Energy 207 (2020) 118223

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Numerical investigation of natural convection behavior of molten PCM

in an enclosure having rectangular and tree-like branching fins
atay Yıldız a, Müslüm Arıcı a, *, Sandro Ni
Çag zeti
c b, Amin Shahsavar c
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kocaeli University, Umuttepe Campus, Kocaeli, 41001, Turkey
b
LTEF- Laboratory for Thermodynamics and Energy Efficiency, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University
of Split, Rudjera Boskovica 32, 21000, Split, Croatia
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kermanshah University of Technology, Kermanshah, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In phase-change applications, once the melting process is completed, the natural convective heat transfer
Received 20 April 2020 of liquid material may be promoted or degraded by the fins, which is the main motivation of this
Received in revised form research. For this reason, the natural convection heat transfer inside a PCM container that can be a
30 May 2020
representative model for PV/PCM systems is numerically investigated in this study by considering three
Accepted 23 June 2020
Available online 2 July 2020
aspect ratios (AR ¼ 1, 2 and 4), three Rayleigh numbers (Ra ¼ 104, 105 and 106), two types of fins as
rectangular and tree-like branching fin, and three different length-to-height ratio of rectangular fin (w/
H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5). The rates of increment and decrement are presented taking the finless enclosure as
Keywords:
Fin
the reference case. The computed results revealed that the natural convection is promoted up to 20%,
Molten PCM depending on Ra and fin length by the inclusion of fins when the AR ¼ 1, while it is degraded down by
Natural convection 5.5% for AR ¼ 4. Interestingly, at AR ¼ 2, the percentage increase and decrease of mean Nu numbers are
PV/PCM system slighter compared to other aspect ratios. Besides, it is also noticed in this study that utilizing a tree-like
Tree-like branching fin branching fin is not as effective as a rectangular fin with the same mass.
Heat transfer degradation © 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction panel surface, which dramatically decrease the efficiency, e.g. a

Energy demand of the world has raised drastically over the past
decades with the increment in the world’s population, industry and
consumption, which led the authorities to seek for sustainable
energy resources that can be alternative to the fossil fuels. Solar
energy, in this context, is a favourable option for being totally
renewable, clean and low-cost [1]. Solar energy is also considered
in residential and industrial electrical power generation, via
photovoltaic (PV) panels, as a popular sustainable kind of energy as
it has incontrovertible advantages. Yet, there are some drawbacks
of utilization of solar energy in terms of conversion efficiency,
which can still not be solved by researchers or engineers putting an
effort on this topic [2]. For instance, the conversion efficiency of a
PV panel can be up to 30e40% while the actual applications exhibit
an efficiency around 5e20% [3,4]. One of the most important
challenges for PV panels is the undesired temperature rise of the
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: muslumarici@kocaeli.edu.tr (M. Arıcı), snizetic@fesb.hr
(S. Ni
zeti
c).
decrement of 0.4e6.5% per 1  C of temperature rise [3] and the life
span of panel. For this reason, cooling of PV panels in order to
prevent overheating and enhance the performance has become a
crucial issue which led the researchers to focus on cooling down the
panels by active or passive cooling methods [5,6] which basically
cover the methods such as air or water cooling by natural or forced
convection, heat pipe cooling and phase-change material (PCM)
utilization [7e10], as well as utilizing fins in the back side of PV
panels [11,12]. Utilization of PCM is a reasonable option for cooling
of PVs due to its high capacity of heat absorption, having no moving
parts, being a simple structure that does not require maintenance
or external energy [13], and it is seen as a promising passive cooling
technique by researchers [5,14]. Thus, there are numerous studies
in the literature focusing on cooling of PVs by using PCMs [15e18]
including the authors’ studies [19,20]. In addition, extensive liter-
ature surveys show that a large number of researchers agrees on
the point that using PCM for cooling of PVs is an effective option
and promises a potential for future PV applications [9,18]. As a
result of temperature rise being so crucial for PV panel efficiency
and PCMs being effective in PV-cooling applications, there have
been numerous studies in the literature that examines the behavior

