Simulations of Melting of Encapsulated CaCl2·6H2O for Thermal Energy Storage Technologies

We present in this work simulations using the finite difference approximation in 2D for the melting of an encapsulated phase-change material suitable for heat storage applications; in particular, we study CaCl2·6H2O in a cylindrical encapsulation of internal radius 8 mm. We choose this particular sa...

全面介紹

書目詳細資料
Main Authors: Puertas López, Antonio Manuel, Romero Cano, Manuel Servando, Nieves López, Francisco Javier de las, Rosiek, Sabina, Batlles Garrido, Francisco Javier
格式: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
語言:English
出版: MDPI 2020
主題:
在線閱讀:http://hdl.handle.net/10835/7409
實物特徵
總結:We present in this work simulations using the finite difference approximation in 2D for the melting of an encapsulated phase-change material suitable for heat storage applications; in particular, we study CaCl2·6H2O in a cylindrical encapsulation of internal radius 8 mm. We choose this particular salt hydrate due to its availability and economic feasibility in high thermal mass building walls or storage. Considering only heat conduction, a thermostat is placed far from the capsule, providing heat for the melting of the phase-change material (PCM), which is initially frozen in a water bath. The difference in density between the solid and liquid phases is taken into account by considering a void in the solid PCM. A simple theoretical model is also presented, based on solving the heat equation in the steady state. The kinetics of melting is monitored by the total solid fraction and temperatures in the inner and outer surfaces of the capsule. The effect of different parameters is presented (thermostat temperature, capsule thickness, capsule conductivity and natural convection in the bath), showing the potential application of the method to select materials or geometries of the capsule.