Investigation of phase change dynamics in a T-shaped multiple vented cylindrical cavity during nanofluid convection for PCM-embedded system

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the phase change (PC) dynamics in a T-shaped ventilated cavity having multiple inlet and outlet ports during nanofluid convection with phase change material (PCM) packed bed-installed system.Design/Methodology/ApproachFinite element method was used to analyze the PC dynamics and phase completion time for encapsulated PCM within a vented cavity during the convection of nanoparticle loaded fluid. The study is performed for different Reynolds number of flow streams (Re1 and Re2 between 300 and 900), temperature difference (ΔT1 and ΔT2 between −5 and 10), aspect ratio of the cavity (between 0.5 and 1.5) and nanoparticle loading (between 0.02% and 0.1%).FindingsIt is observed that phase transition can be controlled by assigning different velocities and temperatures at the inlet ports of the T-shaped cavity. The PC becomes fast especially when the Re number and temperature of fluid in the port vary closer to the wall (second port). When the configurations with the lowest and highest Re number of the second port are considered up to 54.7% in reduction of complete phase transition time is obtained, while this amount is 78% when considering the lowest and highest inlet temperatures. The geometric factor which is the aspect ratio has also affected the flow field and PC dynamics. Up to 78% reduction in the phase transition time is obtained at the highest aspect ratio. Further improvements in the performance are achieved by using nanoparticles in the base fluid. The amounts in the phase transition time reduction are 8% and 10.5% at aspect ratio of 0.5 and 1.5 at the highest nanoparticle concentration.Originality/ValueThe thermofluid system and offered control mechanism for PC dynamics control can be considered for the design, optimization, further modeling and performance improvements of applications with PCM installed systems.