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.118223
0360-5442/© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
2 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
Nomenclature
Bi Biot number
g gravitational acceleration (m/s2)
H height of the enclosure (m)
h convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2$K)
k thermal conductivity (W/m$K)
L length of the enclosure (m)
Nu Nusselt number
p pressure (Pa)
P dimensionless pressure
Pr Prandtl number
Ra Rayleigh number
q heat flux (W/m2)
T temperature (K)
u, v velocity components in x and y directions (m/s)
U, V dimensionless velocity components in X and Y
directions
of PCM to cool down PV panels, hence, increase the conversion
efficiency.
Huang et al. [15], as a pioneer researcher on the topic, experi-
mentally investigated the contribution of PCM to the limitation of
excessive temperature rise of PVs integrated to buildings and
compared the results with naturally ventilated PV panel. They
stated that the decrement of PV panel temperature is significantly
more when PCM is utilized. In the experimental study performed
by Hachem et al. [16], it is reported that the electrical efficiency is
increased by 3 and 5.8% by using pure PCM and PCM with copper
and graphite additives, respectively. Ni zetic et al. [18] presented a
numerical study that considers pork fat as a novel PCM for PV-
cooling applications and they concluded that pork fat, as a PCM,
can be a potential in the future applications, however, the economic
and long-term degradation issues should be further investigated
experimentally. Ciulla et al. [21] proposed a finite different model
for PV-PCM system, validated the results with measured data and
concluded that the proposed model is consistent with the experi-
mental data and can be used to evaluate the behavior of PCM layer
on the PV panel. Tanuwijava et al. [22] investigated the daily
behavior of a micro-encapsulated PCM module for thermal man-
agement of PVs. They reported that the PCM has significant impact
on thermal management and that the overall thermal performance
is almost the same for two different cases where the melting points
are 26 and 34  C. Lo Brano et al. [23] developed a numerical model
for a PCM system which is coupled with PV panel and performed an
experimental validation. They also emphasized that the proposed
method can be utilized to other structures in order to improve
thermal management performance. Hasan et al. [24] experimen-
tally examined the impact of PCM integration on the electricity
production performance of a PV panel and reported that a peak and
an average increment of 7.2 and 5.5% are respectively achieved. Ho
et al. [25] numerically explored the effect of attachment of micro-
encapsulated PCMs to the back of PV panels on performance and
they concluded that the PCM attachment improved the electrical
w length of the rectangular fin (m)
x, y x and y directions (m)
X, Y dimensionless X and Y directions
Greek letters
a thermal diffusivity (m2/s)
b thermal expansion coefficient (1/K)
m dynamic viscosity (Pa$s)
n kinematic viscosity (m2/s)
r density (kg/m3)
q dimensionless temperature
4 inclination angle ( )
Subscripts
i Inside
l Local
o Outside
∞ Ambient
efficiency. Klugmann-Radziemska and Wcisło-Kucharek [26]
experimentally investigated the cooling of a PV panel by using an
appropriate PCM and they stated that PCM utilization can be an
effective and low-cost way to cool down PVs, which can prevent the
efficiency loss due to excessive temperature rise.
Acceleration of phase-change process for PCMs is desired due to
the demand of heat rejection or heat release, and also similarly
charging and discharging, depending on the desired application.
Usage of fins is a popular way to expedite the phase-change process
and it is used for this purpose in studies in the existing literature.
Sharifi et al. [27] examined the impacts of horizontal fins on PCM
melting in a square cavity and reported that fins help to enhance
the melting rate but the melting process is relatively slow at the
inter-fin regions. Darzi et al. [28] studied the melting and solidifi-
cation of a nanoparticle-enhanced PCM in a cylindrical annulus and
they concluded that the phase change process is more expedited by
the attachment of fins, rather than nanoparticles. In addition, they
stated that fins are more effective for solidification process
compared to melting. Ji et al. [29] numerically investigated the
melting behavior of a PCM in a rectangular enclosure in which
double-fins are attached to the heated wall in order to supress the
non-uniform heat transfer which is eventually expected to enhance
melting rate. Their results showed that the melting time can be
saved about 62.7% by selecting the proper fin angle, compared to
finless cavity. A similar study was carried out by the same research
group [30] and they explored the effect of length-ratio of double
fins attached to the rectangular enclosure on melting rate. Their
results revealed that the melting rate is improved by 25% when the
length ratio of upper to lower fin is 0.25. On the other hand, they
found that the melting rate is deteriorated when the upper fin is
longer than the lower one. Arici et al. [31] numerically investigated
the influence of fin on melting rate of PCM in a square cavity taking
the fin length and orientation of heated wall. They reported that the
attachment of a fin significantly promotes the melting rate, espe-
cially at the early stages of the process with a long fin. Joneidi et al.
 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
[32] experimentally examined the melting of paraffin in a hori-
zontal heat sink by applying electrical power of 5 W from bottom,
which represents an electronic cooling heat sink. They investigated
different configurations and parameters of vertical fins and
concluded that melting rate is remarkably improved by using of fins
and that the fin number is the most significant parameter in the
study.
One step further from the conventional shaped fins, constructal
tree-shape fins, which are introduced by Bejan [33] are also gaining
attention among researchers that are working on melting and so-
lidification rate enhancement of PCMs, as these type of fins can
promote the heat transfer rate thanks to their increased exposed
surface area at same volume. Zhang et al. [34] carried out a study in
order to reveal the influences of tree-shape branching fins on
phase-change process of a PCM. The outcomes of the study showed
that the branching fins improved the solidification and melting
processes by 66.2 and 4.4%, respectively, and they added that these
novel kind of fins can be an alternative in such applications. Zheng
et al. [35] investigated the solidification process in a heat exchanger
with tree-shape fins and reported that the efficiency of heat
exchanger increases by 53%. Luo and Liao [36] developed a lattice-
Boltzmann model to simulate the melting of PCM in an enclosure
that has tree-shape fins. They concluded that the bifurcation angle
of fins and natural convection plays a great role in melting process,
and the melting rate is increased by presence of tree-shaped fins.
As in other applications, fins are also used in PV-PCM systems in
order to cool down PV panel and improve its efficiency. Huang et al.
[37] carried out an experimentally validated numerical study for
thermal management of PV panels using PCM in an enclosure with
metallic fins. They stated that the fins provides a more uniform
temperature distribution, hence, contributes to thermal manage-
ment significantly. Biwole et al. [38] numerically studied the phase
change process in a finned rectangular cavity by declaring that the
presented model can represent a PV panel in practical applications.
They stated that the phase-change and temperature stabilization
times are significantly reduced by increasing the number of fins,
and that the variation of fin spacing by keeping the fin mass con-
stant has a marginal effect on latent heat storage performance.
Sathe and Dhoble [39] carried out a numerical study to explore the
dynamic thermal performance of a PCM located in an inclined
rectangular cavity that has internal and external fins. They exam-
ined the effect of inclination and different fins numbers, and
emphasized that the inclination plays an important role on phase-
change process. Considering PV-panel applications, Groulx et al.
[40] investigated melting process of PCM in a rectangular enclosure
that has various fin attachments such as at cold wall and/or hot wall
for different fin lengths. Their results revealed that the thermal
performance is highly affected by the fin configuration, i.e. the fin
on the hot surface improved thermal performance while the fin
attachment to cold wall did not demonstrate any improvement
compared to finless case. In another similar study, Badiei et al. [41]
used fins in a PCM container attached to a solar collector in order to
improve efficiency and they concluded that the efficiency can be
improved by addition of fins, however it can also marginally reduce
the efficiency due to larger heat dissipation to ambient.
Fins are playing an important role on acceleration of phase-
change, as widely stated in the abovementioned literature. How-
ever, to the best knowledge of authors, there are few studies that
focus on the heat transfer performance of finned PV/PCM systems
once the melting process is completed where the material performs
heat transfer in liquid form by natural convection. In this case, the
heat transfer performance of PCM container attached to PV panel is
worth investigating since the PCM may remain in liquid state for a
significant time interval and performs the heat exchange this way,
which is not considered in the existing literature on PV/PCM
3
systems. In the present study, the natural convection of molten
PCM in an enclosure with an internal fin, which can be a repre-
santative model for PV/PCM systems, is numerically investigated in
order to explore the convection behavior after the melting process
is completed, rather than during phase-change. Furthermore, the
impacts of attachment of a rectangular and tree-like branching fin
are also evaluated and compared to the finless case. Three different
aspect ratio, AR, values (AR ¼ 1, 2 and 4), three different Rayleigh
numbers (Ra ¼ 104, 105 and 106), two different fin types (rectan-
gular and branching) and three different fin length ratios (w/
H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) are considered within the context of the
present study.
2. Problem statement
Considering the PCM container attached to the back of PV panels
in PV/PCM systems, a two dimensional rectangular enclosure filled
with molten PCM is taken into account for the numerical calcula-
tions. Due to the fact that the photovoltaic panel inclinations are
varied with respect to the latitude values of a location, the incli-
nation angle of presented model is adjusted as 35 , which is suit-
able for Turkey and some other Mediterranean countries located in
the nearly same latitudes, due to the fact that the panels can profit
by solar energy at the calculated optimum tilt angles [42]. The
presented model is given in Fig. 1.
The top surface of the enclosure is subjected to the constant heat
flux while the bottom surface is exposed to ambient where the heat
is transferred by convection at ambient temperature which mimics
the realistic situation. The two side walls are considered adiabatic.
The length of thermally conditioned top and bottom walls is
denoted by L while the height of the remaining two insulated walls
is represented by H. Keeping the H constant, the aspect ratio of
enclosure, AR, is defined by L/H. The length of the rectangular fin,
which is a studied parameter in this work, is defined as w/H. In
addition, as a tree-like branching fin is also examined and
compared with the rectangular fin within the study, it is worth to
note that the base width and the mass of the two fins are calculated
to be equal to each other in order to provide a fair comparison. The
molten PCM in the cavity is paraffin wax, of which the thermo-
physical properties are shown in Table 1.
Fig. 1. Problem schematic.
4 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223

