International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193

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International Journal of Thermal Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijts

Experimentally validated two dimensional numerical model for the

solidication of PCM along a horizontal long tube
Kamal A.R. Ismail*, Fátima A.M. Lino, Raquel C.R. da Silva, Antonio B. de Jesus,
Louryval C. Paixão
Department of Thermal and Fluids Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, CEP 13083-970 Campinas,
SP, Brazil

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

Article history: This paper presents the results of a numerical study validated by experimental measurements on the
Received 20 February 2013 solidication of PCM along a horizontal tube by using the boundary immobilization technique. The two
Received in revised form dimensional model (r,z) of the phase change problem is formulated based on the energy equation and
14 August 2013
the Landau transform which transforms the moving irregular interfaces to xed parallel interfaces. The
Accepted 16 August 2013
Available online 19 September 2013
nite volume method is used to discretize the system of equations and the associated boundary and
initial conditions. A computer program was elaborated and the time and space grids were optimized to
make the numerical solution insensitive to the grid size. The model was validated against experimental
Keywords:
Solidication modeling
and numerical results available in the literature and good agreement was found. Additional results were
PCM obtained and the numerical predictions were found to agree well with the new measurements showing
Phase change that the immobilization technique is adequate to handle phase change problems.
Energy storage Ó 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction were developed and applied to a variety of geometries and

The use of thermal energy storage is becoming popular and is
implemented in many recent projects of supermarkets, hotels and
similar establishments to use better the energy consumed and
integrate efciently the different systems of energy generation and
utilization. Energy storage plays a vital role in energy conservation
systems, in total energy systems, intermittent energy generation
and or utilization systems where the energy demands do not
coincide with the energy generation. Of the different types of
thermal energy storage systems the latent heat type is widely
preferred because of the high energy density and the small tem-
perature drop during the charge and the discharge processes. There
are many design concepts for the latent heat storage but the shell
and tube type seems to be more developed from the engineering
point of view.
Heat transfer in these thermal energy storage systems is a
transient problem of conjugate phase change-forced convection.
Since phase change heat transfer is non-linear due to the moving
solideliquid interface, analytical solutions are only available for few
special cases of moving boundary problems with simple geometry
and simple boundary conditions. Approximate analytical methods
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 19 35213376; fax: þ55 19 32893722.
E-mail address: kamal@fem.unicamp.br (K.A.R. Ismail).
boundary conditions by many authors as London and Seban [1].
Because of the above difculties, different numerical approaches
were proposed to obtain sufciently accurate solutions for the heat
transfer problems encountered in latent thermal energy storage
units. Ozisik [2] reported numerical method which are suitable for
solving PCM thermal problems as xed grid, variable grid, front-
xing, adaptive grid generation, and enthalpy methods. Addition-
ally varieties of approximate analytical methods such as the energy
integral method, perturbation methods, and similarity solutions
can be found in the literature. Landau [3] proposed a trans-
formation of coordinates such that in the new coordinate system
the moving interface can be immobilized and the solution can be
realized in the xed domain. Murray and Landis [4] proposed two
methods of handling numerical solutions of phase-change prob-
lems using nite difference approach. One was the moving grid
method, equivalent to the Landau transforms, where the grid points
move following the interface. From the numerical point of view a
xed grid in the Landau transformed plane is equivalent to a
moving grid in the physical domain.
The numerical methods for the solution of phase-change
problems can be subdivided into two main groups: xed grid
methods based on the enthalpy concept and moving grid methods
utilizing the interface immobilization technique. Furzerland [5]
compared the two methods for the solution of a specic test
problem of one dimension pure conduction heat transfer. One of his

1290-0729/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2013.08.008
 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193 185

