International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD)

Volume 6 Issue 4, May-June 2022 Available Online: www.ijtsrd.com e-ISSN: 2456 – 6470

Melting Process of the Phase Change Material inside

a Half-Cylindrical with Thermal Non-Equilibrium
Copper Foam as a Porous Media: CFD Simulation
Ravindra Kumar Yadav1, Prof. Animesh Singhai2
1
Research Scholar, Trinity Institute of Technology and Research, RGPV Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
2
Professor, Trinity Institute of Technology and Research, RGPV Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT How to cite this paper: Ravindra Kumar

Many thermal engineers employed latent thermal energy storage; Yadav | Prof. Animesh Singhai "Melting
however, the poor thermal conductivity of Phase-Change Material Process of the Phase Change Material
(PCM) severely hampered the storage efficiency. Because of its inside a Half-Cylindrical with Thermal
capacity to improve total heat conduction, filling metal foam has Non-Equilibrium Copper Foam as a
Porous Media: CFD Simulation"
been a successful method of improving heat transmission. This
Published in
research looked at the effect laws of porosity and pore density of International Journal
copper foam to improve the thermal performance of the paraffin- of Trend in
metal foam composite PCM. The four parameters of the liquid Scientific Research
fraction, temperature response rate, heat flow, and heat storage and Development
capacity were analyzed in a two-dimensional numerical model using (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-
the two-temperature non equilibrium equation, which was created 6470, Volume-6 | IJTSRD49922
and confirmed by published data. Issue-4, June 2022,
pp.124-132, URL:
The goal of this research is to evaluate quantitatively the impact of www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd49922.pdf
local thermal non-equilibrium porous media on the melting of
paraffin at 33°C. The geometry of a paraffin-filled half cylinder with Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and
an insulating wall and a constant temperature. This simulation also International Journal of Trend in
takes into account the Darcy model and buoyant force owing to Scientific Research and Development
density variations. On the melting fraction of PCM, temperature and Journal. This is an
streamlines contours, and heat flux of the cylinder's surface, the Open Access article
impacts of the presence of copper foam with porosity = 0.8, and distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons
difference temperature T = 10, and 15 were investigated.
Attribution License (CC BY 4.0)
KEYWORDS: Computational fluid dynamic, Phase change material, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
Local thermal non-equilibrium porous media, Buoyant force, Darcy
model

I. INTRODUCTION
The use of phase transition materials to store energy transition occurs are two critical characteristics in
is a fantastic innovation in energy storage. PCMs.
Researchers have praised these materials for their
Organic, inorganic, and eutectic mixes are the three
ability to receive and store heat as latent heat at a
categories of PCMs. PCMs, on the other hand, can be
steady temperature. PCM has important uses in
classed as follows in terms of melting temperature
numerous industries such as culinary, clothes, textile,
(Tm) and latent heat solid-liquid (hsl).
building, heating and cooling systems, desalination
systems, and medical due to its ability to store energy Queues salt solution for -70 < Tm < 0◦C with 220
in the form of heat at varied temperatures. < hsl < 320 kj/kg.
Although the latent heat of PCM is higher in the solid Paraffins for 0 < Tm < 130◦C with 180 < hsl <
to vapor phase than in the solid to liquid phase, phase 220 kj/kg.
change solid-liquid is extensively employed due to Sugar alcohols for 60 < Tm < 210◦C with 210 <
the small transition volume. Latent heat and the hsl < 430 kj/kg.
temperature at which the solid to liquid phase

