Erythritol Solidification in a Sphere: A Numerical Study
Rafael da Silveira Borahel1; Rejane de Césaro Oliveski1; Fábio Faistauer1
1 Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-1205
Resumo
The aims of this work were develop a mathematical and numerical model capable of reproducing the solidification of a phase change material (PCM) in a sphere, as well as, verify the influence of the system temperature under the PCM solidification. The geometry used in this study is a spherical capsule, made of aluminum and filled by erythritol (PCM) and air, with 40 mm in diameter (D). The problem studied is two-dimensional and governed by the equations of continuity, momentum, energy and volume fraction. All transient numerical simulations of the solidification process were carried out using the commercial software ANSYS FLUENT-14. In order to check whether the mathematical and numerical model, presented in this work, is valid for the numerical study of the solidification process into a sphere, a qualitative validation was performed. The results of the qualitative validation shows a good agreement between the numerical results obtained in the present work and the results reported in the literature. Therefore, the mathematical and numerical model, developed here, is suitable for the numerical study of the solidification process in a sphere. Regarding the influence of the system temperature under the PCM solidification, results show that the system temperature is a predominant factor in the time in which the PCM solidifies
Palavras-chave: Erythritol; Solidification; Phase change materials; Thermal energy storage; CFD