Heat Transfer During Melting

Inside a Horizontal Tube

H. Rieger
Research Assistant. The melting process of a phase change material (PCM) enclosed in a horizontal,
isothermal circular tube has been investigated analytically and by experiment for an
interesting range of parameters. The physical process was analyzed by numerical
U. Projahn methods, whereby the underlying mathematical model involves heat conduction as
Research Assistant. well as natural convection as the basic heat transport mechanisms. Difficulties
associated with the complex and timewise changing melt region whose shape is also
part of the solution, have been overcome by applying a numerical mapping
M. Bareiss technique. Computations and experiments were performed for Rayleigh numbers in
Research Assistant. the range 105 < Ra < 106. For lower Rayleigh numbers the numerical calculations
predict a streamlined design of the PCM at later times, similar to the experiment. At
higher Rayleigh numbers, three-dimensional Bernard convection was observed in
H. Beer the bottom region of the melt layer, which was unsteady in their timewise
Professor. behaviour. The appearance of several roll-cells have also been predicted by the
Institut fur Technische Thermodynamik, calculations, although the mathematical model was restricted to two-dimensional
Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, flow. The experiments were performed with n-octadecane (Pr — 50) as PCM. The
6100 Darmstadt, West Germany test cell basically consists of a short tube filled with the PCM. The tube is closed
with plexiglass disks on both ends, thus allowing the melting front to be recorded
photographically with time. As a result, the interface positions as well as the overall
and local heat transfer coefficients are presented as function of time. The agreement
between experimental and numerical data is reasonably good.

Introduction
Phase change heat transfer is of great interest in a wide difficulties which arise from the moving interface, a sim-
range of natural and technical processes. Therefore many plified set of governing equations was used, and solved by a
papers concerning melting or freezing phenomena have been finite difference method. Gartling [14] uses the finite element
published in the recent years for various geometric method for the investigation of PCP concerning blockage
arrangements. The majority of the publications report the problems in pipes and melting processes in materials with
results of experimental investigations for different internal heat sources. In the course of the review process the
geometries. The heat transfer phenomena during the phase works of Pannu et al. [15] and Saitoh and Hirose [16] were
change process (PCP) above or below a heated horizontal flat made available to the authors. Both studied likewise the
plate and at a vertical surface were studied by Hale and melting process inside a horizontal cylinder by solving the
Viskanta [1, 2], while the influence of surface height as ad- governing equations numerically. The mobilization of the
ditional parameter has been investigated by Bareiss et al. [3]. liquid-solid interface was performed by the application of a
Another important arrangement for the technical application two-dimensional Landau transformation. In an earlier work,
is the PCP around a single cylinder (finned and unfinned) or Saitoh and Hirose [17] studied the freezing process around a
arrays of horizontal cylinders. The experimental in- horizontal cylinder and applied the same transformation
vestigations for the aforementioned geometries were per- technique successfully. To overcome the troublesome moving
formed by several researchers [4, 5, 6, 7, 8] for various phase boundary problem, Rieger, Projahn, and Beer [18] used
change materials (PCM) and governing parameters. The numerically generated coordinate systems for the in-
melting process in a vertical cylindrical enclosure has been
studied extensively by Bareiss and Beer [9].
Due to the results of the experimental studies it has become
apparent that only in the earliest stage of the PCP the heat
transport is dominated by heat conduction. Photographs,
shadowgraphs, and interferograms indicate clearly that
natural convection plays the important role. These ex-
perimental findings lead to the conclusion that any analytical
solutions assuming pure conduction as the sole heat transport 0 = 1.0
mechanism [10, 11] or considering the flow as a perturbation
quantity [4, 12] are unable to predict the real process
satisfactorily. Therefore the only promising way to describe
the PCP analytically seems to be the numerical solution of the
governing set of partial differential equations. Since these x.u
equations are rather complex and the computational area
changes with time (moving boundary problem) only a few
studies are available in the literature.
Numerical results for the problem of melting from a ver-
tical cylinder were presented by Sparrow et al. [13]. Due to the

Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF

HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received by the Heat Transfer Division March 15,
1982. Fig. 1 Schematic representation of the physical model

