Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319

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

An effectiveness-NTU technique for characterising tube-in-tank phase

change thermal energy storage systems
N.H.S. Tay , M. Belusko, F. Bruno
Barbara Hardy Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, South Australia 5095, Australia

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

Article history: Thermal storage systems with phase change materials are predominantly designed, analysed and
Received 1 July 2011 optimised through numerical modelling. An alternative simplied method is being proposed for the
Received in revised form 7 September 2011 characterisation of these phase change thermal storage systems. The method is based on the effective-
Accepted 27 September 2011
ness-number of transfer units (e-NTUs) technique. A simplied mathematical representation has been
Available online 5 November 2011
analytically developed using the e-NTU technique for a cylindrical tank lled with phase change material
(PCM), with heat transfer uid owing through tubes inside the tank. Experiments have been carried out
Keywords:
on a cylindrical tank lled with PCM and with one, two and four coils of tubes to validate the technique.
Effectiveness-NTU
Thermal storage system
Experimental results for the systems with a high heat transfer area compare well with those calculated
Phase change material from the model. The results show that this technique can readily be used as a design tool for sizing and
optimising a thermal storage unit with phase change materials. From this study, it may be concluded that
the model based on the e-NTU technique can accurately predict the average heat exchange effectiveness
of the thermal storage system with a high heat transfer surface area during charging and discharging.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction slurry in direct contact heat transfer technique with a carbon

Cold storage is an effective energy storage method in applica-
tions where cooling can be generated more efciently or for less
cost outside of the period of cooling demand. Thermal storage also
makes it possible to use smaller cooling equipment. This technique
can be applied in applications where the refrigeration load is
needed for a short period. Cold storage is also applicable when
the electricity is more costly during the peak as compared to the
non-peak hours and it can also serve as a backup in the event of
refrigeration plant breakdown [1]. Many countries are also making
use of cold storage to shift the peak load to off-peak hours for air-
conditioning demands [25].
The performance indicators of thermal energy storage systems
can be dened by the energy storage density and the effectiveness
of the heat transfer [6]. Phase change materials (PCMs) have very
high energy storage densities and are an ideal candidate for cold
storage. There are many successful implementations of cold stor-
age applications making use of ice tanks and ice slurries [710].
Thongwik et al. [11] investigated the thermal behaviour of ice
Abbreviations: e-NTUs, effectiveness-number of transfer units; PCM, phase
change material; TSU, thermal storage unit; HTF, heat transfer uid; IEA,
International Energy Agency; CF, compactness factor; NTU, number of transfer
units; PCM-27, salt hydrate PCM with a phase change temperature of 27 C;
PCM0, water.
Corresponding author. Fax: +61 8 83023380.
E-mail address: Taynh001@mymail.unisa.edu.au (N.H.S. Tay).
dioxide and water mixture. It was found that the effectiveness of
a direct contact heat transfer between carbon dioxide and water
is very high. PCM slurries have a lower energy density compared
to encapsulated PCM. There are many related to cold storage with
PCM in spheres, however, it has a compactness factor (CF) of
approximately 50%, reducing the nal energy storage density of
the storage facility [1214]. CF is the ratio of the volume of PCM
to the volume of the tank. Recent research has focused on increas-
ing energy density, PCM stability and improving heat transfer in
PCM storage systems [6,15,16]. Regin et al. [17] has investigated
PCM encapsulated in different shapes in order to maximise the
storage density, as well as improving the thermal conductivity of
the PCM. Finally, Mehling et al. have developed a tube in PCM tank
arrangement which achieves CF of over 90% [18,19]. It can there-
fore be argued that this arrangement delivers a very high energy
storage density for the thermal store.
Numerous experimentally validated mathematical models of
PCM in thermal storage units (TSUs) have been developed over
the years, and capable of simulating the phase change process in dif-
ferent PCM arrangements. These models have been used to deter-
mine the performance of the TSU for design and simulation
purposes [20]. A simplied model was developed by Royon et al.
[21] to predict the crystallisation rate of a PCM slurry in a thermal
storage system. The model was experimentally validated for
predicting the freezing times. The good agreement of the simulated
results with empirical values justies the use of the method for