Nomenclature d solid or liquid phase thickness (m)

dr tube wall thickness (m)
cp specic heat (J/kg C) D dimensionless solid or liquid phase thickness e
D tube external diameter (mm) Ds;l ¼ drs;lw
dr differential element in the radial direction (m) G auxiliary variable
dz differential element in the axial direction (m) h transformed coordinate
e annular gap width (m) r density (kg/m3)
E dimensionless gap width (E ¼ e/rw) s dimensionless time e s ¼ ar2s t Ste
w
h heat transfer coefcient (W/m2 K) n kinematic viscosity (m2/s)
H latent heat (J/kg) U auxiliary variable  
k thermal conductivity (W/mK) q dimensionless temperature q ¼ TTT m
m Tin
L length of the tube (m) x dimensionless coordinate
Nu Nusselt number (Nu ¼ hD/kf) J auxiliary variable
Pr Prandtl number (Pr ¼ nf/af) dx dimensionless differential element in the x direction
Q thermal energy stored (J) dh dimensionless differential element in the h direction
r radius (m)
R dimensionless radius (R ¼ r/rw) Subscripts
Re Reynolds number (Re ¼ UmD/n) i inner section of the tube
Ste Stefan number (Ste ¼ Cps(Tm  Tin) in inlet of the tube
t time (s) m mean velocity or solidication temperature
T temperature ( C) f heat transfer uid or bulk temperature
U uid velocity (m/s) w tube wall
z axial coordinate (m) wi inner side of the tube wall
s(t) solideliquid interface (m) s solid phase
dsol(t) solid layer thickness (mm) l liquid phase
d solidication front
Abbreviations p external
PCM phase change material
HTF heat transfer uid Symbols
V differential operator
Greek symbols
a thermal diffusivity, kf/rf cpf (m2/s) Abbreviations
b auxiliary variable PCM phase change material
c auxiliary variable HTF heat transfer uid