2 2 6 / V o l . 105, MAY 1983 Transactions of the ASME

Copyright © 1983 by ASME
Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
 vestigation of melting processes around a horizontal cylinder.
This technique seems to have a great potential for future
applications because of its high flexibility.
Although the specific problem data of [15, 16] and ours are
not the same, qualitatively different solutions could be ob-
served. This fact was the motivation to solve this melting
problem based on the data provided by Pannu et al. In a later
section the comparison of these results will be discussed. The
schematic diagram of the configuration under study is
depicted in Fig. 1. It shows the horizontal tube with inner
radius, R0, and the partially melted solid, whose shape will be
described by r — r(<p,r). The PCM in this study is assumed to
be supported at the center, so that the unmelted solid remains
stationary. Another possible configuration, where the
movement of the PCM on account of gravitational forces is
not suppressed, was the objective of Nicholas and Bayazitoglu
[19]. They analyzed the problem by considering only heat
conduction in the liquid phase. The important influence of the
thin liquid film which is formed at the bottom portion of the
cylinder during the melting process was investigated by
Bareiss and Beer [20] using assumptions quite similar to
lubrication theory.
Nevertheless, the emphasis of this study lies in a direct
comparison between corresponding experimental and
numerical results.
Experiments
Test Apparatus. The test apparatus consists of a copper
tube (7) of 40 mm in length, 32 mm inside diameter and a
wall thickness of 1 mm. The copper tube is closed at one end
by a firmly adhered, 10-mm thick circular plexiglass disk @>.
A second plexiglass disk @ is held on the other end by a
special adhesive, which allows the disk to be released if
necessary. Thus, a horizontal cylindrical space of 32-mm dia
and 40-mm length is formed which contains the PCM. Since
the cell is translucent in axial direction, a visual observation
and photographic registration of the melting process is
possible. Through the annular gap between the copper tube
and the outer cylindrical jacket (3) water acting as a heating
or cooling fluid can be circulated. The water is supplied by a
constant temperature thermostat through an inlet tube (4)
tangentially to the annular gap. By this means high heat
transfer rates and therefore constant surface temperature
conditions at the wall of the copper tube can be achieved.
Since the temperature drop across the copper tube wall is less
than 0.02 K, the temperature of the inside surface of the wall
can be assumed to be equal to that of the outside surface. For
measurement of the wall temperature, Tw, thermocouples
therefore could be cemented in small grooves and covered
with thin copper foil on the outside surface. The volumetric
expansion of the PCM during melting is compensated by an
overflow pipe (?). Fixing of the solid PCM is done by a thin
pvc-strip (6) fastened to the plexiglass disk @) and
positioned axially 5 mm below the axis of the copper tube.
Phase Change Material. C 1 8 H 3 8 , n-octadecane (Pr 50, hf =
243 kJ/kg, T{ = 301.2 K) was chosen as test material because
its melting temperature is close to the ambient temperature
and since paraffins are nontoxic, noncorrosive and trans-
parent in the liquid phase.
The physical and transport properties are well established.
Nevertheless some discrepancies between different literature
sources exist. The data used in this study were taken from
Hale et al. [21] and Vargaftik [22].
Test Procedure. Since paraffins possess a high dissolving
capacity for air, the test material must be degassed carefully
prior to each experiment. For this purpose the test material
was subjected to a solidification-melting cycle under vacuum.
The opened test cell was lengthened by an additional copper
tube attached to the open end and then filled with the
degassed liquid PCM. The assembly was placed vertically into
an icewater bath to solidify the PCM.
After solidfication, the lengthening tube was detached, the
excess of solid PCM cut off and the cross sectional area
carefully planed. By this means a void-free and homogeneous
solid could be obtained in the test cell. After the test cell was
closed and assembled, the PCM was heated to a steady
temperature 0.5 K below the melting point at the most by
circulating water. During the test itself, which starts when the
copper tube wall is suddenly heated to a desired temperature
above the melting point, the process was registrated
photographically. For this purpose photographs were taken at
selected time intervals with a telelens camera.
Numerical Analysis
Govering Equations. Although the flow in the melt region
may actually be three-dimensional, such a treatment would
require large computer storage and long computation times.
Therefore, a two-dimensional mathematical model will be
considered. Further reduction of the computational effort
which seems to be justified due to the experimental results is
achieved by the assumption of symmetric melting.
Following additional assumptions have been made for
further simplification:

