Renewable energy systems require efficient storage solutions to mitigate the temporal mismatch between supply and demand. Among various storage concepts, latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems based on phase change materials (PCM) offer high thermal storage density and nearly isothermal operation, making them especially suitable for enhancing the performance, reliability, and flexibility of renewable energy technologies. In this work, a numerical investigation of melting behavior in a rectangular PCM domain is performed. Multiple heat transfer enhancement techniques are compared under identical boundary conditions, including metal fins, copper nanoparticles, and hybrid combinations of both. The results indicate substantial improvement in heat transfer and melting rate with enhanced configurations, highlighting the potential of combined techniques for developing high-performance latent heat thermal energy storage systems.
Anflous et al. (2026) studied this question.