for PCM spheres in TES system.
With this approach, the layer which is active and undergoing
phase change as defined by Eq. (18) and two conditional expres-
tank (n1), maximum number of layers in a tank (lmax) and the sions in Eqs. (19) and (20) are considered.
melted/frozen fraction (d) which can have a value between 0 and 1.
j ¼ d n1 V pcm =n2 V pcm ¼ d n1 =n2 ð18Þ
To calculate the total parallel heat resistances for a tank filled
with n1 number of spheres, Rpar_T is produced in the general form The active layer is actually the ratio of the total volume of PCM
as in Eq. (10). in the tank and over the total volume of PCM in each layer. Given
the melted/frozen fraction of PCM spheres in a layer, (d⁄), Riso can
1 1 1
Rpar T ¼ þ þ ð10Þ be expressed as:
Spcm kpcm Senc kenc 4pn1 hhtf r23

j  bjc; j < l
where d ¼ ð19Þ
0 otherwise
Spcm ¼ 4pr 2 r1 =ðr 2  r 1 Þ ð11Þ
8 1=3
and < 1d r 3 r 2
þ n2 kenc ;j < l
1=3 4pr 3 r 2
Riso ¼ n2 kpcm 4pr 2 d ð20Þ
Senc ¼ 4pr 3 r2 =ðr 3  r 2 Þ: :
ð12Þ h ; otherwise
Therefore The bjc ¼ floorðjÞ ¼ maxfj 2 Zjj 6 jg thus satisfying the condi-
1=3 tion that 0 6 fjg < 1 with j being the integer and Z is the set of
1d r3  r2 1
Rpar T ¼ þ þ ð13Þ integers (positive, negative, and zero), and, h represents an almost
n1 kpcm 4pr 2 d1=3 n1 kenc 4pr 3 r 2 4pn1 hhtf r 23 infinite resistance. The total isothermal resistance is determined by
Fig. 5 illustrates the isothermal heat resistances arrangement Eq. (21).
for PCM spheres in a tank. The first group of resistances represents 1 1
one layer of spheres in a tank. Each subsequent group of resis- Riso T ¼ þ ð21Þ
Riso 1 þ Riso 2 þ ::: þ Riso l max 4pn1 hhtf r23
tances represents other layers of PCM spheres in the tank. In each
column group of resistances of Fig. 5, each pair of resistances which where Riso_1, Riso_2 and Riso_l max are respectively the isothermal ther-
are in series represents a single PCM sphere. Consequently, the mal resistances of PCM spheres in each layer, and Rhtf is the resis-
height of each layer is estimated as the ratio of n1 over n2. The tance in the heat transfer fluid.
determination of n2 was determined empirically by Birgin and To calculate the hhtf of the liquid flowing past spheres, the data
Sobral [26]. This correlation achieved a coefficient of determination of Gunn [28] can be used:

Rpcm Renc Rpcm Renc Rpcm Renc

Rpcm Renc Rpcm Renc Rpcm Renc Rhtf

Rpcm Renc Rpcm Renc Rpcm Renc

Fig. 5. Isothermal heat resistances during phase change for PCM spheres in TES system.
360 N.A.M. Amin et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362

hDh
Nu ¼
khtf
¼ ð7  10n þ 5n2 Þð1 þ 0:7Re0:2 Pr1=3 Þ þ ð1:33  2:4n
þ 1:2n2 ÞRe0:7 Pr1=3
This equation is valid for a wide range of porosity [29] between
0.35 and 1 and tested for Reynolds number up to 105. Shen et al.
[30] used the same correlation thus suggested a value of two as a
minimum Nu (at a flow rate of zero), while Gunn [28] preferred
a minimum value of four. In this study, the value of three has been
found as a minimum Nu when the flow rate is set as zero, therefore
Eq. (22) is found to be a valid equation to use for calculation. The
porosity of the tank or the void fraction can be calculated using:
pR2 L  ð4=3Þpr33
n¼
pR2 L
The hydraulic diameter, Dh is calculated using:
 