conclusions is that the enthalpy method is easier to program and
more suitable for PCM with a range of fusion temperatures. The
interface immobilization technique is more suitable for xed PCM
phase-change temperature and, consequently, a well-dened
interface position. Hsu et al. [6] developed a method for the solu-
tion of conduction-based PCM problems in two dimensions by
using the immobilization technique and nite difference approach
based upon control volumes described by Patankar [7], where the
integral equations of energy conservation were written in terms of
the variables obtained by the Landau transform. Because of the
transformation process, the resulting coordinate system is non
orthogonal, and consequently, mixed derivatives appeared in the
heat conduction equation together with the fact that the moving
grid of control volumes resulted in pseudoconvective terms.
Lacroix [8] solved the problem of fusion in a rectangular cavity
including natural convection effects using a methodology similar to
the front immobilization technique. He used a system of co-
ordinates adjusted to the body, or body-tted coordinates, obtained
normally from the solution of differential equations, where the
irregular domain is transformed into a simpler one. As this process
is done for each time interval, an algebraic generator was used for
the new system. This represents one of the major drawbacks of this
method.
The advantages of the interface immobilization technique
include easiness of implementation, precision and small compu-
tational time. The main drawback is the presence of mixed
derivatives in the heat conduction equation as a consequence of the
resulting non orthogonal coordinate system. These terms require a
special attention in their manipulation.
Many of these methods have been used by many authors
(Sparrow and Hsu [9]; Sinha and Gupta [10]; Sablani et al. [11];
Paixão [12]; Ismail and Abugderah [13]; Jesus [14]; Ismail et al. [15];
Zivkovic and Fujii [16]; Sari and Kaygusuz [17]).
There are few studies related to solidication external to long
tubes submersed in PCM. Habeebullah [18] presented the results of
experimental study on the solidication of Ice over long tubes. He
found that the axial growth rate is distinct at low values of the
coolant Reynolds number and short freezing times. The slope of the
ice thickness with axial distance showed moderate dependency on
time but varied with coolant ow rate, and with Stanton and Biot
numbers. Kalaiselvam et al. [19] reported the results of experi-
mental and analytical investigation of solidication and melting
characteristics of PCMs inside cylindrical capsules. They presented
analytical solutions to determine the position of the interface and
complete phase change time and compared their results with ex-
periments validating the models and the numerical predictions.
Teggar et al. [20] described a unied conduction model to
describe the inward solidication of PCM inside at, cylindrical and
spherical containers. The physical model is based upon a general
thermal conduction equation which accounts for the PCM and is
coupled to linear convective boundary condition. The numerical
solution is realized using the enthalpy method with the control
186 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193
volume approach. The model is validated against available results
and good agreement was found. Abdel Rehim [21] reported the
results of a study on a packed bed storage system of spherical PCM
capsules and obtained results for the charging and discharging
modes. The time for complete charging process was reduced by the
increase of the working uid entry temperature and its mass ow
rate, while the complete solidication time was found to be longer
compared to the melting time. The charging and discharging rates
were found to be higher for PCM capsules of smaller radius
compared to those of larger radius. Mosaffa et al. [22] presented the
results of a study in which they used analytical approach for pre-
dicting the temperature during solidication in a two dimensional
rectangular latent heat storage using PCM with internal plate ns. A
two dimensional model was developed based upon the enthalpy
approach to predict the temperature distribution over the n and
the liquidesolid interface position. The results from the analytical
solution and the numerical predictions were compared and good
agreement was found. Oró et al. [23] presented a very interesting
and intensive review on phase change materials for cold thermal
energy storage applications around a cylinder.
From the above review on numerical methods adequate for
treating phase change problems it is possible to appreciate the
features and the advantages of the immobilization technique in
relation to easiness of implementation, precision and small
computational time. Although we used extensively the enthalpy
approach the relative merits of the immobilization technique gave
us sufcient courage to dedicate this work evaluate this method.
In this study a numerical model is presented for the solidica-
tion of PCM along a long horizontal tube due to the ow of a cold
heat transfer uid inside it. The proposed model uses the interface
immobilization technique, the nite volume method with an im-
plicit scheme for the temperature eld and an explicit scheme for
the interface position calculations. The model is based upon the
two dimensional heat conduction equation and the interface
immobilization technique. The energy equation and the associated
boundary conditions were discretized by the nite control volumes
method. A computational program was elaborated and optimized
by numerical experiments. The computational program and the
numerical predictions were compared with available experimental
and numerical results as well as with our own experimental mea-
surements. Good agreements were observed indicating that the
immobilization technique can be used for solving phase change
problems.
Fig. 1. Scheme of the latent heat storage system.
2. Formulation of the problem
A latent heat thermal storage unit is generally formed by an
array of tubes, Fig. 1, through which the cold refrigerant ows
forming a solidied PCM layer over the tube surface. When the
storage unit is fully charged, that is, no more solidication over the
tube arrangement and the solidied mass appear as is in Fig. 1
where the dashed circles represent the terminal solidied layer
and its axial distribution appears as in Fig. 1b. Fig. 2 represents the
physical problem under analysis.
The mathematical model was built on the following
assumptions:
 Thermophysical properties of the materials are constant with
temperature. The solid and liquid PCM may have different
properties except for the density assumed to be the same for
both phases. These properties are dened as function of tem-
perature as in Refs. [24,25],
 In the solidication process it is assumed that the heat con-
duction is the only heat- transfer mechanism in the PCM,
assumed initially at a temperature slightly above the phase-
change temperature.
 The outer surface is considered cylindrical and adiabatic as well
as the end caps of the system at z ¼ 0 and z ¼ L;
 The HTF ow is laminar with a mean velocity Um and enters
the system with uniform low temperature Tin. Nusselt number
values are obtained from steadyestate correlations under
constant wall heat ux condition.
The heat conduction equations for the two phases of the PCM in
two- dimensional axisymmetric coordinate are given by,
   
vTs;1 1v vTs;1 vTs;1
¼ as;1 r þ (1)
vt r vr vr vz2
where the subscripts s and l refer to the solid and liquid phases
respectively. The conventional boundary-conditions for the solid
liquid interface can be written as,
Ts;1 ðrd ; z; tÞ ¼ Tm (2)
 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193 187

Fig. 2. Geometry of the physical problem.

  2    
vrd vTs  vT  vr 0  hs;l  1 ; 0  x  L=rw ; (7)
1þ ks   kl l  ¼ pH d (3)
vz vr r¼rd vr r¼rd vt
The governing equations are written in dimensionless form
where Eq. (2) states that the solideliquid interface is an isothermal using the variables dened by Eq. (6) together with those presented
surface whose temperature is the phase change temperature Tm below,
and Eq. (3) represents the energy balance at the interface, in which
the latent heat of solidication H, is taken into consideration. This T  Tm
q ¼
equation is also known as the Stefan condition and must be solved Tm  Tin
for the solidication front position, rd.
The heat conduction equation is also used for modeling the tube
wall, ds;1 vDs vD 2
Ds;1 ¼ ; bs ¼ hs ; b ¼ ðhl  1Þ l ; xs;1 ¼ 1 þ bs;1
" #
rw vx l vx
 
