Numerical simulation of the melting process in a shell and coil tube ice storage system for air conditioning application.

Cold energy storage helps cooling capacity overnight for later usage during peak hours. Cooling load demand during summer days leads to an increase in electrical energy demand, increasing the peak load. Therefore, to reduce energy consumption during peak hours, cold energy storage systems are used. The most common form of cold storage air conditioning technology is ice on coil energy storage. The main purpose of the present study is to simulate the melting process of PCM in an internal melt ice-on-coil thermal storage system with coil tube. A 3D numerical simulation is performed using ANSYS FLUENT to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of the melting process. The effects of operating parameters such as the inlet temperature and flowrate of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) are investigated. Results indicate that conduction is the dominant heat transfer mechanism at initial periods of the melting process. Increasing both operating parameters shortens the melting time.