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Experimental Analysis of Melting Behavior of Capric Acid (CA)–Stearic Acid (SA) Eutectic Mixture and its 3D Numerical Solution of Natural Convection in a Cup

  • Research Article-Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

Computational studies were performed to investigate the melting process in a cubical closed space. Capric acid (CA)–stearic acid (SA) eutectic mixture is chosen as a phase change material (PCM). Some thermo-physical properties such as melting temperature, latent heat of fusion, specific heat capacity, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion coefficient, density and viscosity of CA-SA eutectic mixture prepared as PCM were measured. Considering these measured properties, the melting behavior of the prepared eutectic PCM was simulated numerically with finite volume method in a three-dimensional cavity. Non-isothermal heating conditions throughout phase change process of the PCM are considered in the numerical modeling study. It is shown that temperature difference has a significant impact on the melting, while its behavior changes for various cross sections. It is observed that the melting does not change after 80 min for the studied PCM. Significant variations for the melting behavior are observed between 2D and 3D configurations. Melt fraction is only 1.20% higher in 3D case as compared to 2D case at t = 130 min and Gr = 1.8 × 105, while this value is 1.08% at Gr = 3.6 × 104.

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Abbreviations

f:

Liquid fraction

g:

Gravitational acceleration (m/s2)

Gr:

Grashof number

h:

Local heat transfer coefficient (W/m2K)

H:

Total enthalpy (J/kg)

k:

Thermal conductivity (W/mK)

L:

Latent heat (J/kg)

Nu:

Nusselt number

p:

Pressure (Pa)

Pr:

Prandtl number

Ra:

Rayleigh number

Ste:

Stefan number

T:

Temperature (K)

t:

Time (s)

u, v, w:

x–y-z Velocity components (m/s)

U, V, W:

Dimensionless velocity components

x, y, z:

Cartesian coordinates (m)

X, Y, Z:

Dimensionless coordinates

α :

Thermal diffusivity (m2/s)

β :

Thermal expansion coefficient (1/K)

τ :

Non-dimensional time

c:

Cold

h:

Hot

m:

Melting

ave:

Average

ref:

Reference

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technology Faculty, Fırat University, Elazığ, Turkey

    Hakan Coşanay & Hakan F. Öztop

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey

    Fatih Selimefendigil

  3. Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey

    Ahmet Sarı

Authors
  1. Hakan Coşanay
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  2. Fatih Selimefendigil
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  3. Hakan F. Öztop
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  4. Ahmet Sarı
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hakan F. Öztop.

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Coşanay, H., Selimefendigil, F., Öztop, H.F. et al. Experimental Analysis of Melting Behavior of Capric Acid (CA)–Stearic Acid (SA) Eutectic Mixture and its 3D Numerical Solution of Natural Convection in a Cup. Arab J Sci Eng 47, 15575–15589 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-06719-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-06719-3

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