Simulation on the plate-fin thermal storage in a new desalination system

This paper presents an analysis of a new desalination process utilizing low grade thermal energy. In this process, fresh water is distilled from saline water under vacuum pressures created by passive means, enabling low-temperature distillation with lower energy requirements than conventional methods. At night or in the rain day, the energy to power low-temperature distillation is provided by a plate-fin thermal storage (PFTS) device. The thermal storing process of the plate-fin latent thermal storages is studied numerically and experimentally. The experimental results indicate that the rate of phase change is strongly dependent on the inlet temperature and flow velocity of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) during storage and release of heat. The experimental results show good agreement with the corresponding numerical predictions. They also can provide good references for the design and optimization of plate-fin solar thermal storage.