Table 1 !
Thermophysical properties of paraffin wax [43]. vq vq v2 q v2 q
U þV ¼ þ (9)
Property (Unit) Value vX vY vX 2 vY 2
Thermal conductivity (W/m∙K) 0.2
Specific heat (J/kg∙K) 2100 The boundary conditions of the given problem is defined as
Kinematic viscosity (m2/s) 5.2  106 constant heat flux at the top wall of the enclosure and convection at
Thermal diffusivity (m2/s) 1.2614  107 the bottom wall, while the side walls are adiabatic. The material, of
Thermal expansion coefficient (1/K) 4.016  103 which the enclosure is made, is assumed to be highly conductive
and therefore, the thermal resistance of the enclosure walls is
neglected. The boundary conditions are mathematically expressed
3. Mathematical model and numerical procedure as follows:

3.1. Mathematical model vq

¼1 atðX; HÞ
vY
The molten PCM in the container of PV/PCM system is assumed
to be Newtonian and incompressible, has constant thermophysical vq
¼ Biq atðX; 0Þ
properties except density, while the density is treated by the vY
Boussinesq approximation. The Prandtl number, Pr, is calculated as
41.22 considering the parameters in Table 1, and kept constant at vq
this value. The flow in the enclosure is assumed to be laminar and ¼0 atð0; YÞ and ðL; YÞ (10)
vX
two-dimensional, besides, the natural convective heat transfer is
considered steady-state during the analyses, as a result of per- where the Biot number, (Bi ¼ 15), is defined as
formed transient solutions approached steady state.
Considering the aforementioned assumptions, the dimensional ho H
Bi ¼ (11)
governing equations in the previously described enclosure are ki
given as below:
The local Nusselt number on the cold wall is defined as follows:
vu vv hi H
þ ¼0 (1) Nul ¼ (12)
vx vy ki
" !#
vu vu 1 vp v2 u v2 u Here, hi refers to the convective heat transfer coefficient inside the
u þv ¼  þm þ þ g bðT  T∞ Þsin4 (2) enclosure and is defined as
vx vy r vx vx2 vy2
q
" !# hi ¼ (13)
vv vv 1 vp 2
v v v v 2 DT
u þv ¼  þm þ þ g bðT  T∞ Þcos4 (3)
vx vy r vy vx2 vy2 where DT represents the average temperature difference between
the top and bottom wall of the cavity.
! Finally, the mean Nu number on the cold wall of the cavity can
vT vT v2 T v2 T
u þv ¼a þ (4) be expressed by the integration of the local Nu numbers as shown
vx vy vx2 vy2 below:
The non-dimensional forms of the above-mentioned equations ð1
are obtained by using the non-dimensional parameters given
Nu ¼ Nul dY (14)
below:
0

x y uH vH pH 2 T  T∞
X ¼ ;Y ¼ ;U ¼ ;V ¼ ;P ¼ ;q ¼
H H a a ra2 qH
k (5)
3.2. Numerical procedure
gbqH4 n
Ra ¼ ; Pr ¼
nak a The governing equations and related boundary conditions
After the conversion, the dimensionless forms of continuity, mentioned in the previous section are solved by a finite volume
momentum and energy equations can be written as follows: method solver (Ansys Fluent) [44], and SIMPLE algorithm is utilized
for pressure-velocity coupling while the convection terms are
vU vV
þ ¼0 (6)
vX vY Table 2
Comparison of average Nu numbers on hot or cold wall of finless enclosure.
!
vU vU vP v2 U v2 U Ra ¼ 104 Ra ¼ 105 Ra ¼ 106
U þV ¼ þ Pr þ þ RaPr qsin4 (7)
vX vY vX vX 2 vY 2 De Vahl Davis and Jones [45] 2.234 4.51 8.798
Nag et al. [46] 2.24 4.51 8.82
! Shi and Khodadadi [47] 2.247 4.532 8.893
vV vV vP v2 V v2 V Humaira Tasnim and Collins [48] 2.244 4.5236 8.8554
U þV ¼ þ Pr þ þ RaPr qcos4 (8)
vX vY vY vX 2 vY 2 Ben-Nakhi and Chamkha [49] 2.244 4.524 8.856
Elatar et al. [50] 2.234 4.517 8.948
Present study 2.263 4.559 8.9061
 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223 5

discretized by the second-order upwind scheme. For the assurance

of a fully converged solution, the criteria for convergence are set to
106, 107 and 1010 for the continuity, momentum and energy
equations, respectively.
In order to ensure the accuracy of present numerical model, a
series of validation study is conducted regarding various studies in
the existing literature. Table 2 shows the average Nu numbers ob-
tained in various studies considering a finless enclosure. Consid-
ering all of the cases given in Table 2, the highest discrepancy of
present study, that corresponds the difference between the study in
Refs. [45] Is 1.23% which proves the validity of the present model.
To strengthen the reliability of the model, the present model is
further validated by an experimental study [51] where the natural
convection characteristics of n-hexadecane in an enclosure was
investigated. The dimensions of the enclosure used in the afore-
mentioned experimental work are 5.04 cm  5.04 cm x 26.065 cm
and thus it is considered as two dimensional due to insignificant
heat transfer in the longitudinal direction of the cavity. This
experimental study is utilized for the validation procedure since it
is closely related to the present numerical simulation due to the fact
that the n-hexadecane is a paraffin-based material, as the examined
fluid in present study, and the Prandtl number of n-hexadecane is
39.2, which is almost the same as that of molten PCM considered in
present study, Pr ¼ 41.2. The results in the aforementioned exper-
imental study is presented regarding a function of Prandtl number
denoted by F, which is taken into account in order to separately
examine the effects of Prandtl and Rayleigh numbers on average
Nusselt number. Therefore, in Fig. 2, the outcome of the comparison
is given considering also the function F, in accordance with the
presentation of results in Refs. [51], and the largest discrepancy
between the computed results in present study and the experi-
mental data is calculated as about 3.7%.
A grid independence study is carried out for ensuring the nu-
merical solutions are independent of grid. The outcomes of the grid
study for the finned cavity having an aspect ratio of AR ¼ 4 and Fig. 3. Grid independence test results (a), and the view of utilized mesh structure (b).
Rayleigh number of Ra ¼ 106 are presented in Fig. 3a together with
corresponding computational times while the relevant mesh
structure is displayed in Fig. 3b with a large scale portion taken in computational time.
which the distribution of cells especially near the walls can be seen
where smaller cells are considered in the regions near the solid 4. Results and discussion
surfaces. As a result, a mesh structure with 88,500 elements is
utilized to achieve grid independent solution with a reasonable Present study explores the effects of utilization of different fins
in a PV/PCM system on the natural convection behavior of a molten
PCM, i.e. when the PCM is fully charged by latent heat and is in
liquid state. Three different aspect ratios (defined as AR ¼ L/H),
three different Rayleigh numbers (namely Ra ¼ 104, 105 and 106)
and three different fin length ratios of rectangular fin (as AR ¼ 0.3,
0.4 and 0.5), plus a tree-like branching fin model are carefully
investigated within the simulations. The outcomes of the dimen-
sionless study are presented by velocity and isotherm contours,
dimensionless temperature values, local Nu and the mean Nu are
presented and compared to those of finless enclosure in order to
explain the heat transfer enhancement or deterioration caused by
the fins, which eventually indicates the performance of cooling the
PV panel by molten PCM.