6 n1 ð4=3Þpr 33
Dh ¼ ¼ 2r 3
n1 4pr 23
and applied as described by Schröder et al. [31] and Du Plessis and
Woudberg [32].
Therefore, the particle Reynolds number for the HTF flowing
through the spheres is expressed as:
_ h
mD
Re ¼
Acs lhtf
where the bed cross-section is defined as Acs = pR2.
4. Model validation
By comparing the experimental effectiveness presented in Amin
et al. [18] to that determined using the e-NTU method, the p value
can be found. This value is dependant on the size of the tank,
sphere, and mass flow rate supplied to the system. A small value
of p represents a small percentage of isothermal heat flow in the
TES system. In other words, the heat is transferred almost uni-
formly to all spheres within the tank.
To determine the NTU during melting and freezing, the thermal
resistance applying the correct thermal conductivity is required.
The thermal resistance within the PCM, during melting, is defined
by the heat transfer of the liquid layer. As discussed in Bédécarrats
et al. [2], this layer is subject to natural convection. This natural
convection can be described by an effective thermal conductivity
which is greater than the thermal conductivity of the liquid. To
account for the natural convection in the sphere, Amin et al. [33]
has developed an empirical relationship for natural convection
defined by
ð22Þ keff =k ¼ ð384:75E  06ÞRa þ 1:5859 ð26Þ
This equation was developed by correlating CFD data to mea-
sured results applying an effective thermal conductivity. Experi-
ments were conducted on a sphere of diameter 0.074 m and
using ice as the PCM. The keff of the PCM in the sphere is valid
for 6.8  106 < Ra < 4.4  107.
The measured average effectiveness results are presented in
Amin et al. [18]. Table 1 shows a summary of the data, showing
the HTF mass flow rate, average inlet and outlet temperature and
the phase change time during each test. The HTF used was a low
ð23Þ temperature fluid with properties detailed in Amin et al. [18].
Table 1 also shows the calculated effective thermal conductivity
during melting calculated using Eq. (26). Figs. 6–11 show how
the average effectiveness decreases with increasing mass flow rate
ð24Þ consistent with heat exchange theory. The effectiveness during
freezing is greater than during melting. This reflects the impact
of the higher thermal conductivity of the solid PCM compared to
the heat flow through the liquid PCM during melting. Further
discussion is provided elsewhere [18].
Figs. 6 and 7 present the measured and calculated average effec-
tiveness assuming parallel heat flow (p = 1), while Figs. 8 and 9
show the case for assuming isothermal heat flow, applying the
ð25Þ
effective conductivity for melting presented in Table 1. The figures
also show a 10% maximum error margin. The calculated average
effectiveness is greater when parallel heat flow is assumed as
opposed to isothermal heat flow. This difference is accounted for
by parallel heat flow having a much lower thermal resistance
throughout the phase change process. Since the thermal resistance
is a function of the active heat transfer area, parallel flow assumes
all spheres are active, maximising the heat transfer area. Isother-
mal heat flow assumes only an individual layer is active and there-
fore the heat transfer area is minimised to only the spheres within
a single layer. For both discharging and charging the heat flow is
best described as dominated by parallel heat flow. This conclusion
is consistent with temperature measurements of various spheres
throughout the tank as presented in Amin et al. [18]. For both dis-
charging and charging, the spheres generally went through the
phase change process over the same time period.
In order to determine the p value, the calculated effectiveness
curves were adjusted for both charging and discharging results.
As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, a value of 0.94 was found to achieve
the best fit for both discharging and charging, with a maximum

Table 1
Parameters of charging and discharging tests taken from Amin et al. [18], with k = keff during discharging.

