Numerical investigations of unconstrained melting of nano-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) inside a spherical container

• Main Authors: Hosseinizadeh, S. F., Darzi, A.A. Rabienataj., Tan, F. L.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85758; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17048
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This paper presents a numerical study of unconstrained melting of nano-enhanced phase change materials (NEPCM) inside a spherical container using RT27 and copper particles as base material and nano-particle, respectively. Numerical studies are performed for three different Stefan number and volume fraction of nano-particles with an initial sub-cooling of 6 °C. Transient numerical simulations are performed for axi-symmetric melting inside a sphere. The simulation results show that the nano-particles cause an increase in thermal conductivity of NEPCM compared to conventional PCM. The enhancement in thermal conductivity with a decrease in latent heat results in higher melting rate of NEPCM.