Experimental investigation of phase change in a cavity for varying heat flux and inclination angles

Abstract

In this study, the effect of heat flux and inclination angle variation in a rectangular PCM containing cavity is investigated. In order to investigate of effect of heat flux variation on melting process, the cavity is heated through the bottom plate by 3 levels of heat flux. Also to investigate the effect of inclination angle variation, 3 levels of inclination angle (0°, 45°, 90°) are considered. The changes of the liquid–solid boundaries are recorded using Canon G9 camera. 32 thermocouples at 9 heights of the container and 3 thermocouples on heater’s plate are implemented by which average temperature of the PCM, liquid fraction, average temperature of the heating surface, the amount of absorbed energy, temperature contour, the phases boundaries deformation, the average temperature at a specific distance of the heater and Nusselt number are analyzed. The results show that, as the heat flux input strengthens, melting time reduces and the rate of heat transfer and heater’s temperature increases. The driven Nusselt number implies that as the heat flux increases, the dominant heat transfer mechanism turns to natural convection sooner.