vTw 1v vTw v2 Tw
¼ aw r þ (4)
vt r vr vr vz2 r e
R ¼ ;E ¼
rw rw
Finally, the HTF convection problem is modeled by means of an
energy balance over a differential control volume across the tube,
as will be seen in more details later in this section, as t
s¼ 2
Ste (8)
rw
  2
1 vTf vTf v Tf 4h  
þ Um ¼ þ Twi  Tf (5) where Tin, Tm and Ste are the uid inlet temperature, the phase
af vt vz vz2 Dkf
change temperature and the Stefan number, respectively.
where Tf is the bulk temperature and Twi is temperature of the inner
wall.
The solid-phase, tube wall and HTF equations are coupled by
equaling the heat uxes in the corresponding frontiers between
these regions as will be seen later in this section. The solid and
liquid phases are coupled by the Stefan condition Eq. (3).
The phase change problem is solved by means of the boundary
immobilization technique which consists in performing a coordi-
nate transformation in order to x the moving boundary and make
it parallel to the other boundaries as in Fig. 3. The new coordinate
system is dened by the following equations,

r  rw
hs ¼
ds ðz; tÞ

r  rd ðz; tÞ
hl ¼
dl ðz; tÞ

z
x ¼ (6)
rw

where ds and dl are, respectively, the solid and liquid phase thick-
ness. Now the annular space can be described in the following
domain, Fig. 3. Equivalent control volume grade in the annular space.
188 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193

with the velocity of the phase-change front. Their discretization is

discussed in the numerical formulation. The terms Ls,l and Js,l in
Eqs. (11b) and (11d) represent mixed derivatives terms in the dif-
ferential formulation and are generally associated with an aniso-
tropic behavior. Here they appear as a consequence of using a non
orthogonal coordinate system.
In the numerical treatment of Eq. (10) the pseudo convective
terms were discretized using appropriate formulation according to
the power law scheme while the pseudo anisotropic terms are
treated as source in the linear system solution and updated in each
Fig. 4. Section of a typical control volume. iteration.
The coupling condition between the PCM solidication problem
and the ow problem is done by relating the heat conduction in the
Cps ðTm  Tin Þ PCM across the wall of the inner tube with the convection in the
Ste ¼ (9) interior of the cylinder as shown in Fig. 5.
H
The heat transfer across the wall of the cylinder can be described
The equations and boundary conditions for the PCM are now by
given in terms of the variables and quantities dened in Eqs. (6) and
(8). They will be solved numerically using the nite volume method    
and the integral form of the conduction equation is presented for a vTw 1v vTw v vTw
rw cpw ¼ kw r þ kw (12)
control volume in the PCM domain transformed by the immobili- vt r vr vr vz vz
zation technique. The details of the lengthy deduction of Eq. (10)
can be found in the work of Sparrow and Hsu [9] and Sari and valid in the domain ri  r  rw;0  z  L, which upon substituting
Kaygusuz [17], the dimensionless variables and R ¼ r/rw can be written as

Z  Zx2    
d   as vqw 1 v vqw v vqw
Rs;1 Ds;1 qs;1 dxdhs;1 Ste ¼ Us;1 þ Ls;1 S3 dx Ste ¼ þ (13)
ds aw vs R vR vR vx vx
VC x1
The coupling with Eq. (10) is realized by equalizing the heat
Zx2
  uxes in the faces of the control volume in the PCM and the wall of
 Us;1 þ Ls;1 dx
S1 the tube.
x1 When performing an energy balance in the tube as shown in
Zh2 Fig. 5, the equation for the uid is obtained as
 
