Solidification inside a sphere—an experimental study

• Published in: International communications in heat and mass transfer Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 335 - 341
• Main Authors: Chan, C.W., Tan, F.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Concentricity; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Initial liquid superheat; Phase change material; Solidification; Sphere; Transport and storage of energy; Sphere; Phase change material; Concentricity; Initial liquid superheat; Solidification; Temperature effect; PCM material; Experimental study; Energy storage; Hexadecane
• ISSN: 0735-1933; 1879-0178
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2005.10.010

This paper presents the investigations of the solidification of an n-hexadecane inside a spherical enclosure. The effect of solidification process was investigated for three different constant surface temperature conditions (13 °C, 8 °C and 3 °C) and for three different initial superheats of n-hexadecane (8 °C, 2 °C and 0 °C). It was observed that the solidification phase front propagates uniformly inwards towards the centre of the sphere. The concentricity of the solid–liquid phase front deteriorates as time progresses due to shrinkages causing formation of voids inside the sphere. A lower constant surface temperature results in a larger solidified mass fraction. The effect of the initial liquid superheats of the PCM on the solidification is insignificant.