4.1. Velocity and isotherm contours

Fig. 4 displays the velocity contours together with vector plots

Fig. 2. Comparison of the results with the experimental data.
and isotherm contours for the enclosure where the AR ¼ 2 with
different types of fins as well as the finless one, and the dimen-
sionless contour values are given for a clearer analysis. Since the
enclosure is a representative model of a PCM container attached
back to a PV panel placed with an inclination of 35 , the upper edge
is exposed to the solar irradiation which is employed by heat flux
6 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223

Fig. 4. Velocity and isotherm contours for different fin types and Ra numbers (AR ¼ 2, w/H ¼ 0.4).
 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
boundary condition in this study. Therefore, the fluid inside the
cavity is heated up, hence, moves upwards through the upper
corner of the container due to buoyancy effects. Then, it is cooled
down due to the convection at the boundary of bottom edge and
moves downwards through the lower corner of the cavity, as can be
seen from the vectors as well. As the Ra number is 104, the velocity
contours of the finless enclosure show that the flow is relatively
weaker compared to those at other Ra numbers. As the Ra number
is increased, the flow becomes intensified especially at the upper
corner of the enclosure and then moves more strongly through the
bottom edge and down corner. Parallel to the indication of velocity
contours and vector plots, it can be seen that the fluid inside the
cavity is more effectively cooled down as it is noticed that the cold
fluid possesses a larger area at higher Ra values. When a rectangular
internal fin is attached to the hot wall of the enclosure, it evidently
makes a difference in the pattern of velocity contours. While the
heated fluid close to the upper edge of the container moves up-
wards from one corner to another, it is blocked up by the existing
fin and is forced to flow around the rectangular fin. While the fluid
is evidently moved upwards again after the fin blockage at Ra ¼ 104,
its flow is directed to downwards due to fin at Ra ¼ 105 and 106,
hence, the fluid is tend to flow through the lower sides of the
enclosure. Considering the fluid movement interpreted from the
velocity contours, the isotherms show that the hot fluid is accu-
mulated at the upper corner of the enclosure and the cold fluid is
not sufficiently risen through the upper plate at Ra ¼ 104, while the
hot fluid is not that much stuck at the upper corner due to higher
velocity, and cold fluid has a larger area, providing more cooling at
Ra ¼ 105 and especially at 106. In order to quantitatively express the
fluid velocity and temperature distribution in the rectangular fin-
ned enclosure, which give an opinion about cooling performance,
regarding Rayleigh number, it can be noted that the numerical
outcomes show that the largest value of dimensionless velocity
magnitude is around 8 at Ra ¼ 104, while it is increased to around
48 at Ra ¼ 106, due to the increasing buoyancy forces that become
remarkably higher compared to viscous forces. Besides, the
dimensionless wall temperature for Ra ¼ 104 at the upper corner
where the hot fluid is accumulated has a value of 1.1 after the
dimensionless x coordinate X ¼ 0.88, while it becomes 0.99 and
0.92 at the same positions for Ra ¼ 105 and 106, respectively, which
indicates a temperature drop at this region. On the other hand, the
dimensionless temperature of the upper wall at X ¼ 0.1 is 0.64 for
Ra ¼ 104, while it is 0.42 and 0.30 for Ra ¼ 105 and 106, respectively.
These numerical values reveals that the temperature along the
upper wall significantly decreases as the Rayleigh number is
increased, due to the stronger flow that induces convective heat
transfer, which consequently transfers more energy and contrib-
utes more to the cooling. The flow pattern is slightly different for
the tree-like branching fin, as the branching fin has its blocking
effect in a larger area due to the branches widening through side-
ways, which consequently restricts the flow movement and causes
the hot fluid stays under and between the branches of the tree-like
fin. Unlike the enclosure with rectangular fin, the fluid in the cavity
with branching fin can hardly move around the fin to provide
effective cooling, especially at low Rayleigh number, i.e. Ra ¼ 104.
For instance, it is evidently seen in the isotherm of the enclosure
with tree-like branching fin that the fluid at the root of the fin re-
mains at relatively higher temperature due to the fact that the hot
fluid at that region cannot move freely by buoyancy effect and
cannot reach the lower plate, which is cooled by convection at the
boundary, to cool down. However, this is not the case for larger Ra
numbers where the buoyancy forces are more pronounced, and
therefore, the fluid can perform its movement and it is directed
through the lower plate by the fin with an increased velocity, which
is around 17 and 33 for Ra ¼ 105 and 106, respectively. Although the
7
fluid velocity is increased at high Ra number and can transfer the
energy at a larger rate, it should be noticed that the fluid is obvi-
ously blocked near the roots of branching fin at Ra ¼ 106 as seen in
velocity contours. Isotherms also show that the temperature dis-
tribution caused by this flow pattern and it can be seen that the
fluid located at the root of the tree-like fin is colder for higher Ra
numbers, plus the fluid can reach lower plate and cooled down.
Fig. 5 shows the velocity and isotherm contour maps for
different AR values in order to evaluate the impact of AR on the flow
and heat transfer. Considering the finless cavity, as AR is increased
by increasing the L/H ratio (widening the cavity), the fluid motion is
more significant in the direction of buoyancy forces regarding the
inclination angle, which is 35 . The dimensionless velocity
magnitude of the fluid is around 6 to 11 for AR ¼ 1, while it is around
38 to 42 for AR ¼ 4. As noticed from the values, the velocity
magnitude of the fluid is increased with increasing aspect ratio
since the fluid can flow more freely in the longitudinal direction,
compared to low aspect ratios where the suitable area for the fluid
motion is relatively more restricted. The related isotherms also
show that the temperature distribution is more even when AR ¼ 1,
and then the relatively cold fluid is more dominant in the enclosure
as the AR is progressively increased to 2 and 4. For instance, the
dimensionless temperature of the fluid along the upper wall is
approximately around 0.80 at AR ¼ 1, while it is 0.53 and 0.18 at
AR ¼ 2 and 4, respectively. This shows that the increased capability
of fluid motion in larger aspect ratios promotes the convective heat
transfer, which consequently provides a larger rate of cooling,
hence, the temperature of the upper plate is decreased. If a rect-
angular fin with a length to height ratio (w/H) of 0.4 is included in
the enclosure, the flow is considerably altered especially for AR ¼ 1.
As the length of the cavity is more narrow at AR ¼ 1, the fluid is
more strongly forced by the fin to flow down the enclosure through
the bottom wall that is cooled by convection. However, this effect is
insignificant for larger aspect ratios such as AR ¼ 2 and AR ¼ 4 since
the cavity is wider and the fluid has a more room to be driven by the
buoyancy forces and not forced to flow through colder wall but
even blocked by the fin and cannot rise through the upper corner. In
other words, fins seem to be insufficient to change the flow in a way
that it can be more effectively cooled down by colder wall. This
deduction is also partially valid for tree-like fin, however, the
positive effect at AR ¼ 1 is not as remarkable as it is for rectangular
fin, due to the fact that the tree-like fin is not as long as the rect-
angular fin which has the same mass, due to the branching ge-
ometry, hence, cannot exhibit the same effect. If the isotherm
contours of finned enclosures are compared to those of finless
enclosure, it is seen that the temperature distribution is signifi-
cantly affected positively for AR ¼ 1, while it does not exhibit an
effective cooling performance for higher aspect ratios.
4.2. Dimensionless temperature
Fig. 6 shows the dimensionless temperature distribution on the
cold wall, which is exposed the ambient, for the enclosures having
no fin, rectangular fin and branching fin at different aspect ratios for
Ra ¼ 105. It is seen that the dimensionless temperature values
change only slightly with respect to the fin attachment. However,
the values and the trend of the dimensionless temperature curves
are significantly different for different aspect ratios. For example, at
AR ¼ 1, the dimensionless temperature values are almost the same
from X ¼ 0 to 0.3, and then it is noticed that the dimensionless
temperature value on the cold wall of the finless enclosure is
slightly lower than those of finned cavities, from X ¼ 0.3 to 0.75,
and then it is slightly higher than those of finned enclosures from
X ¼ 0.75 to 1. At AR ¼ 2, the change of dimensionless temperature
values with respect to each other along the wall is quite similar to
8 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223