0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.09.039
310 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319
Nomenclature
e instantaneous effectiveness of heat exchanger ()
e average effectiveness of heat exchanger ()
Tin HTF inlet temperature (C)
Tout HTF outlet temperature (C)
TPCM PCM temperature (C)
U overall heat-transfer coefcient (W/(m2 K))
A heat transfer area (m2)
NTU number of transfer units ()
m_ mass ow rate of HTF (kg/s)
Cp specic heat of the HTF (kJ/(kg K))
RT total thermal resistance (K/W)
RHTF thermal resistance of the HTF (K/W)
RWALL thermal resistance of the tube wall (K/W)
RPCM thermal resistance of the PCM (K/W)
Ri inner radius of the tube (m)
Ro outer radius of the tube (m)
L length of the tube (m)
hf heat transfer coefcient of the HTF (W/(m2 K))
kw thermal conductivity of the tube wall (W/(m K))
kPCM thermal conductivity of the PCM (W/(m K))
S shape factor of the PCM (m)
PCMs distribution of macroscopic particles. Halawa and Saman [20]
presented a one dimensional experimentally validated numerical
model of melting and freezing of a PCM TSU with varying wall tem-
perature. The TSU comprises of several layers of thin slabs of PCM
subjected to convective boundary conditions where air ows be-
tween the slabs. The numerical model considered the variations in
wall temperature along the direction of air ow as well as sensible
heat. A theoretical model was developed by Lacroix [22] to predict
the transient behaviour of a shell-and-tube storage unit, with PCM
lling the shell side and the heat transfer uid (HTF) circulation in-
side the tubes. The model uses an enthalpy-based method and nat-
ural convection in the melt layer of the PCM is also taken into
consideration. Results show that for a given type of PCM, these
parameters must be selected carefully in order to optimise the per-
formance of the storage unit. The International Energy Agency (IEA)
task 32 has developed several numerical models on phase change
thermal energy storage system. The models developed included
PCM containers of different shapes (plates, cylinders and sphere),
internal heat transfer by convection in the liquid PCM, PCM slurry
used in thermal storage system, immersed heat exchanger in a
PCM container and seasonal heat storage with PCM in subcooled
state. All models were validated by experiments and are suitable
for the TRNSYS simulation environment [23]. However, little atten-
tion has been placed on using these models to develop generic rep-
resentations which can be readily used for the characterisation and
ultimately the design and optimisation of a TSU with PCM.
Models of the thermal system created using the effectiveness-
number of transfer unit (e-NTU) methodology have been con-
ducted by several researchers. Browne and Bansal [24] presented
a new steady-state model for vapour-compression liquid chillers.
The principle of this model is on physical laws and heat transfer
coefcients. In order to better predict the heat transfer, the heat
exchanger is divided into elements by applying the elemental e-
NTU methodology. Mathew and Hegab [25] developed a thermal
model of a parallel ow microchannel heat exchanger subjected
to external heat transfer.
A major consideration with phase change storage systems is the
thermal resistance to heat transfer between the HTF and the PCM
[26]. To reduce this resistance, graphite as well as other conductors
has been added within the PCM to signicantly enhance the heat
Sround shape factor of the PCM when the PCM around the tube
forms a round shape (m)
Ssquare shape factor of the PCM when the PCM around the tube
forms a square shape (m)
R changing radius of the PCM during phase change (m)
Z changing width of the PCM during phase change (m)
Rmax radius of PCM when point of intersection with neigh-
bouring phase change front (m)
W width of PCM when point of intersection with neigh-
bouring phase change front (m)
d phase change fraction ()
Ar changing area of the PCM during phase change (m2)
Ao outer tube area (m2)
Amax maximum area of the PCM after phase change (m2)
Pr Prandtl number ()
lf dynamic viscosity of the HTF (kg/(m s))
kf thermal conductivity of the HTF (W/(m K))
Re Reynolds number ()
di inner diameter of the tube (m)
Ac cross sectional area of the inner tube (m2)
Nu Nusselt number ()
transfer within the thermal storage system [2731]. However, the
impact of these enhancements with regards to designing a PCM sys-
tem can only be achieved using numerical models. The research by
Halawa et al. [32] identied how the phase change prole changes
with time for slabs, and can be assumed one dimensional. Belusko
and Bruno [26] determined the thermal resistance of a PCM system,
with respect to a single variable from which the heat exchange
effectiveness of a TSU was found using the e-NTU approach. The heat
exchange effectiveness of one and two dimensional phase change
within a PCM slab was dened in term of phase change fraction.
Employment of phase change fraction characterises the TSU by a
single effectiveness equation and thus developing a useful method
