NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION ON HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT WITH INCLINATION ANGLE OF PCM SET

Inclination angle of phase change material (PCM) is an important impactor on heat transfer of melting and solidification. During melting, the effect of solid core sedimentation will enhance the heat transfer, because it makes solid core closer to heating surface so that the heat resistance of liquid layer can be reduced. A series of high aspect ratio 2-dimension numerical models are established and the heat transfer is simulated in this study. Octadecane is chosen as the PCM and the inclination angle is varied from 0 degrees to 90 degrees at increments of 15 degrees. The process of melting is characterized by liquid fraction and the transient performance of the model was visualized by contours. The results reveal that inclination angle has a remarkable influence on solid core sedimentation and the heat transfer rate. The melting time is fallen off to 30% at 75 degrees when compared to that of the vertical case. It is concluded that the minimum melting time is when the angle is between 60 degrees and 75 degrees.