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Paraffins are an organic PCM with additional benefits beauty of the building. However this increased usage
such as availability, high latent heat in the solid-liquid of glazed facades is leading to higher solar gain inside
transition, auto nucleation capabilities, high the building which is becoming a major issue in hot
nucleation rate, chemical stability, and low cost. The climatic regions. External shadings are thus used to
melting temperature range of 0–130°C, which is ideal protect the buildings from direct solar radiation which
for most industrial uses, is one of the most essential cause high solar gain as well as discomfort due to
features of paraffin. However, paraffins have a low glare.
thermal conductivity, which has been used in studies Saber Yekan et al. (2019) In the present paper, the
for thermal energy storage systems, cooling modeling of the free convection of two-
photovoltaic panels, and controlling the temperature phase nanofluid inside the inclined porous semi-
of medicine during delivery processes. annulus enclosure is considered. The cavity is filled
II. LITERATURE REVIEW with Fe3O4-water magnetic nanofluid. Buongiorno
Porous metals are a distinct family of materials with and Darcy models are used for modeling two-phase
low densities and unique physical, thermal, and other and porous media, respectively. The governing
characteristics. Porous structures have been achieved equations are discretized by finite volume method and
by a variety of methods. The definition of porous SIMPLE algorithm. The effect of parameters such as
metal, production processes, and thermal applications inclination angle of cavity (0 ≤ θ ≤ 90), porous
are all covered in the previous research. A thorough Rayleigh number (10 ≤ Rap ≤ 103), porosity number
examination of fluid flow behavior through porous (ε = 0.4 and 0.7), and volume fraction of
media is offered. The thermal characteristics of nanoparticles (0 ≤ φAve ≤ 0.04) on the flow pattern,
porous metals, such as thermal conductivity and heat temperature field, nanoparticle distribution,
transfer performance under natural and induced and Nusselt number are studied. In low porous
convection, are discussed in depth. Rayleigh numbers, Nusselt number is not the function
of porosity number and the inclination angle of the
S. Mondal et al (2008) Phase change materials
enclosure.
(PCM) take advantage of latent heat that can be
stored or released from a material over a narrow C. Thirugnanam at al. (2020) In many parts of the
temperature range. PCM possesses the ability to world, direct solar radiation is considered to be one of
change their state with a certain temperature range. the most prospective sources of energy. Among the
These materials absorb energy during the heating different energy end uses, energy for cooking is one
process as phase change takes place and release of the basic and dominant ends uses in developing
energy to the environment in the phase change range countries. Thermal energy storage is essential
during a reverse cooling process. Insulation effect whenever there is a mismatch between the supply and
reached by the PCM depends on temperature and consumption of energy. Latent heat storage in a phase
time. Recently, the incorporation of PCM in textiles change material (PCM) is very attractive because of
by coating or encapsulation to make thermo-regulated its high storage density with small temperature
smart textiles has grown interest to the researcher. fluctuate.
Dianaet al. (2015) the purpose of this paper is to Xi Meng et al. (2020) Latent thermal energy storage
provide a source of information on thermal was widely used in many thermal engineering, but the
energy use in buildings, its drivers, and their past, low thermal conductivity of Phase-Change Material
present and future trends on a global and regional (PCM) limited the thermal storage efficiency
basis. Energy use in buildings forms a large part of seriously. Filling metal foam has been an effective
global and regional energy demand. The importance way to enhance the heat transfer due to its capability
of heating and cooling in total building energy use is to improve the overall heat conduction effectively. To
very diverse with this share varying between 18% and optimize the thermal performance of the paraffin-
73%. Biomass is still far the dominant fuel when a metal foam composite PCM, this study analyzed the
global picture is considered; the role of electricity is influence laws of porosity and pore density of copper
substantially growing, and the direct use of coal is foam. A two-dimensional numerical model
disappearing from this sector, largely replaced by considering two-temperature non-equilibrium
electricity and natural gas in the most developed equation was built and validated by published results,
regions. while the four parameters including the liquid
Amrita et al. (2018) Glazed facades are being fraction, the temperature response rate, the heat flux,
increasingly used in modern buildings in order to and heat storage capacity were evaluated.
improve the daylight availability in the interiors, offer Yan Cao (2021) The aim of this study is numerically
better external views and also add to the architectural to investigate the effects of local thermal non-