for determining the size of the TSU, which denes the useful energy
storage density for a specic application.
In previous research [33,34], the authors have empirically dem-
onstrated that the e-NTU can be used in the TSU with PCM in a
tube-in-tank arrangement to characterise the heat transfer. The
experimental investigation demonstrated that the heat exchange
effectiveness, dened by the phase change temperature, strongly
correlated with the number of transfer units (NTUs).
Tan and Chan [35,36] present the experimental results showing
how the phase change prole changes inside the sphere showing
that the freezing/melting prole starts from the heat transfer sur-
face and approximately uniformly moving towards the furthest
point of the heat transfer surface which in this case is the centre
of the sphere, suggesting one dimensional phase change. However,
the melting prole is skewed towards the lower half of the sphere
due to natural convection. In this paper, a simple mathematical
representation based on the e-NTU approach by Belusko and Bruno
[26], are developed and experimentally validated for tubes in a
thermal energy storage system, based on one dimensional phase
change. The tubes are coiled inside a cylindrical tank lled with
PCM. The HTF passes through the tube during the charging and dis-
charging processes.
2. Empirical effectiveness-NTU characteristic
Heat exchange effectiveness denes the performance of a heat
exchanger. It can be argued that a thermal energy storage device
 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319
Fig. 1. Schematic of one tube tank (a), two tubes tank (b) and four tubes tank (c) [34].
with PCM is a heat exchanger with the thermal performance de-
ned by a xed heat source/sink at the PCM temperature as ex-
pressed by Sari and Kaygusuz [37]. The effectiveness is described
as a ratio of the actual heat discharged over the theoretical maxi-
mum heat that can be discharged. In using a PCM subject to a small
temperature variation during freezing and melting processes, the
sensible energy storage is small and is therefore ignored [37]. Eq.
(1) represents the instantaneous effectiveness at any point in time
over the phase change period, while Eq. (2) shows that average
effectiveness during the phase change period. The maximum effec-
tiveness of the system arises when the outlet temperature of the
HTF is the same as the phase change temperature. The process is
a transient process and therefore the heat exchanger effectiveness
is bounded between 0 and 1. The average effectiveness over the
phase change process can be determined by the average inlet
and outlet temperature over the phase change process. The average
effectiveness gives an indication of the performance of the TSU.
e T in  T out =T in  T PCM
Z t
e e dt
0
Effectiveness can be dened by the NTU between the heat
transfer uid and the solid to liquid phase change front in the
PCM. The NTU for a heat exchanger analysis is constant for a given
mass ow rate. The NTU, however, for a thermal storage system
with a constant mass ow rate changes with time as the phase
change front, which denes U and A, is affected due to phase
change [26].
Previous research involved experimentally investigating the
effectiveness of a tube-in-tank arrangement within the PCM
311
[33,34]. Experiments were conducted with different arrangements
and different ow rates and types of PCM, as shown in Fig. 1. The
PCMs chosen have differences in density, thermal conductivities
and phase change temperature. The ratio of the liquid density to
the solid density is also different, thus the effect of natural convec-
tion will be different. From this work [34], it was found that the
tube-in-tank design can deliver a high energy storage density with
CF above 90%. Furthermore, with sufcient heat transfer area the
useful energy that can be stored can be more than 70% as identied
by the average heat exchange effectiveness. This average effective-
ness was found to be a function of the mass ux, representing the
average NTU of the storage system. Mass ux is dened as the ratio
of the mass ow rate to the heat transfer surface area. The average
NTU represents the average thermal resistance to heat transfer be-
tween the HTF and the PCM at the phase change front. This heat
transfer is dened by heat ow to a heat source/sink of innite spe-
cic heat and dened by:
1 e 1  expNTU 3
2 An empirically derived equation was formulated in Eq. (4)
based on Eq. (3), and shown in Fig. 2 based on this representation,
which can be directly used for design purposes. It is also found that
the type of PCM used had no effect on the results. This equation is
based on the thermal resistance within the PCM, HTF and tube
wall. The equation was based on measurements up to an average
tube spacing of 70 mm, which determines the thermal resistance
in the PCM. Therefore, a mathematical representation of the
e-NTU can be derived which can be used to calculate the average
effectiveness of a thermal storage system. This representation
ignores sensible storage within the PCM.
312 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319