a = thermal diffusivity d = dimensionless temperature,

c = specific heat R0 = inner radius of tube (T-Tf)/(TW-Tf)
f,F = dummy variables Ste = Stefan number, v = kinematic viscosity
Fo = Fourier number, at/R02 c(Tw-Tf)lhf £,?? = coordinate directions in
S = accleration of gravity t = time transformed plane
h
f = latent heat of fusion T = temperature T = dimensionless time, Fo» Ste
J = Jacobian, u,v = dimensionless velocity <P = angle of perimeter
(dx/d^)(dy/dv) components along x-,y- ip = stream function
- (dx/dr,) (dy/dt) direction, (u',v')/R0 oi = vorticity, dv/dx — du/dy
mL* = molten mass fraction, w = velocity vector, (u,v,0)
equation (16) x,y = dimensionless Cartesian Subscripts
n = coordinate in normal coordinate directions in b = boundary
direction physical plane, (x' ,y')/R0 / = fusion
Nu = Nusselt number, equations a,P,y = transformation factors, / = interface
(17a, 176) (a=(dxldr,)2 + (dy/dr,)2; s = start
Pr = Prandtl number, via t3=(dx/d£) (dx/dr,) w = tube wall
Ra = Rayleigh number, + (dy/dt)(dy/dv);
gW0\Tw-Tf)/(va) y=(dx/dH)2 + (dy/dH)2) Superscripts
r = distance, from center of tube (3 = thermal expansion coef- — = mean value
to solid-liquid interface ficient ' = dimensional quantity

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 1983, Vol. 105/227

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 1 Physical properties are constant except for the density in
the buoyancy term (Boussinesq approximation).
2 Density changes during melting and viscous dissipation
are neglected.
3 The fluid is Newtonian and incompressible.
4 The flow is laminar and two-dimensional.
Then, the nondimensionalized conservation equations in the
vorticity-stream function formulation and for Cartesian
coordinates are
Ste3co/3r+ V ( u w ) = Pr V2co + Ra Pr dd/dx (1)
co=-VV (2)
Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of the experimental apparatus
Sted0/dT+ v ( 0 w ) = V 2 0 (3)