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 International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development @ www.ijtsrd.com eISSN: 2456-6470
equilibrium porous media on the melting process of three major steps: (a) pre-processing, (b) solver
paraffin with the melting temperature33◦C. The execution, and (c) post-processing. The first step
geometry consists of a half-cylinder containing includes the creation of the geometry and mesh
paraffin with a uniform constant temperature and an generation of the desired model, while the results are
insulating wall. Also, Darcy model and buoyant force seen as expected in the last step. In the execution of
due to density changes are considered in this the solver (medium) stage, the boundary conditions
simulation. The effects of the presence of aluminum are fed into the model.
foam with porosity ε = 0.8, and 0.95 and difference
The geometry for performing simulation analysis is
temperature ∆T = 5, 10, and 15 have been studied on
taken from Yan Cao et al. (2021). Fig. 5.1 presents
the melting fraction of PCM, temperature and
the A porous half-cylinder with a radius of R = 5 cm
streamlines contours and heat flux of cylinder’s
is filled with paraffin as the phase transition material,
surface. The observations show that enhancement of
which has a melting temperature of Tm = 33°C (see
porosity 0.8 to 0.9 increases the volume of PCM
Fig. 1). The porous medium's substance is copper
11.7%, and reduces time of melting process 30.8%
foam, which is examined as local thermal non-
for ∆T = 15. Moreover, increment of ∆T = 5 to 15
equilibrium in this simulation. It's also worth noting
leads to decrease time of melting process 71.8% when
that the geometry's top wall is exposed to a uniform
porosity is 0.95.
constant temperature, while the bottom wall is
III. GEOMETRY SETUP AND MODELLING insulated. As a result, the heated wall melts the
The study uses the CFD model in this section to paraffin, causing a natural convection flow inside the
examine the effects of local thermal non-equilibrium chamber, which aids in the melting of the paraffin.
porous media on the melting process of paraffin with The gravitational acceleration in the y-direction is 9.8
the melting temperature 33◦C. CFD review involves ms2.

Fig 1 Created modal on the Ansys software of half-cylinder filled Copper foam as porous media
In the pre-processor phase of ANSYS FLUENT R 17.0, a three-dimensional discretized model was created.
Despite the fact that the grid types are linked to simulation results, the structure as a whole must be discrete in
the final volume; the ANSYS programmed generates a coarse mesh. Mesh is made up of unit-size mixed cells
with triangular frontier faces (ICEM Tetrahedral cells). A mesh metric is employed in this research, along with a
medium fluid curvature.

Fig 2 Meshing of heat exchanger

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S. No. Parameters
1 Curvature On
2 Smooth Medium
3 Number of nodes 164979
4 Number of elements 141811
5 Mesh metric None
6 Meshing type Tetrahedral
Table 1 Meshing detail of model
The Fluent 19.2 was used to calculate computationally. In research, the approach used to differentiate the
governing equations was a finite element. For this convective term, the researchers used a simpler algorithm, and
for connecting calculations of the melting fraction and streamline & temperature for different temperature
difference. (∆T =5,10,15)
A local thermal non equilibrium porous Copper foam filled with the paraffin (Phase Change Material) in a half
cylinder having 5 cm radius and 12cm length. We have crated this modal on the software and after that create
mashing on the modal. A local thermal non equilibrium porous Copper foam & paraffin (Phase Change
Material) having some property
S. No. Parameters paraffin Copper foam
3
1 Density (Kg/m ) 800 8933
2 Thermal conductivity (W/mK) 0.2 400
3 Specific Heat (J/kgK) 1250 380
4 Viscosity (kg/ms) 0.008 -
5 Latent heat of fusion (J/kgK) 125000 -
0
6 Melting temperature( C) 30 -
0
7 Melting temperature range ( C) 1 -
8 Thermal Expansion Coefficient (1/K) 0.002 -
Table 2 The thermophysical properties of used material
Detail Value
Type Pressure Based
Velocity formulation Absolute
Temperature for hot wall 3060
Temperature for insulating wall 2910
Time Transient
2
Gravitational Acceleration (Y m/s ) -9.81
Table 3 Details of boundary conditions
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This section is aimed at evaluating the mass fraction rate & velocity with different temperature & different time
(hour). Here we are considering two temperature difference 100 & 150. these temperature difference Between the
Hot wall of the of the half cylinder& paraffin (Phase change material). First, we considering the thermal non-
equilibrium porous media as a Copper foam & validate the result with the researcher Yan Cao [1].
4.1. Mathematical model
Two-dimensional flow, incompressible, unsteady, laminar flow, local thermal non-equilibrium in porous media,
and constant characteristics are among the assumptions. Due to the existence of porous medium and varying
density with temperature, the effects of Darcy and buoyant force are taken into account in the momentum
equation. The data reduction of the measured results is summarized in the following procedures.