0.9
One Tube Tank
0.8 Two Tubes Tank
Four Tubes Tank
Effectiveness, (-) 0.7 Equation (4)

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35

Fig. 2. Effectiveness of the PCM-27 storage tank against the mass ux [34].

e 1  expf0:0199A=mg
_ 4
3. Mathematical formulation
The mathematical representation of the heat ow is a one
dimensional formulation between the HTF and the PCM at the
phase change prole. The NTU is determined from the thermal
resistance to heat ow within the HTF, the tube wall and the sec-
tion of the PCM which has undergone phase change. Two mathe-
matical representations of the resistance in the PCM are dened.
In both cases, the phase change is assumed to occur in one dimen-
sional from the internal surface of the tube to an external boundary
in the PCM. This assumption is based on the internal temperature
measurements within the PCM, an example of which is shown in
Fig. 3 with further discussion in Tay et al. [34]. These
measurements were taken throughout the PCM tank and it was
found that the phase change was generally uniform, indicating
one dimensional heat ow. The rst representation assumes the
phase change occurs in a cylindrical pattern, dened by a round
shape factor, Sround as shown in Fig. 4a. The second representation
assumes the phase change occurs in a square pattern, dened by a
square shape factor, Ssquare as shown in Fig. 5a.
The mathematical models have the following assumptions. The
inlet velocity and inlet temperature of the HTF are constant while
the outer walls of the tank remaining adiabatic. The initial temper-
ature of the latent heat storage unit is uniform and the PCM is in
the solid phase for melting or in the liquid phase for freezing.
The models are axisymmetric and the thermo physical properties
of the HTF, the tube wall and the PCM are constant. Natural con-
vection in the liquid phase of the PCM has been ignored.
The NTU at any point in time can be presented by:
_ p 1=RT mC
_ p
NTU UA=mC 5
In order to formulate the effectiveness, the total thermal resis-
tance, RT, needs to be determined. Thermal resistance is a function
of the overall heat transfer coefcient between the HTF and PCM,
and the heat transfer area [26]. Considering that the coil is a long

25

20 Inlet Outlet High Outside

High Middle High Inside Center Outside
15
Center Middle Center Inside Low Outside

10 Low Middle Low Inside

5
Temperature (C)

-5 Freezing Process

-10

-15

-20

-25

-30

-35
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0 120.0 140.0 160.0 180.0 200.0
Time (min)

Fig. 3. Typical freezing process for the four tubes tank with mass ow rates of 0.019 kg/s using PCM0 with an average effectiveness of 0.56 [34].
 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319 313

Fig. 4. Simplied model of the round shape factor (a) and thermal circuit (b) [38].

