Numerical Model for Solidification and Melting of PCM Encapsulated in Spherical Shells

The study presents a numerical analysis of the flow and heat transfer on a latent heat storage device based on a phase change material (PCM) encapsulated in spherical shells. This kind of heat storage system is designed for passive cooling in air conditioning applications by cold accumulation through the solidification of PCM during the night and by cold discharge through the melting of PCM during the day. The numerical analysis is taking into consideration both the PCM solidification and melting processes. The geometry of the analysed system was taken from an experiment available in the literature and the obtained results were compared with those of the experiment. The developed mathematical model proved to be capable to describe the flow and heat transfer in such systems.