þ Gs;1 þ js;1 S4
dhs;1
h1 !
vTf vTf v2 T
Zh2 rf cpf þ Um pri2 ¼ kf 2f pri2 þ 2pri qw (14)
  vt vz vz
 Gs;1 þ Js;1 S2
dhs;1 (10)
h1
where Tf is the uid bulk temperature. The heat ux from the wall
can be determined in terms of the local convection heat transfer
where S1, S2, S3 and S4 are respectively the east, north, west and
coefcient h and the internal wall temperature Twi. Hence Eq. (14)
south faces of the control volume in the (hs,1,x) coordinate system
can be written as
limited by h1,h2,x1,x2, as can be seen in Fig. 4. The terms under
integration in Eq. (10) can be written as;
!
  vTf vTf v2 T  .
xs vqs vDs rf cpf þ Um pr2 ¼ kf 2f þ 2h Twi  Tf ri
Us ¼ Rs   hs qqs Ste ; (11a) vt vz vz
Ds vhs vs

   Considering that D ¼ 2ri e af ¼ kf/rf cpf, one can write the above
a x vq vDs vD equation as
Ul ¼ Rl  l l l  ql Ste þ hl l
as Dl vhl vs vs

vqs a vq
Ls ¼ bs Rs ; L ¼ bl Rl l l (11b)
vx l a s vx

vqs a vq
Gs ¼ Rs Ds ; G ¼ Rl Dl l l (11c)
vx l as vx

vqs a vq
Js ¼ bs Rs ; J ¼ bl Rl l l (11d)
vhs l as vx
Eq. (10) is the energy integral equation to be solved for each PCM
control volume in the transformed domain subject to the appro-
priate boundary conditions. Terms Us.l in Eq. (11a) are called pseudo
convective because they have a transport component associated Fig. 5. Energy balance on the working uid.
 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193 189

 
1 vTf vTf v2 Tf 4h  
þ Um ¼ þ Twi  Tf (15a)
af vt vz vz2 Dkf

where Tf is the bulk temperature, Um is the mean uid velocity, h is

the local convection coefcient, and Twi is the inner wall temper-
ature. Introducing the dimensionless variables one can write

as vqf  r  vq
w f v2 qf r  2 
w

Ste þ Um D=af ¼ 2
þ4 hD=kf
af vs D vx vx D
 
 qwi  qf
(15)
In terms of the new variables, Eq. (15) can be written as

as vqf r  v q
w f v2 qf r 2 
w

Ste þ RePr ¼ 2
þ 4 Nu qwi  qf (16)
af vs D vx vx D

The end caps the system and the external cylinder wall are Fig. 7. Comparison of the present predictions with the results of Sablani et al. [11].
considered thermally insulated. This condition is equally extended
to the PCM solid and liquid as well as the wall of the internal tube
adjacent to the end caps and the external surface. The boundary 
kw vqw  r  
condition expressed in terms of the new variables can be written as ¼ Nu
w
q  q (19b)
wi f
kf vR R¼ri=rw D
  
vqf  vqs;l  vqs;l 
vx
 ¼ 0 vx
 ¼ 0 vx
 ¼ 0 (17) The boundary conditions at the solideliquid interface can be
x¼0 x¼0;L=rw hs;l¼1
expressed in the form
Further we have the boundary condition associated with the
solid PCM, the wall of inner tube, and the refrigeration uid by
qs ðhs ¼ 1; x; sÞ ¼ ql ðhl ¼ 1; x; sÞ ¼ 0 (20)
equalizing the heat ux at the boundaries between the three re-
gions. If the tube wall is neglected, the boundary conditions be- while the energy balance at the interface can be expressed as
tween the refrigeration uid and the solid phase can be written as
      !
hri   
1 vqs    
1 vqs  vDs 2 1 vql  kl 1 vql  vDs
qwi  qf ¼ or Bo q q 1þ  ¼ (21)
ks Ds vhs hs ¼0 wi  f ¼
Ds vhs hs ¼0 vx vs vhs hs ¼1 ks Dl vhl hl ¼0 vs

(18) Eq. (21) is used to determine the position of the solidication

front using the temperature distribution obtained from the solution
The boundary conditions involving the inner tube wall are
of the energy equation in the PCM.
  At this point we have the basic and the associated boundary
kw vqw  1 vqs 
¼ (19a) conditions to solve the system of equations that permit determi-
ks vR R¼1 Ds vhs hs¼0 nation of the temperature distribution in each region, as well as the
solidication front position in terms of time.
The numerical solution of the developed equations and the
corresponding boundary conditions was performed using the
implicit-explicit formulation as suggested by Sparrow and Chuck
[26]. The temperature equations were discretized in the implicit
form, while the thermal energy balance conditions at the interface,
Eq. (21), was discretized explicitly. This procedure avoids the need
for iterations between the temperature distribution and the inter-
face position.

