Numerical optimization design of heat storage tank with metal foam for enhancing phase transition

Background: Latent heat storage (LHS) systems are crucial to improving the energy efficiency and achieving carbon neutrality. The latent heat accumulator is at the heart of the LHS system, and the performance of this component directly determines the thermal storage capacity of the LHS system. Nonetheless, phase change materials (PCMs) with low thermal conductivity in the accumulator restrict the LHS efficiency. Methods: To improve its efficiency, this study designs a new multi-channel thermal storage tank with a well-parallel thermal storage capacity. Furthermore, metal foams (MFs) with the excellent thermal conductivity are inserted into the structure. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model of a multi-channel LHS tank filled by MF is established, achieving good agreement with the previous results. Significant findings: Under the same equivalent porosity, the porosity combination of MF is optimized by numerical simulation. At a fixed porosity (0.92), the minimum unit mass melting and solidification time of the combination (0.97–0.890) are 1238 s and 1527 s, in respective. Compared with the combination (0.85–0.962), the melting and solidification times per mass of the combination (0.97–0.890) are further reduced by 12.3% and 12.7%, respectively.