Numerical study on coupling performance of solar ptc and LHS unit (II): performance optimization

Based on the established 1-D & 2-D physical and mathematical model for the solar parabolic trough collector and latent heat storage unit, performance optimization analysis of the latent heat storage (LHS) was performed for multiple phase change materials (PCMs). The results showed that the heat storage rate reduces and total heat storage capacity increases with the PCM1 volume ratio increase due to the effects of the PCMs thermalphysical properties. The melting time will reduce with the HTF mass flow rate increasing. But when the HTF mass flow rate is larger than 0.5 kg/s, it will have little effect on the LHS performance. When PCM initial temperature increases, the total heat storage capacity will decrease, but the times required for PCM completely melting and reaching the maximum heat storage capacity nearly keep constants. So, the initial temperature has little effect on the heat storage performance.