Fig. 6. Comparison of the present predictions with Sinha and Gupta [10]. Fig. 8. Experimental setup.
190 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193
Fig. 9. Details of the test section.
The discretization of the PCM equations takes into account the
existence of pseudo convective terms, Eq. (11a), and pseudo-
anisotropic terms, Eqs. (11b) and (11d) and the power law
scheme used in a formulation. The pseudo-anisotropic terms were
evaluated explicitly and updated during the iterative solution of
linear system. Singularities at the beginning of the process were
avoided by starting the method with a semi-analytical solution
based in the quasi-steady approximation. The Nusselt number, Nu
in the above equations is obtained from correlation for constant
wall temperature condition due to Shah and Bhatti [27]
Nu ¼ 3:66 þ 0:0018
2
1=3
ðz* Þ ½0:04þðz* Þ2=3 
z=D
z* ¼ RePr
A numerical program was written in FORTRAN and numerical
tests were realized to optimize the numerical grid and render the
results independent of the choice of the size of the grids. It was
found that 15 control volumes were sufcient for the solid and
liquid phases, 5 for the tube wall and 1 for the heat transfer uid, in
the radial direction. In the axial direction 100 control volumes were
used for all regions. The time step was varied from 0.1 to 0.001 s and
since there was no noticeable variation for values less than 0.01 s
this value was used in the calculations.
Predictions from the present study were compared with avail-
able results in the literature in order to validate the model and the
numerical predictions. Numerical calculations and simulations
Fig. 10. Photograph of the tube in the PCM tank.
Fig. 11. Photograph of the ethanol cooling system.
were performed under the same conditions of the work of Sinha
and Gupta [5] in which they studied the solidication of water
around a horizontal copper tube cooled by the ow of refrigerant to
keep it in isothermal condition. Fig. 6 shows the comparison with
their experiments for Ste ¼ 0.09, L/D ¼ 80 and E ¼ 3.08. As can be
seen in Fig. 6 the agreement is relatively good.
Sablani et al. [6] solved the problem of complete solidication in
annular space by the immobilization technique using a fully im-
plicit nite difference scheme. Numerical simulation for compari-
son with the work of Sablani et al. [6] for the conditions of Ste ¼ 0.1,
qin ¼ 0.5, St ¼ 0.003, rw/D ¼ 0.5, L/rw ¼ 60 and E ¼ 0.46 shows good
agreement as can be veried from Fig. 7.
In Section 4 additional comparisons with our own experiments
will be presented and discussed.
3. The experimental setup
The experimental setup, Fig. 8 is composed of the test section
where the horizontal tube is installed, a compression refrigeration
system working with Freon R 22 and a heat exchanger to cool the
secondary working uid to the desired temperature. The conven-
tional compression refrigeration system working with R22 circu-
lates the refrigerant through a coiled tube submersed in the ethanol
tank, where the ethanol is used as a secondary working uid.
The test section is made up of a copper tube of 20 mm internal
diameter 22 mm external diameter and 2200 mm length. The
copper tube is installed concentrically between two PVC end
anges xed to a PVC duct of 290 mm internal diameter, 300 mm
Fig. 12. Photograph of the precision linear scale beside the tube after 20 min.
 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193 191

Table 1 Table 3
Uncertainty of the measured parameters and variables. Summary of experimental parameters.

Parameters Uncertainty Flow rate, Q [ml/s] Wall temperature, Tp [ C] Reynolds number, Re