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Momentum equation

Energy equation of fluid:

Energy equation of porous media:

The solid to fluid phase change is a function of the error function, which is calculated as follows:

Where,

4.2. Validation of numerical computations

By the researcher paper Yan Cao [1], we are finding that the Malting fraction, velocity streamline &
temperature with the aluminum foam increase the rate of malting fraction with constant porosity.
When the temperature difference between the hot wall & paraffin (Phase change materials) is ∆T = 100 & the
porosity is considered 0.8. we are using the porous medium is aluminum foam, which is treated as a local
thermal non-equilibrium. We observed that the malting fraction in this chart.

Fig 3 Malting fraction (%) for aluminum when porosity is 0.8 with ∆T = 100C
Now the temperature difference between the hot wall & paraffin (Phase change materials) is ∆T = 150 & the
porosity(ɛ) is considered 0.8.

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Fig 4 Malting fraction (%) for aluminum when porosity is 0.8 with ∆T = 150C
Now if we are putting the copper foam as a porous media instead of aluminum foam. & Validate the result. With
the CFD Analysis, we found that the mass fraction rate, velocity stream line & temperature contour for thermal
non-equilibrium porous media as a copper foam at a temperature difference T = 100 with porosity 0.8.
Time /contour Temperature contour liquid fraction Velocity Streamline

4 hr

3 hr

2 hr

1 hr

Figure 5: Melting Fraction & velocity stream line for copper foam hot wall ∆T= 100

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The mass fraction rate, velocity stream line & temperature contour for thermal non-equilibrium porous media as
a Copper foam at a temperature difference T = 150 with porosity = 0.8.
Time /contour Temperature contour liquid fraction Velocity Streamline

2 hr

1.5 hr

1 hr

Figure 6: Melting Fraction & velocity stream line for copper foam hot wall ∆T= 150C
4.3. Melting Fraction Result At a different time schedule
With the help of CFD analysis, we are observed that the melting fraction, on the basis of volume weighted
average (%) is measured

Time Melting fraction (%) ∆ T=10oC Time Melting fraction (%) ∆ T=15oC
4 hr 1 3 hr 1
3 hr 0.998762 2 hr 0.994320
2 hr 0.9430025 1.5 hr 0.9600231
1 hr 0.7832433 1 hr 0.8200514

If we are comparing the result between the aluminum foam & copper foam melting fraction, so we find that the
copper foam porous media taking less time than the aluminum Foam as a hot wall. If we are draw the graph
value between them so we can find that the rate of melting fraction is increase in the copper foam hot wall.

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Fig. 7: Malting fraction (%) result between the aluminum foam & copper foam at temperature
different ∆T=100C

Fig. 8: Malting fraction (%) result between the aluminum foam & copper foam at temperature
different ∆T=150C
V. CONCLUSIONS for both aluminum foam and copper foam (T =
This CFD study investigates the malting Fraction of 150C) is around 92 % for aluminum foam and
the phase change materials is increase, when we are about 96 % for copper foam. Observation shows
using the copper foam instead of aluminum foam. We that if we are using copper Foam as a porous
are study about the percentage of melting fraction of media at a temperature difference ∆T = 100C, it
paraffin with different temperature difference from will melt about 14% earlier at the same time. And
∆T = 100C & the ∆T =150C with the constant at a temperature difference ∆T = 150C, it will
porosity(ɛ=0.8). melt about 2% earlier at the same time.
Now we'll look at how temperature differences affect It's also been discovered that malting the PCM
the results. For two reasons, raising T induces an using copper foam as a porous media takes less
increase in melting fraction in both porosities and at time than with aluminum foam.
fixed times.
At the constant porosity 0.8, increment of ∆T =
Temperature gradient and heat flow rise as ∆T is 100C to 150C leads to decrease time of melting
increased.
process 49.7%.
The buoyant force and the strength of the vortices
are increased by increment ∆T. The melting process is always parabolic, with
negative concavity in relation to time.
We have found some observation hare, which is
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