tube surrounded by a volume of PCM, the total thermal resistance, RT 1=2pRi Lhf lnRo =Ri =2pkw L
RT, is given in Eqs. (6) and (7), where RHTF is the resistance of the 1=2pL=ln0:54Z=Ro kPCM  10
HTF, dened by forced internal convection, RWALL is the resistance
Ssquare 2pL=ln0:54Z=Ro 11
of the tube wall and RPCM is the resistance in the PCM, dened by
conduction and the relevant shape factor. The Rmax and W of the two shape factors are calculated based on the
compactness factor of the thermal storage system being analysed,
RT RHTF RWALL RPCM 6
assuming a long tube surrounded by PCM. The impact of the shape
RT 1=2pRi Lhf lnRo =Ri =2pkw L 1=SkPCM 7 factor was analysed based on the one tube tank experiment as
The arrangement is assumed to be a single length tube. The shown in Fig. 1a. It can be observed in Fig. 6 that the two shape fac-
impact of the bends is ignored, as it represents only 2530% of tors almost form the same curve with an average difference of 3%.
the tube length, but was included in the total tube length. Sround Therefore, it can be concluded that either of the shape factor can
refers to the conduction between two concentric cylinders, rep- be used for the calculation of the effectiveness of the thermal stor-
resenting heat owing from the tube to the phase change front age system.
at the phase change temperature (Eq. (9)). This front will vary The shape factor will vary with time. However, instead of time
with time beginning at the tube wall and increasing to the max- as the independent variable, the resistance of the PCM of the two
imum radius (Rmax). This Rmax denes when the phase change shape factors are calculated based on the phase change fraction,
front from one tube intersects the phase change front from a d. The phase change fraction is the proportion of material that
neighbouring tube. The total thermal resistance is presented in has yet to change phase and relates directly to the solid to liquid
Eq. (8). line within the PCM. This can be used as the dening variables in-
stead of time [26]. The phase change fraction (d) for a tube sur-
RT 1=2pRi Lhf lnRo =Ri =2pkw L lnRo =Ri =2pkPCM L 8 rounded by a cylindrical volume of PCM is dened as follows:
Sround 2pL=lnR=Ro 9  . 
d Ar  Ao =Amax  Ao R2  R2o R2max  R2o 12
Ssquare refers to the conduction between two concentric surfaces,
representing heat owing from the tube to the phase change front where Ar, Ao and Amax are the changing area of the PCM during phase
at the phase change temperature with a square shape (Eq. (11)). change, outer tube area and the maximum area of the PCM after
This front will vary with time beginning at the tube wall and phase change.
increasing to the width of the square (W). This width denes the n   o1=2
point of intersection with the neighbouring phase change front. Therefore; R d R2max  R2o R2o 13
The total thermal resistance for a square phase change front is pre-
sented in Eq. (10). Substituting Eq. (13) into (8), the total thermal resistance, RT is
dened as:

Fig. 5. Simplied model of the square shape factor (a) and thermal circuit (b).
314 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319

0.025

0.02

0.015

0.01
RPCM

0.005

-0.005 R_PCM(Square) R_PCM(Round)

-0.01

-0.015
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Fig. 6. Comparison of resistance of the PCM over the phase change fraction for the round and square shape factors.

RT 1=2pRi Lhf lnRo =Ri =2pkw L where m_ is the mass ow rate of the HTF, di is the inner diameter of
 n   o1=2   the tube and A is the cross sectional area of the inner tube [38].
ln d R2max  R2o R2o =Ro =2pLkPCM 14
For laminar flow; Nu 3:66 0:0668di =LRe Pr =
Therefore, the heat exchanger effectiveness can be written in 1 0:04di =LRe P r 2=3 18
terms of RT:
e 1  exp1=mC
_ p RT 15 For turbulent flow; Nu 0:023Re0:8 Prn 19
Eq. (15) denes the effectiveness at a given mass ow rate and
where n = 0.3 for cooling and n = 0.4 for heating,
phase change fraction with respect to the radius Rmax.
The following formulae are utilised for the calculation of hf [38]: hf Nukf =di 20
Prandtl number; Pr lf C p =kf 16
The effectiveness varies over phase change process, and there-
where lf is the dynamic viscosity of the HTF and Cp is the specic fore in order to determine a single performance parameter the
heat of the HTF. average effectiveness can be determined. The average effectiveness
_ i =Ac lf was experimentally determined as presented in Fig. 2. Average
Reynolds number; Re md 17
effectiveness, e can be dened as:

0.45

0.4
-NTU (round shape factor)

0.35 -NTU (Square Shape Factor)

Experiment
(-)

0.3
AVE

0.25
Effectiveness,

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35

_
Fig. 7. Comparison of effectiveness over the ratio of m=A for experimental and e-NTU melting results for one tube tank using PCM-27.
 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319 315

0.8 -NTU

Experiment
(-) AVE

0.6
Effectiveness,

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3

_
Fig. 8. Comparison of effectiveness over the ratio of m=A for experimental and e-NTU melting results for two tubes tank using PCM-27.

0.8 -NTU

Experiment
(-)

0.6
AVE
Effectiveness,

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09

_
Fig. 9. Comparison of effectiveness over the ratio of m=A for experimental and e-NTU melting results for four tubes tank using PCM-27.

