Conference article

Modeling of a Thermosiphon to Recharge Phase Change Material Based Thermal Battery for a Portable Air Conditioning Device

Rohit Dhumane
Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 4164 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Bldg., MD 20742, USA

Jiazhen Ling
Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 4164 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Bldg., MD 20742, USA

Vikrant Aute
Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 4164 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Bldg., MD 20742, USA

Reinhard Radermacher
Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 4164 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Bldg., MD 20742, USA

Download articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3384/ecp17132459

Published in: Proceedings of the 12th International Modelica Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, May 15-17, 2017

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 132:52, p. 459-465

Show more +

Published: 2017-07-04

ISBN: 978-91-7685-575-1

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

Closed loop two phase thermosiphons have a wide range of applications due to their simplicity, reliability, low cost and the ability of dissipating high heat fluxes from minimal temperature differences. The present study focuses on one thermosiphon operation which solidifies a phase change material (PCM) based thermal battery for a portable air conditioner called Roving Comforter (RoCo). RoCo uses vapor compression cycle (VCC) to deliver cooling and stores the heat released from the condenser into a compact phase change material (PCM) based thermal battery. Before its next cooling operation, the PCM needs to be re-solidified. This is achieved by the thermosiphon, which operates within the same refrigerant circuitry with the help of a pair of valves. The molten PCM which acts as heat source affects the dynamics of the thermosiphon which in turn affects the solidification process. Thus the dynamics of both the PCM and thermosiphon are coupled. For accurate transient modeling of this process, the PCM model considers the solidification over a temperature range, variable effects of conduction and natural convection during the phase change and variable amounts of heat release at different temperatures within the temperature range of phase change. The paper discusses component modeling for this transient operation of thermosiphon and its validation with experimental data.

Keywords

Thermosiphon, Thermosyphon, Phase Change Materials

References

K S Benne and K O Homan. Transient Behavior of Thermosyphon-Coupled Sensible Storage with Constant Temperature Heat Addition. Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications, 55(2):101–123, 2009. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10407780802552062.

Theodore L Bergman and Frank P Incropera. Introduction to heat transfer. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, New York, 6 edition, 2011. ISBN 978-0470-50196-2.

Stuart W Churchill and Humbert HS Chu. Correlating equations for laminar and turbulent free convection from a vertical plate. International journal of heat and mass transfer, 18 (11):1323–1329, 1975. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(75)90243-4.

R T Dobson and J C Ruppersberg. Flow and heat transfer in a closed loop thermosyphon. Part I—Theoretical simulation. J. Energy South. Afr, 18:32–40, 2007.

Yilin Du, Jan Muehlbauer, Jiazhen Ling, Vikrant Aute, Yunho Hwang, and Reinhard Radermacher. Rechargeable Personal Air Conditioning Device. In ASME 2016 10th International Conference on Energy Sustainability collocated with the ASME 2016 Power Conference and the ASME 2016 14th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2016. doi: https://doi.org/10.1115/ES2016-59253.

Alessandro Franco and Sauro Filippeschi. Closed Loop Two-Phase Thermosyphon of Small Dimensions: a Review of the Experimental Results. Microgravity Science and Technology, 24(3):165–179, 2011. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-011-9281-6.

Rüdiger Franke, Francesco Casella, Martin Otter, Michael Sielemann, Hilding Elmqvist, Sven Erik Mattson, and Hans Olsson. Stream Connectors – An Extension of Modelica for Device-Oriented Modeling of Convective Transport Phenomena. 43:108–121, 2009. doi: https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp09430078.

S I Haider, Yogendra K Joshi, and Wataru Nakayama. A natural circulation model of the closed loop, two-phase thermosyphon for electronics cooling. Journal of heat transfer, 124(5):881–890, 2002. doi: https://doi.org/10.1115/1.1482404.

Tyler Hoyt, Edward Arens, and Hui Zhang. Extending air temperature setpoints: Simulated energy savings and design considerations for new and retrofit buildings. Building and Environment, 88:89–96, 2015. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2014.09.010.

JR Lloyd and WR Moran. Natural convection adjacent to horizontal surface of various planforms. Journal of Heat Transfer, 96(4):443–447, 1974. doi: https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3450224.

Debabrata Pal and Yogendra K Joshi. Melting in a side heated tall enclosure by a uniformly dissipating heat source. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 44(2):375–387, 2001. ISSN 0017-9310. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0017-9310(00)00116-2.

Hongtao Qiao, Vikrant Aute, and Reinhard Radermacher. Transient modeling of a flash tank vapor injection heat pump system–part I: model development. International journal of refrigeration, 49:169–182, 2015. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2014.06.019.

Eckehard F Schmidt. Wärmeübergang und Druckverlust in rohrschlangen. Chemie Ingenieur Technik, 39(13):781–789, 1967. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cite.330391302.

M M Shah. Chart correlation for saturated boiling heat transfer: equations and further study. ASHRAE Trans.;(United States), 88(CONF-820112-), 1982.

Mirza M Shah. Comprehensive correlations for heat transfer during condensation in conventional and mini/micro channels in all orientations. International journal of refrigeration, 67: 22–41, 2016. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2016.03.014.

Atul Sharma, V V Tyagi, C R Chen, and D Buddhi. Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13(2):318–345, 2009. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2007.10.005.

Hubertus Tummescheit, Jonas Eborn, and FalkoWagner. Development of a Modelica base library for modeling of thermohydraulic systems. In Modelica Workshop 2000 Proceedings, pages 41–51, 2000.

V R Voller. Fast implicit finite-difference method for the analysis of phase change problems. Numerical Heat Transfer, 17(2):155–169, 1990. ISSN 1040-7790. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10407799008961737.

Chi-Chuan Wang, Kuan-Yu Chi, and Chun-Jung Chang. Heat transfer and friction characteristics of plain fin-and-tube heat exchangers, part II: Correlation. International Journal of heat and mass transfer, 43(15):2693–2700, 2000. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/s0017-9310(99)00333-6.

Belen Zalba, Jose Ma Marin, Luisa F Cabeza, and Harald Mehling. Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications. Applied thermal engineering, 23(3):251–283, 2003. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-4311(02)00192-8.

Citations in Crossref