Share

Experimental and analytical investigation of solidification and melting characteristics of PCMs inside cylindrical encapsulation.

Author(s) : KALAISELVAM S., VEERAPPAN M., AARON A. A., et al.

Type of article: Article

Summary

Phase-change materials (PCMs) encapsulated inside cylindrical enclosures are analyzed for solidification and melting process. Analytical solutions for finding the interface locations at various time steps are obtained. Transient interface positions and complete phase-change time is predicted by two models for solidification and by three models for melting. To validate the analytical results, experiments are carried out to find the transient positions of the front. The agreement was found to be good for model with conduction and heat generation in solidification process, but in melting the model with conduction, convection and heat generation gives a better prediction. Validated analytical model is extended to study the phase change behaviour and heat transfer characteristics inside PCM. Presence of heat generation increases the total solidification time of the cylinder, though it accelerates melting. Total solidification time depends on Stefan number and heat generation parameter, whereas complete melting time depends on equivalent thermal conductivity. This paper also analyzes the behaviour of three paraffins, 60% n-tetradecane + 40% n-hexadecane, n-tetradecane, and n-pentadecane. Since the model considered the influence of heat generation, analytical predictions are also helpful in applications such as nuclear fuel freezing, microwave thawing, and vacuum freeze-drying. [Reprinted with permission from Elsevier. Copyright, 2008].

Details

  • Original title: Experimental and analytical investigation of solidification and melting characteristics of PCMs inside cylindrical encapsulation.
  • Record ID : 2008-1659
  • Languages: English
  • Source: International Journal of thermal Sciences - vol. 47 - n. 7
  • Publication date: 2008/07

Links


See other articles in this issue (2)
See the source

Indexing