Computation of melting with natural convection inside a rectangular enclosure heated by discrete protruding heat sources

This paper presents the results of a numerical investigation of the heat transfer by natural convection during the melting of a phase change material (PCM, n-eicosane with melting point of 36 °C) contained in a rectangular enclosure. This latest is heated by three discrete protruding heat sources (simulating electronic components) placed on one of its vertical walls. The power generated by heat sources is dissipated in PCM. The advantage of using this cooling scheme is that the PCMs are able to absorb high amount of heat generated by the heat sources, without acting the fan during the charging process (melting of the PCM). The thermal behavior and thermal performance of the proposed PCM based-heat sink are numerically investigated by developing a mathematical model based on the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations. The obtained numerical results show the impact of various key parameters on the cooling capacity of the PCM-based heat sink. Correlations encompassing a wide range of parameters were developed in terms of the dimensionless secured operating time (time required by one of the electronic components before reaching its critical temperature, Tcr ∼ 75 °C) and the corresponding liquid fraction, using the asymptotic computational fluid dynamics (ACFD) technique.