Temperature 0.5  C 22.5 5 1,92

Flow rate 2.15106 m3/s 10 1,72
External diameter 0.01 mm 15 1,54
Ice thickness (mm) 0.1 mm 20 1,38
45 5 3,84
10 3,44
external diameter and 23100 mm length. The rest of the copper 15 3,08
tube length passes through the PVC end anges where it is con- 20 2,77
70 5 5,98
nected to the secondary uid circuit as in Fig. 8. The liquid PCM is 10 5,35
placed in the insulated PVC duct. The PVC duct is tted with three 15 4,79
windows for observation and photographing the interface solide 20 4,30
liquid. The windows are localized at 0.68, 1.18, and 1.65 m from the The tests were realized according to the following procedure.
entry section, Fig. 9. The photograph in Fig. 10 shows the cold tube
arrangement and the PVC duct full with PCM while Fig. 11 shows
the ethanol cooling system. A high resolution digital camera is used the end of the experiment. The experiment is nalized when
to photograph the interface with a precision linear scale xed near the last two measurements of the interface position indicate
the copper tube. The photographs of the interface position at the the same value within 0.5 mm and the time counted since the
three windows are digitalized and the real physical position of the start of the experiment is considered as the time for complete
interface is obtained by comparison with the linear precision scale. solidication. The system is then shut down to change the test
Fig. 12 shows a photograph from window 2 of the interface solide conditions and restart the equipment.
liquid, the cold tube and the precision scale.
The secondary uid is pumped from the ethanol tank and
circulated in the copper tube and is returned back to the ethanol 4. Results and discussion
tank. The temperatures at entry, at exit and at seven positions along
the copper tube are measured by calibrated thermocouples to Fig. 13 shows the variation of the interface position with time for
within 0.5  C. When the cold secondary uid circulates in the uid temperature and ow rate of 10  C and 70.0 ml/s, respec-
copper tube it exchanges heat with the liquid PCM in the sur- tively. It also shows a comparison of the position of the interface
rounding PVC duct forming a layer of solid PCM over the surface of with time obtained experimentally and numerically. As can be seen
the cooper tube. The ow of the secondary working uid is adjusted the agreement is good showing a difference of 6%, which can be
manually by a precision control valve and measured by a calibrated attributed to the convection effects not accounted for in the liquid
orice plate. The PCM used is water while the main and the sec- PCM and also due to thermal losses from the experimental setup.
ondary working uids are R22 and ethanol, respectively. Table 1 Initially the temperature of the secondary uid at entry
shows the uncertainties of the measured parameters and vari- is 15  C and the PCM is at 0.5  C. This produces the maximum
ables while Table 2 shows the thermo physical properties of the temperature gradient between the circulating secondary ow and
PCM (water). Table 3 presents a summary of the experimental the liquid PCM, and hence the maximum heat transfer rate. A layer
Reynolds number and the tube surface temperatures investigated of solid PCM is formed on the copper tube external surface causing
in this study. the increase the thermal resistance between the PCM and circu-
lating uid. As the time passes, more PCM is solidied, increasing
1. The liquid PCM at nearly the phase change temperature 0.5  C the thermal resistance and reducing the heat transfer rate from the
is pumped to the PVC concentric duct until the copper tube is liquid PCM to the circulating uid and consequently reducing the
equally covered on all sides. solidication rate of the PCM. After a relatively long period of time,
2. Connect the thermocouples xed at entry and exit of the cop- the thickness of the solidied layer is large enough, its thermal
per tube and along its length to the data acquisition system.
Adjust the camera system and focus it on the copper tube. Both
the main refrigeration system and the secondary uid circu-
lating pump are switched on with the entry valve of the ethanol
cooling system open and its temperature control set at the
required value. When the temperature of the ethanol is stabi-
lized, its ow rate is adjusted to the value required for the test.
3. The temperature measurements and photographs are regis-
tered automatically each 5 min during the rst hour, then at
intervals of 30 min during the next 5 h, then at each hour until

Table 2
Thermo physical properties of the PCM (water).

