Numerical Investigations of Outward Solidification in Cylindrical PCM Storage Unit

Abstract:

In the present work a transient numerical model is developed to investigate and predict the performance of a paraffin phase change material (PCM) in the annular portion of the cylindrical container during its solidification and melting processes. Enthalpy method of modeling is adopted and the discretised non-dimensional form of governing equations and boundary conditions are solved by implicit finite difference method by using MATLAB software. The temperature variation of PCM along two axes of the polar co-ordinates (r, z) and the time required for solidification are analyzed and presented. The effect of system variables on the performance of the Latent Heat Thermal Energy system ( LHTES) is studied. The model tested finds application in the concept of free cooling which is the process of storing the coldness of the night time ambient air in the LHTES in order to cool the building during the daytime by retrieving the stored cold energy.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 787)
• Pages: 177-181
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.787.177
• Online since: August 2015
• Authors: V. Antony Aroul Raj*, C. Hariharan, R. Velraj, R.V. Seeniraj
• Keywords: Enthalpy Method, Nondimensionalizing, Numerical Heat Transfer, Phase Change Materials, Solidification, Storage

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