Numerical Study on Solidification of Phase Change Materials Embedded with Metal Foam

Abstract

This work investigates the solidification of phase change material (PCM) embedded with metal foam (MF) in a spherical capsule which its outer layer is exposed to convective heat transfer. The one-dimensional energy equation is resolved by performing finite volume method accompanied with temperature transforming technique. Four separate scenarios are developed for different porosity value of MF in order to analyze the thermal behavior of composite PCM with MF. The numerical model is validated by experimental data taken from the literature and substantially good agreement is demonstrated. The results show that at the case where the porosity ε =0.92, the elapsed time for complete solidification is decreases by 88% compared to the case without MF (ε =1.0).

Solid Foam Insertion to Increase PCM-Based Thermal Energy Storage System Efficiency: Experimental Test and Numerical Simulation of Spherical Macrocapsules

“…Solid foams can be used to increase the conductivity of the phase change material encapsulated in the sphere. Asker et al [36] examined the solidification of PCM integrated with metal foam in a spherical capsule by applying a one-dimensional model, and they concluded that such materials could represent a reasonable approach for enhancing the heat transfer in TES systems. However, convective heat exchange inside the sphere was not taken into account even for PCM without embedded foam.…”

Advanced thermal management system driven by phase change materials for power lithium-ion batteries: A review

“…One drawback of PCM is the unacceptably inherent low thermal conductivity which prolongs heat storage and releasing time. To address this issue, adding the high thermally conductive additives to the base PA such as metal mesh [59,60], metal foam [61][62][63][64][65], metallic oxide powders [66,67], expanded graphite (EG) [68][69][70], carbon fiber [71][72][73], nanoparticles [74][75][76], and graphene and carbon nanotube (CNT) [77][78][79] is the most promising solution. Additionally, the addition of fins, such as radial fins [80] and axial fins [81], is regarded as an effective pathway to solving low thermal conductivity issues.…”

Numerical analysis of phase change material filled with metal foam inside a cylindrical capsule

“…In our previous studies 19,20 we analyzed numerically using the control volume approach with temperature transform method the inward solidification inside a spherical capsule with no melting temperature as initial conditions to investigate the impact of convective heat transfer at the outer surface of the capsule. The numerical results, which were experimentally validated, demonstrate that the greater diameter of the containers achieves higher solidification time with an increase of the entropy generation.…”

“…In our previous work, 19 we used the temperature transforming method (TTM) to simulate the inward solidification in a spherical capsule. Furthermore, in Reference [20], we used Aluminum as MF to investigate the thermal performance of the thermal energy storage (TES) system. This work focuses on the use of a cylindrical geometry for the TES system and the PCM integrated with MF are filled within the cylindrical container.…”