Numerical simulation of the impact of the heat source position on melting of a nano-enhanced phase change material

Abstract

A 2D-symmetric numerical study of a new design of Nano-Enhanced Phase change material (NEPCM)-filled enclosure is presented in this paper. The enclosure is equipped with an inner tube allowing the circulation of the heat transfer fluid (HTF); n-Octadecane is chosen as phase change material (PCM). Comsol-Multiphysics commercial code was used to solve the governing equations. This study has been performed to examine the heat distribution and melting rate under the influence of the inner-tube position and the concentration of the nanoparticles dispersed in the PCM. The inner tube was located at three different vertical positions and the nanoparticle concentration was varied from 0 to 0.06. The results revealed that both heat transfer/melting rates are improved when the inner tube is located at the bottom region of the enclosure and by increasing the concentration of the nanoparticles. The addition of the nanoparticles enhances the heat transfer due to the considerable increase in conductivity. On the other hand, by placing the tube in the bottom area of the enclosure, the liquid PCM gets a wider space, allowing the intensification of the natural convection.