Solid-liquid phase-change heat transfer and interface motion in materials cooled or heated from above or below

Abstract

Solid-liquid phase-change heat transfer has been studied experimentally and analytically in several different materials (e.g. stearic acid, sodium phosphate dodecahydrate, sodium sulfate decahydrate and n-octadecane which have been suggested as candidates for latent-heat-of-fusion thermal energy storage materials. Solid-liquid interface motion during freezing and melting from above as well as below has been determined in a rectangular test cell suitable for photographic observations. Comparison of experimental data for n-octadecane with predictions based on Neumann and other analyses which account for natural convection heat transfer at the solid-liquid interface show that natural convection in the liquid must be accounted in the prediction of phase-change boundary motion for unstable situations which arise during melting from below and solidification from above.