Thermal Storage Improvement through the Melting Process of PCMs in Triplex Tube Heat Exchangers with Different Fin Materials

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Atef Chibani 1
Tawfiq Chekifi 2
Moustafa Boukraa 1
1 Research Center in Industrial Technologies CRTI, P.O. Box 64, Cheraga 16014, Algiers, Algeria
2 Unité de Recherche Appliqué en Energies Renouvelables, URAER, Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, CDER, 47133, Ghardaïa, Algeria
10.22055/jacm.2025.48184.5040
Abstract
This study explores the melting dynamics of paraffin wax, a phase change material (PCM), within a Triplex Tube Heat Exchanger (THEX) equipped with internal fins, using numerical simulations. The primary objective is to evaluate the impact of fin materials—aluminum, copper, carbon, and steel—on the PCM melting rate under controlled conditions of 300 K ambient temperature and 373 K steam temperature. The results demonstrate that fins significantly enhance the melting rate by improving thermal conduction within the PCM. Aluminum, copper, and carbon fins exhibited superior performance, with aluminum fins achieving the greatest reduction in melting time, approximately 41% compared to the finless configuration. Steel fins, limited by lower thermal conductivity, reduced melting time by about 26%, reflecting a moderate improvement. Increasing the steam temperature to 383 K further accelerated melting across all cases, with the no-fin configuration showing a 10% reduction in melting time and finned configurations averaging a 5.3% reduction. These findings highlight the critical role of high-conductivity fin materials in optimizing thermal energy storage systems, particularly for thermal condenser applications, offering valuable insights for enhancing system efficiency.
Keywords
Melting process
Efficiency
Triplex tube heat exchanger
Phase change materials (PCM)
Paraffin
Subjects

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Journal of Applied and Computational Mechanics
Volume 12, Issue 1
Winter 2026
Pages 289-301