Experimental study on the thermal performance of a new type of thermal energy storage based on flat micro-heat pipe array

•A novel thermal energy storage based on flat micro-heat pipe array is proposed.•The thermal storage shows excellent thermal performance in the working process.•The novel thermal storage has the advantage of low flow resistance.

The thermal performance of an air-based phase change storage unit is analyzed and discussed in this study. The thermal energy storage uses flat micro-heat pipe array (FMHPA) as the core heat transfer component and lauric acid as phase change material (PCM). An experimental system is devised to test the heat storage–release property of the storage unit under different inlet temperatures and flow rates of the heat transfer medium. The performance of the storage unit and the melting/solidification curves of the phase change material are obtained based on extensive experimental data. Experimental results indicate that the flat micro-heat pipe array exhibits excellent temperature uniformity in the heat storage–release process, and the performance of the storage unit is efficient and steady.