Numerical modelling of thermal hysteresis in melting and solidification of phase change materials

Abstract

This research focuses on exploring the impact of thermal hysteresis effects on the performance of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) used in thermal storage or buffering applications. Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling in ANSYS Fluent is employed to investigate thermal hysteresis phenomena during solid-liquid phase change. The traditional enthalpy-porosity method is extended by introducing an alternative relationship between the liquid fraction and PCM temperature, implemented in Fluent through User Defined Functions. The study demonstrates the developed model by simulating a rectangular PCM enclosure with a heated wall featuring a time-dependent temperature boundary condition. Considering convective heat transfer, a comparison is made between the newly developed hysteresis model and the default solidification-melting model of ANSYS Fluent. The new model facilitates numerical analysis of thermal hysteresis during partial and complete melting and solidification processes, enabling the study of hysteresis effects on the part-load operation of PCM systems.