Fig. 5. Velocity and isotherm contours for different aspect ratios (Ra ¼ 105, w/H ¼ 0.4).
 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
that of at AR ¼ 1, as seen in the figure. This is mainly caused by the
influence that the presence of fin changes the direction of the fluid
driven by buoyancy forces. However, this behavior is almost un-
noticeable at AR ¼ 4, due to the fact that the cold wall is consid-
erably long compared to the height of the cavity where the effect of
fins on dimensionless temperature becomes insignificant. The
reason is that the fluid has to circulate in a narrow area at AR ¼ 1
and the fins effect the flow in that short distance while the fluid has
a wider distance to flow where the effect of fins on flow direction
diminishes. Another deduction from this figure is that the AR has a
considerable impact on the rate of change of temperature values.
While the lowest dimensionless temperature is around 0.03 and
the highest is around 0.12 (which are respectively occurred at X ¼ 0
and X ¼ 1) for AR ¼ 1, they are respectively around 0.01 and 0.16 at
AR ¼ 2. The increment rate is even sharper for AR ¼ 4 compared to
other aspect ratios, as it is evidently seen from the figure. The
lowest and highest dimensionless temperature values are respec-
tively around 0.01 and 0.20, and an exponential-like increment of
temperature is noticed on the cold wall, at this aspect ratio. As the
cavity becomes significantly long compared to its height, the cir-
culation is more likely in an eclipse shape at higher aspect ratios,
while it is in a more circular shape at lower ones. Therefore, the
heated fluid is more dominant in the upper corner of cold wall
(X ¼ 1) at higher aspect ratio, compared to lower one, which can
also be seen from the isotherm contours in Fig. 5. Besides, it should
be noted that the different trends of dimensionless temperature
values on the cold wall are obtained due to the convection
boundary condition that causes different temperature values along
the cold wall, which could not be obtained by constant temperature
or adiabatic boundary conditions, as can be found in the existing
literature [41,52]. Another noteworthy comparison can be deduced
from Fig. 6, which is among the general trends for three different
aspect ratios. When the general image of the figure is examined, it
attracts attention that the dimensionless temperature values from
one end (X ¼ 0) to another (X ¼ 1) on the cold wall exhibits a lower
difference at AR ¼ 1 compared to AR ¼ 2 or 4. In other words, the
dimensionless temperature value at X ¼ 0 is highest for AR ¼ 1 and
lowest for AR ¼ 4, while it is lowest for AR ¼ 1 and highest for
AR ¼ 4 at the point of X ¼ 1. This interesting trend of the dimen-
sionless temperature values can be explained by that the length of
the enclosure is higher for AR ¼ 4 and therefore the hot fluid has a
larger fraction at X ¼ 1, which corresponds to the upper end of cold
Fig. 6. Change of dimensionless temperature along the cold wall of the enclosure for
different aspect ratios at Ra ¼ 105.
9
wall, due to the heat flux applied to the upper wall, and this causes
the temperature on the lower wall (i.e. the cold wall) is higher.
However, when the fluid moves down along the lower wall, it faces
with a larger cold area compared to other aspect ratios, hence, the
temperature of the fluid becomes lower. On the other hand, the
dimensionless temperature is lower at the point X ¼ 1 due to the
more intense circulation of hot and cold fluids compared to the
higher aspect ratios. However, this intense circulation caused that
the fluid at the lower end of the cold wall (X ¼ 0) cannot be cooled
down sufficiently, resulting in a higher dimensionless temperature
compared to those of at higher aspect ratios.
4.3. Local Nusselt numbers
Fig. 7 displays the change of local Nu numbers along the cold
wall of the cavity which gives an opinion about the local heat
transfer in a dimensionless form from the point X ¼ 0 to X ¼ 1 for
the investigated three aspect ratios (namely AR ¼ 1, 2 and 4) at
Ra ¼ 105. A general examination of the three groups of lines (each
group representing one aspect ratio with different fin conditions)
shows that the local Nu numbers are the lowest at X ¼ 0 and the
highest at X ¼ 1, for all aspect ratios. Furthermore, although it is
evidently common for all aspect ratios that the local Nu number
values are increasing from X ¼ 0 to 1, the rate of increment
significantly changes depending on the aspect ratio. For instance,
regardless of the fin type, the shape of the curves becomes
noticeably steeper as the AR is increased, meaning that the local Nu
value at the upper regions of the cold wall is increased at higher
aspect ratios. Considering the rectangular-fin-case as reference, at
AR ¼ 1, the local Nu values at the highest point is around 6.88 times
higher than that of at the lowest point, while they are 25.73 and
44.1 times higher, for AR ¼ 2 and 4, respectively. The reason is that
the hot and cold regions of the fluid are more interacted to each
other in the upper sections of the cavity at higher aspect ratios due
to the long enclosure. Besides, the steepness of the curves, espe-
cially remarkable for AR ¼ 4 and parallel to the dimensionless
temperature values in the corresponding figure (Fig. 6), has a sig-
nificant increment right after the point of X ¼ 0.75, which corre-
sponds the upper regions of the enclosure where the buoyancy-
driven hot fluid starts to face the cold wall and cold regions,
eventually is cooled down. Another common point that the three
Fig. 7. Local Nu numbers along the cold wall of the enclosure for different aspect ratios
at Ra ¼ 105.
10 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
group-curves shares is that the sudden decrement of local Nu at the
point X ¼ 1, which corresponds the corner between the cold wall
and upper adiabatic wall. The reason for the sudden drop is that the
heat transfer is not performed as similar as it is on other points of
the wall, due to the facing with adiabatic wall of the enclosure.
Considering the local Nu numbers of the enclosures regarding
the fin attachment, it can be evidently seen in the figure that the
obtained values exhibit difference depending on the fin attachment
and also the attached fin type. Beginning with the curves belonging
to AR ¼ 1, it can be noticed that the local Nu numbers are higher for
rectangular finned enclosure, second comes the branching fin and
then the lowest values are obtained for finless cavity, along the cold
wall, for AR ¼ 1. At this aspect ratio (AR ¼ 1), the calculations for
finned cavities result in higher local Nu numbers due to the fins
causing a circulation having stronger convection currents. At
AR ¼ 2, there is a more interesting trend compared to that of AR ¼ 1.
While the local Nu values for finned enclosures are higher than
those of finless enclosure from X ¼ 0 to 0.75, this trend interestingly
changes after this point and it is seen that the local Nu values of
finless enclosure is higher compared to finned cavities from
