Melting and solidification analysis of phase change material-metal foam composite with expansion/shrinkage void in rectangular system

Abstract Present study proposes a one dimensional analytical model to investigate the thermal performance of PCM/PCM-metal foam (MF) composite based rectangular energy storage system incorporating the volumetric change and void in PCM with steady and transient heat loads. Separation of variable method has been employed to solve the conduction equation; Stefan condition and mass balance equation are used to locate the interface position. Paraffin wax and copper is considered as PCM and MF material, respectively. Solutions are obtained for temperature distribution and interface position for different domains namely, air, solid, and liquid. Effects of various parameters such as density ratio, wall heat flux, convective heat transfer coefficient, and porosity on the melting/solidification of PCM are investigated. The movement of interface is found to be faster with incorporation of MF in PCM and with the increase in the fluctuating load. Melting and solidification rate increases by 31.25 and 107.5% for MFs with lower porosity values. Total melting and solidification time of PCM in PCM-MF composite with void decreases by 28.15% and 272%, respectively compared to pure PCM. Also, the energy stored/extracted in PCM-MF composite is greater compared to pure PCM. Present prediction exhibits good agreement with the test data.