New Equivalent Thermal Conductivity Model for Size-Dependent Convection-Driven Melting of Spherically Encapsulated Phase Change Material

Spherically encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) are extensively incorporated into matrix material to form composite latent heat storage system for the purposes of saving energy, reducing PCM cost and decreasing space occupation. Although the melting of PCM sphere has been studied comprehensively by experimental and numerical methods, it is still challenging to quantitatively depict the contribution of complex natural convection (NC) to the melting process in a practically simple and acceptable way. To tackle this, a new effective thermal conductivity model is proposed in this work by focusing on the total melting time (TMT) of PCM, instead of tracking the complex evolution of solid–liquid interface. Firstly, the experiment and finite element simulation of the constrained and unconstrained meltings of paraffin sphere are conducted to provide a deep understanding of the NC-driven melting mechanism and exhibit the difference of melting process. Then the dependence of NC on the particle size and heating temperature is numerically investigated for the unconstrained melting which is closer to the real-life physics than the constrained melting. Subsequently, the contribution of NC to the TMT is approximately represented by a simple effective thermal conductivity correlation, through which the melting process of PCM is simplified to involve heat conduction only. The effectiveness of the equivalent thermal conductivity model is demonstrated by rigorous numerical analysis involving NC-driven melting. By addressing the TMT, the present correlation thoroughly avoids tracking the complex evolution of melting front and would bring great convenience to engineering applications