Initial Conditions. Initially, at T = 0 the whole system has a

temperature of 0 = 8j = 0. Because the computational area The operator £ (/) represents the transformed Laplacian and
covers only the region of the liquid phase and cannot be made is defined as
infinite small, it is possible to start the numerical calculations
with this condition. So, for the given sufficient small initial £(/) = (ad2f/d^2-2fid2f/d^d-q + yd2f/d-q2)/J2
gap it is necessary to specify a suitable time and a
corresponding temperature distribution. In order to compare + Pdf/dr, + Qdf/dH (7)
numerical and experimental data the starting time for the The source terms P and Q contains adjustable parameters and
computation was chosen in such a way, that both results provide some measure of control over the interior grid
coincide for this very early stage. This proceeding has the spacing. However, the forms of these source terms and the
advantage to eliminate the transient effects which occur at the values of the parameters require artful selection and are
beginning of the experiments (e.g., heating of the test cell). problem dependent. To overcome the difficulties concerning
The analytical solution of the Stefan problem (e.g., see [23]) interior grid control Thomas and Middlecoff [27] proposed
for the given geometry yields the temperature distribution. the following general source terms
Boundary Conditions. For the simplification of the P=<fr(St,v)WVdx)2+(dl;/dy)2] (8a)
physical model it is assumed that in the solid phase no heat
2
conduction occurs; i.e., all heat transferred to the interface is Q= x(H,V)l(.dri/dx) +(drl/dy)i] (8b)
utilized for melting and therefore determines the propagation
The introduced parameters, <j> and x. are specified as limiting
speed and the shape of the interface. With regard to this
forms of the equations (6a, 6b) at the boundary coordinate
additional assumption, the energy balance for the interface
curves i? = i)b = const, and £ = £& = const., respectively.
leads to the following dimensionless condition for the moving
Assumption of local orthogonality at the boundaries yield the
boundary
following expressions
-dd/dn = v„ (4)
HZ,-n) = -(z(x,l)+z(y,Z))/y onrj = 7i6 (9a)
where v„ is the dimensionless interface velocity in normal
direction. The abovementioned assumption of constant X(£,i?) = - (z(x,r,) +z(y,ri))/a o n $ = £4 (9b)
density during phase change requires the kinematic no-slip Z(FJ) = (dF/df) (d F/df) 2
(9c)
condition at all solid walls, so that the boundary conditions
for the complete description at r > TS are as follows The parameters at interior grid points are then obtained by
simple linear interpolation between appropriate boundary
0=1 ; u = v = 0 ; atthewall (5a) curves. This improved procedure insures a grid point
distribution with smooth and regular character. Using this
0 = 0 ; u = v = 0 ; at the interface (5b)
transformation technique the governing equations (1-3) and
30/3/? = 0 ; u = 0 ; at the symmetric line (5c) the corresponding boundary conditions take the following
form
Transformation. To overcome the difficulties which arise
due to the complex, timewise changing physical domain a Ste£>(T,co) + 9l(^,w) = Pr£(co) + RaPr9lO>,0) (10)
numerical transformation method was employed. This £(^) = -w (11)
mapping technique was first developed by Thompson et al.
[24] and has been proven as a versatile tool for the treatment Ste2D(r,0)+91(^,0) = £ ( 0 ) (12)
of different natural convection problems by the present
authors [25, 26]. The advantage of this transformation Boundary conditions:
technique is the fact that any set of the equations of interest ,/, = 0 ; co = 0;
may be solved on a rectangular and uniform spaced com-
putational grid system which is fixed in space and time. ad0/3£-030/3rj = Ofor£ = £min (13a)
Therefore this method is favoured for the solution of moving
i/- = 0;co = 0;
boundary problems like melting. The boundary-fitted cur-
vilinear coordinates are obtained by the solution of the a30/3£-i330/3?j = Ofor£ = £max (136)
following system of quasi-linear elliptic partial differential 2 2 2
equations with appropriate Dirichlet conditions along the iP = 0;u>=-(yd t/dv )/J ;
boundaries 0 = Oforr, = 7)min (13c)
£(x)=0 (6a) 2 2
^ = 0 ; a ) = - ( 7 3 i/-/3r) )// ;2

£00=0 (6b) 0 = l f o r r ) = )7max (13d)

228/Vol. 105, MAY 1983 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
 (b)

(a)

(c)
Fig. 3 Previous works in comparison for Ra = 2.10 , Pr = 145, Ste =
0.115: (a) Pannu et al. [15]; (b) Saitoh and Hirose [16]; (c) Present study

The operators 20 (T, f) and "31 (J,F) used in equation (10-12) compromise between accuracy and computational effort
are defined as (time, storage), a grid system containing 21 x 31 nodal point
is chosen. The computations were performed on a DEC-PDP
SD(r/) =df/dT-Vl(yJ') dx/dr+Vl(xJ) dy/dr (14ff) 10/70 with a computational speed of approximately 0.1
Vl(f,F)=[d(Fdf/dr,)/dt-d(Fd/dZ)/dT1]/J (Ub) mflops. To achieve a converged solution for one time step,
4-6 iterations were necessary where one iteration took about
The conditions, which mobilize the boundary at the solid- 7 s CPU for the 21 x 31 grid. To avoid numerical in-
liquid interface, follow from equation (4) and yield the stabilities, the computations were started with a time in-
relations for the timewise change of the boundary grid points crement of AT = 10~ 5 , which was raised subsequently to
in the physical plane values of about 3-10~ 4 for the heat-conduction-dominated
regime.
dx/dT=(dy/d£)(d6/di])/J (15a)
dy/dr = - (dx/d£) (dd/dV)/J (15b) Results and Discussions
Before going into a detailed discussion of the experimental
To retain a properly structured physical net system during the
and numerical results, a section seems to be worthwhile
computation—regardless of the shape of the melt zone—an
mentioning in which the numerical results of [15, 16] are
implicit rezoning procedure is applied.
compared with the present ones. In further sections local and
average melting data are reported, accompanied by an
Numerical Procedure. To find the numerical solution of the
illustrative comparison of photographs and contour plots.
transformed governing equations and boundary conditions
these equations are discretized using only central difference Previous Works in Comparison. The fact that different
approximations. The resulting finite difference analogue is numerical solutions result from the computation of a well-
then solved by a fully implicit method proposed by Stone [28]. defined problem, although based on identical problem
This solution technique has been successfully applied to parameters, is extremely unsatisfying. Computations per-
various heat transfer problems by the present authors [18, 25, formed by Pannu et al. [15] for Ra = 2-10 5 , Pr = 145, and
26], where further details of the method may be found. For Ste = 0.115 resulted in melting front contours and natural
one time step the calculations were performed in the following convection patterns which are quite different to those of
order: Saitoh and Hirose [16] and ours. Figure 3 shows the transient
streamlines, isotherms, and interface shapes at almost equal
1 Simultaneous solution of the vorticity and stream
dimensionless times. Whereas Pannu et al. [15] predict the
function equation (10, 11).
formation of a large eddy in the stagnant upper portion of the
2 Simultaneous solution of the energy equation (12) and
melting gap, a quite controversial result was presented by
the grid generation.
Saitoh and Hirose [16]. In their work the melting rate at the
If the solution satifies a certain convergence criterion the lower stagnation point is strongly increased due to the onset
next time step is calculated otherwise return is made to 1. As a of a thermal instability. On the other hand, no indication of

