Numerical Simulation on Melting and Solidification of a Phase-Change Material in an Aluminum Plate-Fin Thermal Storage

摘要

The numerical simulation on melting and solidification process of a phase-change material (PCM) in an aluminum plate-fin thermal storage was performed in this paper. The phase-change material-naphthalene was stored in the stacked passages with fins while water flew along other adjacent passages with fins as the heat transfer fluid (HTF). The PCM stored or released a large amount of heat during melting or solidification.rnA three-dimensional numerical model was performed to investigate the effect of flow parameters (inlet temperature and flow velocity of HTF) on the melting and solidification time. The results indicated that the rate of phase change was strongly dependent on the inlet temperature and flow velocity of HTF during storing or releasing heat. And the detail description of solidification process were discussed and presented.