The melting process of ice from a vertical wall with time-periodic temperature perturbation inside a rectangular enclosure.

A numerical investigation of natural-convection-dominated melting process of ice from a vertical wall of a square enclosure is reported. Time-dependent sinusoidal temperature perturbation was imposed on the vertical hot wall of the enclosure, and its effects on the heat transfer and buoyancy-driven flow during the melting process of ice were examined. Results clearly demonstrate the feasibility of controlling the melting heat transfer in an ice-filled enclosure by means of the time-periodic perturbation of the wall temperature in conjunction with the density inversion phenomenon of water near 4 deg C.