X ¼ 0.75 to 1, at AR ¼ 2. This shows the fins can direct the hot fluid
through the colder region at the lower part of the enclosure,
however, the blockage effect influencing the flow at the upper part
of the cavity causes a decrement in heat transfer performance at
this region. At AR ¼ 4, the finless and finned enclosures have almost
the same local Nu values from X ¼ 0 to X ¼ 0.5, corresponding the
lower half of the cold wall, due to the fact that cold fluid possesses a
considerably large area in the lower region of the enclosure and the
possible heat transfer rate is relatively low in this section, as can
also be seen from the related isotherm contours. Then, the steep
increment in local Nu starts and the finless gives highest local Nu
values after that point along the remaining half (X ¼ 0.5 to 1) of the
cold wall. The blockage effect caused by fins deteriorates the flow
and this affects the heat transfer performance, which becomes
significant at the local Nu values at the upper half of the cold wall.
4.4. Mean nusselt numbers
4.4.1. Effect of fin type
Fig. 8 shows the mean Nu numbers for the enclosures having no
Fig. 8. Comparison of the effect of fin types on mean Nusselt number for different
Rayleigh numbers and aspect ratios.
fin, a rectangular fin (w/H ¼ 0.4) and a tree-like branching fin at
different aspect ratios. In the curve group that displays the results
for AR ¼ 1, it is seen that the mean Nu is around 1.21 regardless of
having an internal fin for Ra ¼ 104, due to the fact that the con-
vection behavior is insignificant at this low Ra number compared to
higher ones. The fin attachment caused only a slight improvement
that is 1%. When Ra number is increased by one order of magnitude,
(Ra ¼ 105), the mean Nu numbers are 1.41, 1.53 and 1.50 for no-fin,
rectangular and tree-like fin, respectively. Although the numbers
may be seen as a little amount, the improvements achieved by the
fin attachment, in fact, is 8.4% and 6.4 for rectangular and tree-like
branching fin, respectively, which is absolutely not negligible.
When Ra number is increased to 106, mean Nu numbers also in-
crease significantly, particularly for the finned cavities. The
computed mean Nu values are respectively 1.57, 1.77 and 1.73 for
no-fin, rectangular and branching fins. As the improvement rates
are respectively 13 and 11% for the rectangular and branching fins
compared to finless enclosure, it can be deduced that the effect of
fin attachment is more remarkable at higher Rayleigh numbers due
to the fact that the buoyancy forces are stronger and they can not
only overcome the blockage effect caused by the fin, but also make
the flow change direction through the cold wall so that the heat
exchange is promoted, at AR ¼ 1, which is a square enclosure.
Furthermore, although the attachment of a fin improves heat
transfer performance at AR ¼ 1, the improvement is more signifi-
cant for rectangular fin because of having less blockage effect as it is
previously mentioned by interpreting the obtained veloctiy and
isotherm contours. When the AR is increased to 2, the trend is not
the same as for AR ¼ 1. Unlike the case of AR ¼ 1, there is surpris-
ingly different behaviors for different Rayleigh numbers and not an
increasing trend of heat transfer performance by fin attachment
with increasing Rayleigh number. Instead of that, the fin attach-
ment slightly decreases the mean Nu at Ra ¼ 104, does not affect
significantly at Ra ¼ 105, and slightly increases at Ra ¼ 106, which is
an interesting trend. Discussing the obtained values, the mean Nu
numbers at Ra ¼ 104 are 1.38, 1.34 and 1.33 for finless, rectangular
finned and branching finned enclosures, respectively, and the ratios
of decrement are 2.7 and 3.8% with respect to same order. At
Ra ¼ 105, the mean Nu number values at the cold walls of the
compared enclosures are almost the same (1.74), and the differ-
ences occurred by fin attachments are 0.3% for rectangular
and 0.3% for branching fins. Although the rectangular fin exhibits
an increasing and the branching one a decreasing effect on heat
transfer, they are both insignificant and can be neglected. On the
other hand, the fin attachment has an enhancing effect on heat
transfer when Ra ¼ 106, which is just opposite of the results ob-
tained for Ra ¼ 104 at the discussed aspect ratio value, AR ¼ 2. While
the mean Nu is 2.09 for the finless cavity, it is respectively 2.16 and
2.15 for rectangular and tree-like branching fin. The enhancement
rates are also close to each other that are 3.5 and 3.2% respectively,
which shows that the fin attachment improves the heat transfer at
Ra ¼ 106 for AR ¼ 2 even at a small rate, regardless of its shape. It
should be noted that there is a sensitive balance with respect to the
Ra number at AR ¼ 2, which specifies the fin can be beneficial or
disadvantageous for heat transfer performance. When it eventually
comes to AR ¼ 4, the mean Nu values at AR ¼ 4 are larger than those
of at lower aspect ratios for the same Ra numbers, as indicated in
Fig. 8. While the mean Nu for the finless cavity at Ra ¼ 104 is 1.53,
they are respectively 1.47 and 1.46 for the rectangular finned and
branching finned enclosure. Furthermore, it can be obviously
noticed that there is a decrement at mean Nu values (3.8 and 4.5%
for rectangular and branching fin, respectively) when the fin is
included in the cavity, which is a contrary outcome compared to the
corresponding values at AR ¼ 1. For the moderate Ra number, which
is Ra ¼ 105 in this study, the mean Nu numbers together with the
 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
related differences can be expressed as 2.23, 2.15 and 2.13 for no-
fin, rectangular fin (w/H ¼ 0.4) and tree-like fin cases, respec-
tively, and the ratios of decrement are respectively 3.3 and 4.1% for
rectangular and branching fins. When Ra number is further
increased to Ra ¼ 106, although the mean Nu values are also
increased due to the stronger buoyancy forces, the fin attachment
still downgrades the convection inside the enclosure due to the
degradation of flow motion. Quantitative analysis show that the
mean Nu values are respectively 3.08, 2.98 and 2.96 for the enclo-
sures having no fin, rectangular fin and branching fin. This means
that the mean Nu value is decreased by 3.1% when the rectangular
fin is utilized and 4% when a branching one is used. Despite the
decrement ratios being slightly smaller compared to those of at
Ra ¼ 104, there is still no use of attaching internal fins to the
enclosure having an aspect ratio of 4. As the results presented in
Fig. 8 together with the contours presented in Figs. 4 and 5 are all
brought together and summarized, the attachment of a rectangular
or branching fin can improve the heat transfer performance by
altering the flow pattern in a way that promotes heat exchange
between the hot and cold regions (or walls), or degrade it by
blocking the flow against the buoyancy forces which consequently
restrict the convection behavior, depending on aspect ratio and Ra
number. For instance, the fin attachment enhances the heat
transfer for the low aspect ratio (AR ¼ 1) and since the fins promote
