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Nusselt number and melt time correlations for melting inside a horizontal cylinder subjected to an isothermal wall temperature condition

Journal Article · · J. Sol. Energy Eng.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3268277· OSTI ID:6429754
;

The design of latent-heat storage devices requires the knowledge of the cycle time, the total melt-down time of the Phase Change Material (PCM), and the variation of the Nusselt number along the wall over time, given the properties of the PCM and the wall temperature. In order to answer these questions, the authors have extended a previous work which studied numerically the process of melting of a PCM within a horizontal tube subjected to a constant wall temperature. This numerical model accounts for the irregular, time-dependent shape of the solid-liquid interface, the downward motion of the solid core due to density differences and the natural convection in the liquid phase. In the present work, they study the effect of a variation in the Rayleigh, Stefan, and Prandtl numbers, and obtain useful correlations for the melt time and the Nusselt number.

Research Organization:
Environmental Fluid Mechanics Lab., Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (US); Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL (US)
OSTI ID:
6429754
Journal Information:
J. Sol. Energy Eng.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Sol. Energy Eng.; (United States) Vol. 110:4; ISSN JSEED
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
142000* -- Solar Energy-- Heat Storage-- (1980-)
42 ENGINEERING
420400 -- Engineering-- Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990230 -- Mathematics & Mathematical Models-- (1987-1989)
CONVECTION
DESIGN
ENERGY STORAGE
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUID MECHANICS
FLUIDS
HEAT FLOW
HEAT STORAGE
HEAT TRANSFER
INTERFACES
ISOTHERMAL PROCESSES
LATENT HEAT STORAGE
LIQUIDS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
MELTING
NATURAL CONVECTION
NUSSELT NUMBER
PHASE STUDIES
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PRANDTL NUMBER
SOLIDS
STORAGE
TIME DEPENDENCE
TUBES
VARIATIONS
WALLS