Latent thermal energy storage can help matching demand and supply of thermal energy. As a result, it is a key technology for enabling the introduction of renewable energy sources. However, this potential has not led to the widespread application of latent thermal energy storage. The gap between potential and application is partly due to the unavailability of
predictive models for characterizing latent thermal energy storage heat exchangers. In this PhD, the charging time energy fraction method is developed as a characterization method for latent thermal energy storage heat exchangers. The method is derived, fitted and tested for a specific latent thermal energy storage heat exchanger, namely a cold storage for
cold chain transport. The resulting model is used to financially appraise two design variations of the cold storage and analyze the benefits of metal foam as a thermal conductivity enhancer in phase change materials. The charging time energy fraction method could provide a method to characterize and compare latent thermal energy storage heat exchangers in the future.