convection, this promotion is further increased with the increasing
Ra number. On the other hand, the attached fins causes a blockage
effect that restricts the onset of convection currents for the high
aspect ratio (AR ¼ 4), and when the Ra number is increased, the
ratio of decrement is decreased, i.e. the buoyancy forces become
stronger to overcome this blockage effect caused by the fins,
however, they do not become sufficient enough to fully overcome
the blockage. Therefore, it is worth noting that there is a significant
balance between the strength of convection caused by geometry,
e.g. AR, or Ra number, and the blockage effect caused by fins. In
addition to that, considering all of the three investigated aspect
ratio values, it should be certainly stressed out that the tree-like
branching fin has a less improvement effect on heat transfer per-
formance at AR ¼ 1, while it has a more disruptive effect at AR ¼ 4,
compared to equivalent rectangular fin. This means that, although
the branching fins are considerably effective for phase-change
processes, they are not always a beneficial option over the rectan-
gular ones for natural convection of PCMs after melting process is
completed, as it was also previously stated in a recent study [53].
4.4.2. Effect of fin length
As it is revealed in the previous section that the influence of
tree-like branching fin on heat transfer performance is not as sig-
nificant as that of equivalent rectangular fin, and since the impor-
tance of fin length in natural convection inside square or
rectangular enclosures is emphasized by numerous researchers
[54e56], this section of the present study focuses on the influence
of rectangular fin length (w/H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) on natural con-
vection of molten PCM at different Ra numbers and aspect ratios,
whose results are depicted in Fig. 9. If the three groups of curves
respecting the three aspect ratio values are examined, it can be
obviously noticed that aspect ratio has a very significant impact on
the mean Nu values, together with the fin length. Taking the AR ¼ 1
into consideration, of which the results are seen from the curves of
AR ¼ 1 in Fig. 9, the fin length has a remarkable impact on mean Nu
numbers, and the mean Nu number is increased with increasing fin
length. In addition to that, while the obtained Nu values, excluding
the one for the fin length of w/H ¼ 0.5, are fairly close to each other
at Ra ¼ 104, the difference considerably increases as the Ra number
is progressively increased to 105 and 106. Explaining by numbers,
the average Nu numbers are 1.21, 1.21, 1.22 and 1.32 for the
11
Fig. 9. Comparison of the effect of rectangular fin length on mean Nusselt number for
different Rayleigh numbers and aspect ratios.
enclosures having no fin, a rectangular fin with the lengths of w/
H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, respectively. This clearly signifies that the
attachment of a rectangular fin with a fin length of w/H ¼ 0.3 or 0.4
has a negligible effect on the natural convective heat transfer at low
Rayleigh number (Ra ¼ 104) and low aspect ratio (AR ¼ 1). However,
there is a remarkable enhancement, which is 9%, when the length
of the attached rectangular fin corresponds to w/H ¼ 0.5. This is an
important finding that shows that there might be a threshold for
the fin length to improve the heat transfer rate. As the Rayleigh
number is increased, the contribution of rectangular fin also in-
creases. Plus, this improvement is more profound for longer fins.
For instance, at Ra ¼ 105, the computed average Nu number for the
finless case is 1.41 whereas it is respectively 1.46, 1.53 and 1.57 for
the increasing fin lengths. So, the improvement rates are also
increased and becomes 3.7, 8.4 and 11.1% with the progressively
increasing fin length ratios. Furthermore at Ra ¼ 106, the average
Nu number of enclosures having a fin length of w/H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and
0.5 are respectively 1.66, 1.77 and 1.88 while it is 1.57 for the finless
one. The enhancement is even more pronounced at this high Ra
number and they are 5.9, 12.8 and 20% for w/H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5,
respectively. These results show that the fin length is a very sig-
nificant parameter when the AR ¼ 1, due to the fact that the
enclosure is in a square shape where the flow is significantly
affected by the inclusion of a fin in a way that the flow is driven to
enhance convection rather than blockage effect.
Examining the computed results displayed for AR ¼ 2 in Fig. 9, it
is seen that the lines in this part of the figure are almost coincided,
which is a quite different behavior compared to above-mentioned
case (AR ¼ 1). There is insignificant difference in mean Nu values
when the fin is included, regardless of its length. For instance, the
mean Nu number is 1.38 at Ra ¼ 104 for both the finless case and
short finned case (w/H ¼ 0.3), meaning that there is no improve-
ment or setback. Moreover, these values turn up to 1.34 for both
mid-size (w/H ¼ 0.4) and long-size (w/H ¼ 0.5) fins, which is also a
noteworthy outcome that the results are that close to each other.
Both fin lengths exhibit a 2.7% decrement in mean Nu number, for
AR ¼ 2 at Ra ¼ 104. At Ra ¼ 105, the results are even more surprising
since the mean Nu is almost the same (around 1.74, and the dif-
ference is below 1%) for both finless case and for finned cases with
all three fin lengths, which shows that the utilization of an internal
12 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
fin in a cavity with AR ¼ 2 and at Ra ¼ 105 brings neither an
improvement nor a decrement in heat transfer performance, and in
short, it is useless in this circumstances. However, at high Rayleigh
number (Ra ¼ 106), there is an improvement in heat transfer, which
is 2.5, 3.5 and 2.9% for the fin lengths of w/H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5,
respectively. This result reveals that there is a critical Rayleigh
number (Ra ¼ 105) at this aspect ratio which is a balance point
between the domination of buoyancy forces and the blockage effect
of the fin.
Comparing the fin length values depicted for AR ¼ 4 at different
Rayleigh numbers in Fig. 9, it is seen that the shape of the curves is
similar to those of AR ¼ 1, however, it exhibits a mirror image. In
other words, there is a decrement in mean Nusselt number with the
attachment of fin and with the increment of fin length, while it is
just the opposite for AR ¼ 1. Starting with Ra ¼ 104, the average Nu
numbers of the finless container is 1.53, while it decreases to 1.49
with the attachment of a short fin, and then further decreases up to
a point around 1.47 with a mid-size and long fin. The mean Nu
values do not exhibit a very large difference, due to the weak
convection currents at this Rayleigh number. However, the
decrease in heat transfer performance caused by the fins is still not
negligible by the rates of 2.2, 3.8 and 3.6% for w/H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5,