Process _ htf (kg/s)

m Tin (°C) Tout (°C) Phase change time (min) k (W/m K)

Discharging 0.0101 27.01 11.10 83.67 2.949

0.0137 15.49 8.09 88.92 1.309
0.0169 15.09 8.87 60.67 1.389
0.0195 23.01 14.01 58.67 1.988
0.0211 18.51 11.97 50.67 1.612
0.0248 12.11 8.19 91.02 1.179
0.0257 26.61 18.52 37.67 2.506
0.033 20.51 15.13 70.92 1.898
Charging 0.0105 24.7 9.39 78.92 2.2
0.0152 29.3 13.45 60.92 2.2
0.0186 29.6 15.48 58.92 2.2
0.0197 27.7 15.51 60.67 2.2
0.0221 27.8 16.4 60.67 2.2
0.0257 28.8 18.49 36.67 2.2
0.027 30.4 19.64 45.67 2.2
0.0329 25.2 17.94 44.67 2.2
 N.A.M. Amin et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362 361

0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8
Experiment Experiment

Charging effecveness, ɛc
Charging effecveness, ɛc

0.7 0.7
NTU-method NTU-method
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
Mass flow rate (kg/s) Mass flow rate (kg/s)

Fig. 6. Charging effectiveness with ks = 2.22 W/m K and p = 1. Fig. 10. Charging effectiveness with ks = 2.22 W/m K and p = 0.94.

0.9 0.9
0.8
Discharging effecveness, ɛd

Experiment 0.8

Discharging effecveness, ɛd
Experiment
0.7 0.7
NTU-method NTU-method
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
Mass flow rate (kg/s) Mass flow rate (kg/s)

Fig. 7. Discharging effectiveness with kf = keff and p = 1. Fig. 11. Discharging effectiveness with kf = keff and p = 0.94.

0.9
0.8
0.8
Experiment
Charging effecveness, ɛc

0.7 0.7
NTU-method R² = 0.9553
0.6
0.6
0.5
ε-NTU

0.4
0.5
0.3
0.2 0.4
0.1
0.3
0
0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
0.2
Mass flow rate (kg/s)
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Fig. 8. Charging effectiveness with ks = 2.22 W/m K and p = 0. Experimental

Fig. 12. Charging and discharging effectivenesses for both experimental and e-NTU
method with p = 0.94.
0.9
0.8
Discharging effecveness, ɛd

Experiment
0.7
NTU-method liquids of high thermal capacity the bias is towards parallel flow as
0.6 the fluid temperature changes more gradually allowing heat trans-
0.5 fer to occur for all spheres along the flow path. With longer tanks,
0.4 the temperature of the heat transfer fluid is likely to change along
0.3 the tank and so the layers of PCM spheres near the inlet and the
0.2 outlet of the tank will be at different temperatures, resulting in iso-
0.1
thermal heat flow.
Fig. 12 summarises the data from Figs. 10 and 11 and demon-
0
0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 strates the close correlation the e-NTU method can achieve with
Mass flow rate (kg/s) an R-squared value of 0.9553, with a maximum error of 8%.

Fig. 9. Discharging effectiveness with kf = keff and p = 0.

5. Conclusions

error of 8%. The applicability of this p factor to other configurations A newly developed semi analytical mathematical model based
requires further investigation, however can be estimated based on on the e-NTU has been formulated and experimentally validated
the expected thermal resistance profile. It can be argued that with for a packed bed of PCM spheres. The 2D formulation enables the
362 N.A.M. Amin et al. / Applied Energy 134 (2014) 356–362
E-NTU method to be generally applicable to packed bed of PCMs
that satisfy the p factor regime, experimentally tested in this study.
This formulation enables the design and simulation of a packed
bed system to be quickly completed without the need for numeri-
cal modelling. Applying the isothermal/parallel path characterisa-
tion, defined by the p factor, to the phase change distribution
within a packed bed has been validated. Further research to inves-
tigate the applicability to other configurations, would enable a
generalised p factor equation to be developed.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the technical support from the Barbara
Hardy Institute at the University of South Australia. N.A.M.A. is also
grateful to the financial support provided by the Universiti Malaysia
Perlis which is administered by the Ministry of Higher Education,
Malaysia.
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