Property Value

Density 998.2 kg/m3

Kinematic viscosity 1  106 m2/s
Latent heat of solidication 353.52 kJ/kg
Solidication temperature 0 C
Specic heat 4182 J/kg-K
Thermal conductivity 0.6 W/m-K Fig. 13. Comparison between the numerical and experimental interface positions for
Tin ¼ 10  C and Q ¼ 70.0 ml/s.
192 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193
Fig. 14. Comparison between the numerical and experimental interface velocities for
Tin ¼ 10  C and Q ¼ 70.0 ml/s.
resistance is too big and consequently the rate of heat transfer is
small practically producing no additional solidication.
The results of Fig. 13 are obtained from the photographs taken
during the tests at the rst window. These photographs are digi-
talized and by comparison with the precision linear scale xed near
the copper tube the real interface position is determined. The po-
sition of the interface is measured from the external radius of the
copper tube. Initially the inclination of the curve is steep, and
gradually decreases, where near the end of the process (time for
complete phase change) the inclination is nearly zero and the so-
lidication process nearly stops.
Fig. 14 presents the variation of the interface velocity with time.
The values of the interface velocity are calculated from the digita-
lized real interface position and the corresponding time measured
at the rst window. Initially, when the solidied layer is relatively
thin, the thermal resistance is small and the heat transfer rate and
the PCM solidication rate are large producing high solidication
velocity. The solidied layer increases as the time increases, and
hence the thermal resistance. This reduces the rate of heat transfer,
Fig. 15. Inuence of the secondary uid temperature, Tin, on the position of the
interface.
Fig. 16. Inuence of the secondary uid temperature, Tin, on the interface velocity.
and consequently the interface velocity. Towards the end of the
process, the thermal resistance is high so that the rate of heat
transfer and solidication rate are very small resulting in an
interface velocity extremely small.
Fig. 14 shows also comparison between the predicted and
measured interface velocity. At the initial stages the thermal
resistance between the circulating secondary ow and the liquid
PCM is very small, hence the rate of heat removal from the liquid
PCM is high resulting in high solidication rate and high interface
velocity. As the time passes the PCM solidied layer gets thicker
and this increases the thermal resistance between the liquid PCM
and the circulating uid, causing the reduction of the heat transfer
rate, the solidication rate and the interface velocity. When the
solidied layer is very thick, near the end of the solidication
process, the thermal resistance is very big and the rate of heat
removal from the liquid PCM becomes extremely small and the
interface velocity becomes small. One can observe the good
agreement between the numerical predictions and the experi-
mental results in Fig. 14. During the initial instants the numerical
Fig. 17. Effect of the uid ow rate on the interface position.
 K.A.R. Ismail et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 75 (2014) 184e193
Fig. 18. Effect of the uid ow rate on the interface velocity.
thermal resistance is lower than the real thermal resistance due to
the ideal conditions assumed in the numerical model. The differ-
ences found at the initial instants between the numerical pre-
dictions and the experiments can be partially attributed to the
consequences of the assumed ideal conditions. Also initially the
thickness of the solidied layer is extremely thin and this increases
the measurement errors as can be seen in Fig. 14.
Fig. 15 shows a comparison between the numerical predictions
and experiments of the interface position as function of the tem-
perature of the secondary uid. As can be seen the agreement is
acceptable showing differences of about 10%. One can observe that
for low temperature the solidied layer is thicker.
Fig.16 shows comparisons between the numerical predictions and
measurements of the velocity of the interface against the working
uid temperature showing agreement to within less than 1%.
One can observe that the lower the temperature of the working
uid the higher the interface velocity. A low working uid tem-
perature results in a high temperature gradient which increases the
heat removal rate from the liquid PCM and consequently increases
the interface velocity.
Fig. 17 shows the effect of varying the working uid ow rate on
the position of the interface. The increase of the ow rate of the
working uid increases the Reynolds number, and increases the
heat transfer coefcient on the internal side of the tube which in-
creases the overall heat transfer coefcient and the heat removal
rate leading to more solidied mass. The agreement between the
numerical prediction and the experiments is acceptable with
maximum difference of 16% in the case of 60 min, and 7% in the case
of 600 min.
Fig. 18 shows a comparison of the effects of the secondary uid
ow rate on the experimental and predicted numerical interface
velocities. As can be seen the agreement is good with differences
less than 2%.
5. Conclusions
The results showed that the proposed model and its numerical
predictions agree well with the experiments and available results in
the literature. This validates the model and conrms that the
moving front immobilization technique is adequate for the solution
of phase change heat transfer problems.
It is found that the decrease of the temperature of the secondary
uid increases the interface position, the solidied mass, and the
193
interface velocity and reduces the time for complete solidication.
The increase of the mass ow rate increases moderately the above
parameters, but less intensive than the temperature of the working
uid.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the CNPQ for the
Research Grant PQ to the rst author and the doctorate scholarship
to the second and the third authors, and to FAPEMA for the master
scholarship to the last author.
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