respectively. Due to the conduction dominance, the difference in
the decrement rates of w/H ¼ 0.4 and 0.5 are very close to each
other. Continuing with examining the values at Ra ¼ 105, it is
noticed that the fins reduce heat transfer performance for all of the
length ratios, plus, the difference is more noticeable compared to
the low Rayleigh number. The mean Nu values are respectively 2.17,
2.15 and 2.10 for the fin lengths of w/L ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, while this
value is 2.23 for the finless case. This corresponds to the reduction
rates of 2.3, 3.3 and 5.5% caused by fin attachment at a length ratio
of w/L ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, respectively. At this Rayleigh number,
together with the stronger convection, the blockage effect caused
by the fins are also increased by increasing the fin length, since the
longer fins can restrict the fluid more significantly at this aspect
ratio. Lastly, at Ra ¼ 106, the heat transfer performance are also
decreased by the inclusion of fins. For example, the mean Nu
number is 3.08 for the finless cavity at AR ¼ 4, which is a consid-
erably high value obtained in this study. However, when a fin with a
length ratio of w/H ¼ 0.3 is included, this value falls down to 2.99,
which means a decrement rate of 2.8%. As the fin length is pro-
gressively increased to w/H ¼ 0.4 and then 0.5, the mean Nu
number becomes 2.98 and 2.93, respectively, which corresponds to
the respective decrement rates of 3.1 and 4.8%. It is evident from the
obtained results that the fin attachment has a disruptive effect for
AR ¼ 4 and the increasing fin length causes a larger downgrade in
heat transfer performance. However, the reduction rates do not
only depend on the geometry or fin length, but also on the Rayleigh
number due to the fact that the higher Rayleigh numbers may
overcome the blockage effect.
While the fins promote the convection for AR ¼ 1 because of the
fluid flowing in a narrow enclosure compared to its height and
because of the fin contributing to convection by passively forcing
the fluid to do more heat exchange, they significantly deteriorate
convection motion for AR ¼ 4, due to the blockage effect in the
wider cavity that hinders the fluid motion that tends to rise through
the upper corner of the cavity by the buoyancy forces. It also draws
strong attention that the enclosure with AR ¼ 2 does not response
to the fin attachment or fin length so significantly, which shows
that it is the critical aspect ratio for the fin attachment. Therefore, it
can be deduced from the analyzed simulation results that fin uti-
lization may not always be beneficial for the natural convective
heat transfer, as it was also reported by several researchers [50,57],
although fin utilization accelerates the phase-change process in
such PV/PCM systems.
5. Conclusion
Present study investigates the natural convection behavior of
molten PCM in a rectangular container, which can be a suitable
model for cooling applications of PV panels. Considering different
types and lengths of fins included inside the PCM container, the
heat transfer performance is evaluated after melting process is
completed. The simulations are carried out considering three
different aspect ratios (AR ¼ 1, 2 and 4), three different Rayleigh
numbers (Ra ¼ 104, 105 and 106), two different types of fins (rect-
angular and tree-like branching fin) and three different fin lengths
of rectangular fin (w/H ¼ 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5). The computation results
are presented in terms of velocity and isotherm contours as well as
vector plots in order to provide an understanding of flow and heat
transfer in the enclosure, and in terms of the dimensionless tem-
perature, local Nu numbers and mean Nu numbers to express the
heat transfer performance numerically. Analyzing all of the ob-
tained results, following conclusions can be drawn:
 The dimensionless temperature trend is considerably different
compared to constant temperature boundary conditions cases
in the existing literature, due to having convection boundary
condition in the present study.
 The local Nu numbers are higher at the upper side of the cold
wall compared to lower sides, and the increment of local Nu
values becomes steeper after a certain point on the cold wall,
especially for AR ¼ 4.
 The local Nu numbers of the finned cavities are higher at AR ¼ 1,
slightly different at AR ¼ 2 and relatively lower at AR ¼ 4,
compared to finless enclosure.
 The value of average Nu number is higher at higher aspect ratios
when the same type of enclosure (i.e. finless or same type of fin)
is considered.
 When the tree-like fin and equivalent rectangular fin (w/
H ¼ 0.4) having the same volume and mass are compared, the
contribution of rectangular fin to heat transfer enhancement is
more profound for all of the considered cases. Besides, tree-like
branching fin exhibits a slightly more degradation compared to
rectangular fin, for the cases where the fin attachment decreases
heat transfer performance.
 AR ¼ 2 is the critical point for the contribution of fin attachment
in the enclosure. While the included fins, regardless of being
rectangular or branching, promote the natural convection heat
transfer at AR ¼ 1 (up to 20%), they degrade the natural
convective heat transfer at AR ¼ 4 (down to 5.5%), among all
considered Rayleigh numbers. However, at AR ¼ 2, the heat
transfer is slightly reduced at Ra ¼ 104 and is slightly enhanced
at Ra ¼ 106, while it has almost no influence on heat transfer
enhancement at Ra ¼ 105. In this case, it can also be concluded
that when the AR ¼ 2 and Ra ¼ 105, then it is the turning point
for the fin effectiveness, which is a noteworthy conclusion in
this study.
Considering the aforementioned conclusion of this work,
although fins are helpful for accelerating the phase change beyond
any doubt, they may decrease the natural convection heat transfer
rate in the molten PCM, once the melting process is completed.
Therefore, careful analyses in systems such as PV/PCM should be
carried out considering the parameters such as Rayleigh number,
aspect ratio, fin length and fin shape, in order to promote natural
convection rather than blocking it.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
atay
Çag Yıldız: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal
 Ç. Yıldız et al. / Energy 207 (2020) 118223
analysis, Software, Visualization, Writing - original draft. Müslüm
Arıcı: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Method-
ology, Validation, Supervision, Writing - original draft. Sandro
zeti
Ni c: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Writing -
original draft, Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Amin
Shahsavar: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation,
Writing - original draft, Supervision, Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Croatian science foundation
(Research project: Smart and hybrid cooling techniques for sili-
ceous photovoltaic panels-IP-01-2018-2814).
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