Dispersing thermally conductive nanostructures is an effective method to improve the thermal performance of phase change materials (PCMs). For this purpose, nanocarbons, nanometals, and nano metal oxides have been used to develop nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCMs) with unique thermal properties. However, review papers focusing on the numerical simulations of NePCMs are still scarce. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest numerical studies on NePCMs for thermal energy storage (TES). These studies are mainly based on single-phase approaches, and the simulation results largely depend on the used prediction models of effective thermophysical properties. Accordingly, the most common numerical methods and prediction models are reviewed to address their advantages and limitations. Then, the focus is placed on melting and solidification of NePCMs inside different containers, including rectangular cavities, tubes, cylinders, spheres, and annulus. In-depth insights are given into the effects of nanostructure type, morphology, size, and concentration on heat storage and release performance. The pros and cons of dispersing nanoparticles and other heat transfer enhancement techniques are also compared, such as mounting fins and using porous foams. Moreover, a critical discussion is presented to identify the reasons for the discrepancy between simulation and experiment, as well as the research gaps and future directions. This review aims to update the existing NePCM studies using different simulation techniques, and to reveal the basic phase change behavior of NePCMs from the reported results.

分散导热纳米结构是提高相变材料（PCM）的热性能的有效方法。为此，纳米碳，纳米金属和纳米金属氧化物已用于开发具有独特热性能的纳米增强相变材料（NePCM）。但是，针对NePCM数值模拟的评论论文仍然很少。本综述提供了有关用于热能存储（TES）的NePCM的最新数值研究的全面概述。这些研究主要基于单相方法，并且模拟结果很大程度上取决于所使用的有效热物理性质的预测模型。因此，对最常用的数值方法和预测模型进行了综述，以解决它们的优点和局限性。然后，重点放在NePCM在不同容器内的熔化和固化，这些容器包括矩形空腔，管子，圆柱体，球体和环形空间。深入了解了纳米结构类型，形态，尺寸和浓度对储热和释放性能的影响。还比较了分散纳米颗粒和其他传热增强技术的优缺点，例如安装散热片和使用多孔泡沫。此外，还进行了重要的讨论，以确定模拟和实验之间差异的原因，以及研究差距和未来方向。这篇综述旨在使用不同的仿真技术更新现有的NePCM研究，并从报告的结果中揭示NePCM的基本相变行为。