Z d1
with a phase change temperature of 27 C (referred to as
e e dd =1  0 21
d0
vPCM-27) and water (referred to as PCM0), overall showing good
Z 1 agreement with an average absolute error of 13%. It can be ob-
e _ p RT dd
1  exp1=mC 22 served from Figs. 79 that most of the calculated values were out
0
of the error bars of the measured values for the melting process
As Eq. (22) could not be determined explicitly, e needs to be using PCM-27. This is due to natural convection that occurs during
computed numerically. the melting process of the experiments resulting from the high
Taking the d interval to be 0.01 (Eq. (23)), temperature difference (approximately 40 C). Natural convection
will expedite the melting process thus causing a higher experimen-
X
0:995
e e0:01 23 tal effectiveness compared to the theoretical value. The essential
d0:005 difference in the heat transfer mechanism between melting and
freezing is that, during the melting process, the resistance in the
PCM is dened by the resistance in the liquid state of the PCM.
4. Results and discussion As a consequence, any buoyancy due to temperature differences
in the uid will generate natural convection, which enhances heat
Figs. 712 show the measured and calculated average effective- transfer. Bdcarrats et al. [39] demonstrated this effect by deter-
ness for the freezing and melting processes using salt hydrate PCM mining an effective thermal conductivity for liquid water, when
316 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319

0.9

0.8 Experiment - One Tube Experiment - Two Tubes

Experiment - Four Tubes -NTU - One Tube

0.7 -NTU - Two Tubes -NTU - Four Tubes

(-)

0.6
AVE
Effectiveness,

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35

_
Fig. 10. Comparison of effectiveness over the ratio of m=A for experimental and e-NTU melting results for one, two and four tubes tank using PCM-27.

modelling the heat transfer of a thermal storage system with PCM
encapsulated in spheres. The e-NTU method does not consider nat-
ural convection as it is dependent on the temperature difference in
the system, and the method is intended to be temperature
independent.
Fig. 12 shows that all of the calculated values were within the
error bars of the experimental values. This is because of the tem-
perature difference used was smaller (approximately 18 C), there-
fore the natural convection for the melting process was smaller. In
_
this gure, a sudden change in curve exist at m=A 0:057. This is
owing to the change of condition of the HTF from laminar to turbu-
lent. At this point, the Reynolds number reached the values of a
turbulent ow, thus causing the Nusselt number to increase which
in turn causes the HTF and total resistance to decrease.
Fig. 11 shows the comparison between the calculated and the
experimental values of the average effectiveness against the ratio
of the mass ow rate to area, during the freezing process for the
four tubes tank experiment using PCM0. It can be observed that
a good agreement exists between the predicted and experimental
values with an average absolute error of 11%. Some of the
calculated average effectiveness were found to be slightly below
the error bars of the experimental results. This is due to the
three-dimensional conduction occurring during the experiment
which enhances heat transfer.
The calculated values of the average effectiveness using round
and square shape factors have been presented in Fig. 7. It can be
seen that the difference between the calculated values of the two
curves are negligible with an average difference of 1%. Therefore,
all analysis in this section was based on the round shape factor.
The validity of the calculation of the average thermal resistance
of the PCM, is also a function of the relative impact on the total
resistance to heat ow. Figs. 13 and 14 show the average thermal

0.6

0.5
-NTU

Experiment
(-)

0.4
AVE
Effectiveness,

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25

_
Fig. 11. Comparison of effectiveness over the ratio of m/A for experimental and e-NTU freezing results for four tubes tank using PCM0.
 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319 317

0.7

0.6
-NTU

(-) AVE
Effectiveness, 0.5 Experiment

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09

_
Fig. 12. Comparison of effectiveness over the ratio of m=A for experimental and e-NTU melting results for four tubes tank using PCM0.

