scholarly journals Analytical Study of the Solidification of a Phase Change Material in an Annular Space

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 5561
Author(s):  
Zygmunt Lipnicki ◽  
Tomasz Małolepszy

In this study, the process of the solidification of a PCM (phase change material) liquid in an annular space was analytically investigated with the use of a simplified quasi-steady-state model. This model described the phase change phenomenon with the cylindrical solidification front and with the solidification liquid overheated above the solidification temperature. One of the important novelties of the applied model was the determination of the coefficient of the heat transfer between the liquid and the solidified layer on the solidification surface, which was calculated as a function of the location of the solidification front. A method for calculating the variable coefficient of heat transfer on the surface of the solidification front during the solidification process is presented. The contact layer between the cold wall and the solidified layer was incorporated into the model and played an important role. The theoretical analytical method describing the solidification process based on the quasi-steady model was used in the study. Moreover, the main problem considered in this work could be reduced to a conjugate system of differential equations, allowing it to be solved numerically. From this perspective, the influence of various dimensionless parameters on the solidification process could be clearly seen. The obtained numerical results are presented in graphical form. The results of the theoretical research were compared with the experimental research of one of the author’s earlier works and they showed a significant agreement. Finally, the simple analytical approach presented in this work can be used for designing annular heat accumulators.

Author(s):  
Johnathan Vadasz ◽  
Josua Meyer ◽  
Saneshan Govender

In the current study the effects of vibration on the solidification process of phase change material (PCM) paraffin in a sphere shell are investigated. The amount of PCM used was kept constant during each experiment by using a digital scale to check the weight and a thermocouple to check the consistency of the temperature. A small amount of air was present in the sphere so that the sphere was not filled completely. Commercially available paraffin wax, RT35, was used in the experiments. Experimentations were done on a sphere of 40 mm diameter, wall temperature of 20°C below mean solidification temperature, and consistent initial temperature. A constant vibration frequency of 100 Hz was applied to the setup and results compared with that of no vibration. Samples were taken at different times during the solidification process and compared with respect to solid material present. It was found that the solidification time had been reduced significantly under the vibration. This led to the conclusion that there had been an improvement in heat transfer due to the vibration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 01002
Author(s):  
G. Kumaresan ◽  
R. Santosh ◽  
H. Revanth ◽  
G. Raju ◽  
S. Bhattacharyya

Phase change material (PCM) based Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system is a proven technology to store/release a large amount of energy as latent heat during the phase transition process. In spite of the advantages, a major weakness with PCMs is their low thermal conductivity in both solid and liquid phases which seriously affects the heat transfer rate. Over the past two decades various efforts have taken place to enhance the heat transfer rate during the melting/solidification process of phase change material (PCM) encapsulated in various shape of containers. However, very few attempts have been made on accounting the heat transfer augmentation in internally finned spherical capsule. In the present study, CFD analysis is carried out to explore and report the effect of fin orientation on heat transfer enhancement of a paraffin PCM filled in an internally finned spherical capsule. Keeping the same surface area of fin but oriented differently (orthogonal and circumferential) in spherical capsule is undertaken for the computational analysis. In addition, spherical capsule with no fin configuration is alsoconsidered in the present analysis to compare with finned configuration results. The CFD results showed that the orthogonally finned spherical capsule resulted in appreciable reduction in total time takenfor complete melting/solidification process than the circumferential fin and no fin configuration. Thesame computational study is performed experimentally in order to validate the CFD results.


2019 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 01001
Author(s):  
Hansol Lim ◽  
Hye-Jin Cho ◽  
Seong-Yong Cheon ◽  
Soo-Jin Lee ◽  
Jae-Weon Jeong

A phase change material based radiant cooling panel with thermoelectric module (PCM-TERCP) is proposed in this study. It consists of two aluminium panels, and phase change materials (PCMs) sandwiched between the two panels. Thermoelectric modules (TEMs) are attached to one of the aluminium panels, and heat sinks are attached to the top side of TEMs. PCM-TERCP is a thermal energy storage concept equipment, in which TEMs freeze the PCM during the night whose melting temperature is 16○C. Therefore, the radiant cooling panel can maintain a surface temperature of 16◦C without the operation of TEM during the day. Furthermore, it is necessary to design the PCM-TERCP in a way that it can maintain the panel surface temperature during the targeted operating time. Therefore, the numerical model was developed using finite difference method to evaluate the thermal behaviour of PCM-TERCP. Experiments were also conducted to validate the performance of the developed model. Using the developed model, the possible operation time was investigated to determine the overall heat transfer coefficient required between radiant cooling panel and TEM. Consequently, the results showed that a overall heat transfer coefficient of 394 W/m2K is required to maintain the surface temperature between 16○C to 18○C for a 3 hours operation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guansheng Chen ◽  
Nanshuo Li ◽  
Huanhuan Xiang ◽  
Fan Li

It is well known that attaching fins on the tubes surfaces can enhance the heat transfer into and out from the phase change materials (PCMs). This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the thermal characteristics of finned coil latent heat storage unit (LHSU) using paraffin as the phase change material (PCM). The paraffin LHSU is a rectangular cube consists of continuous horizontal multibended tubes attached vertical fins at the pitches of 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 mm that creates the heat transfer surface. The shell side along with the space around the tubes and fins is filled with the material RT54 allocated to store energy of water, which flows inside the tubes as heat transfer fluid (HTF). The measurement is carried out under four different water flow rates: 1.01, 1.30, 1.50, and 1.70 L/min in the charging and discharging process, respectively. The temperature of paraffin and water, charging and discharging wattage, and heat transfer coefficient are plotted in relation to the working time and water flow rate.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1425
Author(s):  
Tarek Bouzennada ◽  
Farid Mechighel ◽  
Kaouther Ghachem ◽  
Lioua Kolsi

A 2D-symmetric numerical study of a new design of Nano-Enhanced Phase change material (NEPCM)-filled enclosure is presented in this paper. The enclosure is equipped with an inner tube allowing the circulation of the heat transfer fluid (HTF); n-Octadecane is chosen as phase change material (PCM). Comsol-Multiphysics commercial code was used to solve the governing equations. This study has been performed to examine the heat distribution and melting rate under the influence of the inner-tube position and the concentration of the nanoparticles dispersed in the PCM. The inner tube was located at three different vertical positions and the nanoparticle concentration was varied from 0 to 0.06. The results revealed that both heat transfer/melting rates are improved when the inner tube is located at the bottom region of the enclosure and by increasing the concentration of the nanoparticles. The addition of the nanoparticles enhances the heat transfer due to the considerable increase in conductivity. On the other hand, by placing the tube in the bottom area of the enclosure, the liquid PCM gets a wider space, allowing the intensification of the natural convection.


2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Prakash ◽  
P. Ravikumar

Abstract In this paper, transient analysis on heat transfer across the residential building roof having various materials like wood wool, phase change material and weathering tile is performed by numerical simulation technique. 2-dimensional roof model is created, checked for grid independency and validated with the experimental results. Three different roof structures are included in this study namely roof with (i). Concrete and weathering tile, (ii). Concrete, phase change material and weathering tile and (iii). Concrete, phase change material, wood wool and weathering tile. Roof type 3 restricts 13% of heat entering the room in comparison with roof having only concrete and weathering tile. Also the effect of various roof layers’ thickness in the roof type 3 is investigated and identified that the wood wool plays the major role in arresting the entry of heat in to the room. The average reduction of heat is about 10 % for an increase of a unit thickness of wood wool layer.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document