Phase change materials (PCMs) such as paraffin wax can be used to store or release large amount of energy at certain temperature at which their solid-liquid phase changes occurs. Paraffin wax that used in latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) has low thermal conductivity. In this study, the thermal conductivity of paraffin wax has been enhanced by adding different mass concentration (1wt.%, 3wt.%, 5wt.%) of (TiO₂) nano-particles with about (10nm) diameter. It is found that the phase change temperature varies with adding (TiO₂) nanoparticles in to the paraffin wax. The thermal conductivity of the composites is found to decrease with increasing temperature. The increase in thermal conductivity ha

The solidification process in a multi-tube latent heat energy system is affected by the natural convection and the arrangement of heat exchanger tubes, which changes the buoyancy effect as well. In the current work, the effect of the arrangement of the tubes in a multi-tube heat exchanger was examined during the solidification process with the focus on the natural convection effects inside the phase change material (PCM). The behavior of the system was numerically analyzed using liquid fraction and energy released, as well as temperature, velocity and streamline profiles for different studied cases. The arrangement of the tubes, considering seven pipes in the symmetrical condition, are assumed at different positions in the system, i

Thermal energy storage is an important component in energy units to decrease the gap between energy supply and demand. Free convection and the locations of the tubes carrying the heat-transfer fluid (HTF) have a significant influence on both the energy discharging potential and the buoyancy effect during the solidification mode. In the present study, the impact of the tube position was examined during the discharging process. Liquid-fraction evolution and energy removal rate with thermo-fluid contour profiles were used to examine the performance of the unit. Heat exchanger tubes are proposed with different numbers and positions in the unit for various cases including uniform and non-uniform tubes distribution. The results show that