resistance within the PCM relative to the total thermal resistance.
Over the ow rates tested, the resistance varied from an average of
10% for freezing to a maximum average value of 60% for melting
with one tube. Interestingly, the resistance of the tube and the con-
vection within the uid were relatively signicant. Polyvinyl chlo-
ride tubes were used in this study and with a thermal conductivity
of 0.14 W/m K, Fig. 15 shows the different resistances for the case
with melting with four tubes using PCM-27. The results show that
both the resistance in the tube and the HTF are signicant. Essen-
tially, these resistances are constant across tests and the signi-
cance of these factors will vary depending on the resistance
within the PCM.
The test in which the PCM represents the highest proportion of
the total resistance is the melting test with the one tube tank
experiment using PCM-27. As shown in Fig. 7, this conguration
delivered an average absolute error of 23% between the e-NTU
analysis and the measured results with the measured effectiveness
higher than the calculated values. This difference is due to the im-
pact of the natural convection which will reduce the thermal resis-
tance in the PCM and is ignored in the calculation. The average
thermal resistance within the PCM relative to the total thermal
resistance for the freezing test using PCM0 is shown in Fig. 14. Nat-
ural convection is not a factor in the freezing process as the ther-
mal resistance in the PCM is dened by the conduction within
the ice solid. The low signicance in the thermal resistance of
the PCM is likely due to the high conductivity of ice as well as
the larger surface involved in this test. Therefore, deviation be-
tween the measured effectiveness and analytical effectiveness, will
be a function of the accuracy of the resistance of the convection
heat transfer coefcient, and conductivity of the tube, rather than
the resistance of the PCM.
In this study, it was found that the thermal resistance of the
PCM is not the dominant resistor within a PCM TSU. The e-NTU
technique presented assumed one dimensional conduction and

0.7

0.6

0.5
RPCM/RTotal

0.4

0.3

0.2

One Tube Tank

Two Tubes Tank

0.1
Four Tubes Tank

0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07
Mass Flow Rate (kg/s)

Fig. 13. Comparison of the ratio of RPCM/RTotal for e-NTU melting results for one, two and four tubes tank using PCM-27.
318 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319

0.4

0.35
Freezing process

0.3
Melting process

0.25
RPCM/RTotal

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Mass Flow Rate (kg/s)

Fig. 14. Comparison of the ratio of RPCM/RTotal for e-NTU freezing and melting results for the four tubes tank using PCM0.

ignored natural convection. Overall, these factors did not signi-
cantly affect the accuracy of the technique, when the heat transfer
surface area of the system is high as shown in Figs. 9, 11 and 12.
However, when the natural convection in the system is signicant,
the accuracy of this technique will be affected as shown in Fig. 7.
The objective of a PCM storage design is to maximise the heat
transfer between the PCM and the HTF. Therefore, with an in-
creased in the heat transfer surface area, the relative importance
of the resistance in the PCM reduces. Therefore, the accuracy of
the presented e-NTU technique will improve for designs with high-
er heat transfer surface area which is more appropriate for thermal
storage systems. The results show that the determination of the
average resistance in the PCM based on one dimensional conduc-
tion, can achieves sufcient accuracy for the determination of the
average effectiveness of the PCM storage system.
This analytical approach can be directly used to design a suit-
able storage system to deliver the required temperature
conditions, based on the parameters investigated. The experimen-
tal validation was based on a small tank with polyvinyl chloride
tubes. With tubes of a high thermal conductivity, the relative
importance of the thermal resistance in the PCM will be higher.
Furthermore, with larger tanks the natural convection can also be
expected to increase. The accuracy of the e-NTU analysis under
these circumstances warrants further investigation.
5. Conclusion
An e-NTU characterisation of a tube-in-tank PCM energy storage
system has been developed and experimentally validated. The
characterisation involves the determination of the heat exchange
effectiveness between the HTF and the phase change front, based
on a one dimensional analysis. The average heat exchange effec-
tiveness can then be readily determined, and can be used as a sin-
gle performance parameter to describe a PCM energy storage
system. For a tube-in-tank arrangement, the thermal resistance

0.5

0.45

0.4

0.35

0.3
Resistance

0.25

0.2

R_PCM/R_Total
0.15

R_HTF/R_Total
0.1

R_Tube/R_Total
0.05

0
0.000 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.010 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018
Mass Flow Rate (kg/s)

Fig. 15. Comparison of different resistance ratio for e-NTU melting results for four tubes tank using PCM-27.
 N.H.S. Tay et al. / Applied Energy 91 (2012) 309319
in the PCM was found to be one of the signicant factors affecting
the heat exchange effectiveness along with the resistance in the
tube wall and the heat transfer uid.
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