Study of close contact melting of ice from a sliding heated flat plate

A study is conducted to examine the effect of the relative motion between a PCM block and a heated flat plate in the process of close contact melting of a high Prandtl number phase change material. An analytical model is proposed and experimental results are reported. Results indicate that the relative velocity between the PCM block and the plate starts to play an important role in the close contact melting process when Re > 104. Three distinct melting regimes are identified: for Re < 3 × 105, close contact melting is the dominant mode of heat transfer in the melt layer. The relative motion may reduce the melting time by up to 66% compare to the melting time observed from a heated surface at rest. For Re > 5 × 105, the thickness of the liquid melt layer is so small (δ∗ < 8 × 10−4) that the melting process is hindered and abrasion is observed. Finally, for 3 × 105 < Re < 5 × 105, a transition regime bridges the contact melting regime to the abrasion regime.