Abstract
We carry out simulations of the melting process on the phase change material n-octadecane in squared geometries in the presence of natural convection and including thermocapillary effects. We show how the introduction of thermocapillary effects enhances the heat transfer rate, being the effect especially relevant for small Bond numbers. Thus induction of Marangoni flows results in a useful mechanism to enhance the typical slow heat transfer rate of paraffin waxes in applications of energy storage or passive control management.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S.A. Memon, Phase change materials integrated in building walls: A state of the art review, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 31, 870 (2014)
X. Gui, D. Tang, S. Liang, B. Lin, X. Yuan, Influence of void ratio on thermal performance of heat pipe receiver, Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 33, 109 (2012)
T.Y. Kim, B.S. Hyun, J.J. Lee, J. Rhee, Numerical study of the spacecraft thermal control hardware combining solid-liquid phase change material and a heat pipe, Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 27, 10 (2013)
D. Fernandes, F. Pitié, G. Cáceres, J. Baeyens, Thermal energy storage: How previous findings determine current research priorities, Energy 39, 246 (2012)
C.J. Ho, J.Y. Gao, Preparation and thermophysical properties of nanoparticle-in-paraffin emulsion as phase change material, Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf. 36, 467 (2009)
E.M. Alawadhi, Thermal analysis of a building brick containing phase change material, Energy Build. 40, 351 (2008)
D.R. Lide, ed., CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th edn. (CRC Press, 2003)
N.S. Dhaidan, J.M. Khodadadi, T. Al-Hattab, S.M. Al-Mashat, Experimental and numerical investigation of melting of phase change material/nanoparticle suspensions in a square container subjected to a constant heat flux, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 66, 672 (2013)
B. Gebhart Effects of viscous dissipation in natural convection, J. Fluid Mech. 14, 225 (1962)
S.S. Sebti, M. Mastiani, H. Mirzaei, A. Dadvand, S. Kashani, S.A. Hosseini, Numerical study of the melting of nano-enhanced phase change material in a square cavity, J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A 14, 307 (2013)
C. Beckermann, R. Viskanta, Natural convection solid/liquid phase change in porous media, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 31, 35 (1988)
T.L. Bergman, J.R. Keller. Combined buoyancy, surface tension flow in liquid metals. Numerical Heat Transfer 13, 49 (1988)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Madruga, S., Mendoza, C. Enhancement of heat transfer rate on phase change materials with thermocapillary flows. Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 226, 1169–1176 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60207-7
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2016-60207-7