Investigation on effect of connection angle of “L” shaped fin on charging and discharging process of PCM in vertical enclosure

Abstract

This study probes the effect of connection angle of “L” shaped fin on the melting and discharge process of a vertical PCM unit. The PCM enclosure had dimensions of 50 ×50 mm and the L shaped fin was located at middle of enclosure. The enclosure was heated and cooled by considering constant temperature at the vertical wall. The Lauric acid was considered as the phase change material. Seven different coincidence angles of 0°, 30 °, 60 °, 90 °, −30 °, −60 ° and −90 ° were considered in present investigation. Results indicated that L shaped fin with Teta = −30 ° could provide 14% reduction in the melting process. Furthermore, the case with Teta = 0° provided 45% enhancement in solidification time. The outcomes revealed that maximum charging rate was associated with case with Teta = −30 ° which had the value of 103.41 J/S and provided a 32% enhancement in comparison with the base case. Also, the best discharge rate for the solidification process was about 34.184 J/s which was related to case with Teta = 0° and presented a 2.23 times improvement in the average solidification rate.

Keywords

• Phase change material
• Solidification and melting of PCM
• Vertical enclosure
• Lauric
• Acid
• “L'' shaped fin