Solidification heat transfer characteristics of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material inside rectangular slabs

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the heat transfer enhancement during solidification of a phase change material in a rectangular latent heat storage unit (LHSU) through the dispersion of high conductive nanoparticles. The storage unit consists of a number of vertically oriented slabs of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) placed in a laminar heat transfer fluid (HTF) flow. A two dimensional numerical model has been developed using the enthalpy method and the finite volume approach to investigate the thermal behavior and performance of the LHSU during discharging process. The numerical model has been validated by comparing our numerical predictions with the experimental and numerical results published in literature. Numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the effect of the volumetric fraction of nanoparticles on the heat transfer enhancement and storage performance of the storage unit.