Numerical Study of the Effect of Air Bubble Location on the PCM Melting Process in a Rectangular Cavity
Abbas Fadhil Khalaf, Farhan Lafta Rashid, Ali Basem, Mohammed H. Abbas
Abstract
The technique of phase change thermal storage is an effective solution to overcoming the problem of a mismatch between the supply of energy and the demand for it.In this work, a numerical investigation of the influence of an air bubble placement on the paraffin wax melting (PCM) inside of a rectangular cavity is described.The PCM refers to the melting of paraffin wax.In order to conduct a numerical investigation of the research, the enthalpy-porosity combination (the ANSYS / FLUENT 16 program) is used.For the purpose of this experiment, phase change materials for paraffin wax are being used (RT58).As a result of examining several locations of the air bubble (top, center, and bottom) in the rectangular cavity, this paper investigates the influence of air bubbles on the dissolution process and heat transfer.Additionally, the paper investigates the influence of air bubbles on the amount of time that it takes for paraffin wax to melt.When compared to the presence of air bubbles in the center, the presence of air bubbles at the bottom and top of the solution has resulted in a 7% reduction in the amount of time needed to complete the process of dissolution.It has been shown that the presence of air bubbles naturally advances the dissolving process, and it has also been demonstrated that the dissolution process will be accelerated when it is known that the volume of PCMs is greater since it includes the volume of air bubbles.