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 1983, Vol. 105/229

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 the development of an eddy in either the upper or the bottom 1.0
portion of the melting gap could be observed in the present r_
study for the parameters just previously mentioned. The
formation of eddies were observed for higher Rayleigh 0.8 -
numbers only, as will be discussed later. Our computations
predict a melting front contour with an approximately
streamlined design during the later evolution phase of the 0.6
process.
This result seems to be in accordance with our experimental Ra = 2 I 0 5
findings, which will be discussed in the following sections. 51 e = 0.018
Additional numerical experiments with a program developed 0.4 Ex perimental Results

for the calculations of convective flows [25, 26] in stationary o ip = 0°

a ip =60°
grid systems are in line with our previous conclusions. No A if>=120"
thermal instabilities were found for flows in concentric and 0.2 e ip =180"
cylindrical annuli for various gap widths and for the case of a —Numerical Results
cooled inner cylinder.
Disregarding the aformentioned discrepancies, com- 0.0
parisons of the results of Pannu et al. [15] and the present 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
ones agree quite well for r = 0.045 and 0.08. The T
discrepancies observed for T = 0.11 might be due to the very 1.0
coarse grid system (10 x 10) used in [15]. In the course of the r_
solution process the physical domain becomes larger so that Ro
boundary layers, which will develop mostly in wider gaps,
cannot be resolved adequately. The approach taken by Saitoh
and Hirose [16] is based on an explicit method for solving the
governing equations. To suppress strong numerical in- 0.6
stabilities inherent to higher-order approximations of the
convective terms, the application of a smoothing technique
Ra^KP
was necessary. The assumption of a quasi-steady melting Ste=0.04
0.4
process was utilized to uncouple rigorously the physical Experimental Results
problem. During the solution process of the balance equations o ip*0"
• ip=60"
for vorticity, stream function, and energy, the grid system was A >p= 120"
kept stationary. After convergence the interface boundary 0.2 a ip= 180"
was moved according to the frozen solution just obtained. — Numerical Results
The description concerning the handling of this procedure is
not very clear, but some doubts are advisable if the evolution 0.0 - -
process from the fluid mechanical point of view is ap- 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
proximated adequately. So several effects caused by the T
numerical treatment interact whose consequencies on the 1.0
overall solution cannot be estimated. Only severe thermal r_
instabilities associated with a strong time dependence of the R„
flow at the bottom portion would explain why the indicated 0.8 -
temperature distibution (Fig. 3) could lead to the displayed
melting front contour. Even at a much lower Rayleigh
number similar interface shapes were found in [16] which
0.6 -
seem to contradict our experimental findings.
In contrast to [15, 16] our computational approach is based
on the solution of the full equation set at each time step. That
0.4 -
means that the interface position is a real converged solution
Experimental Results
of the problem under study, within the limitations of a o ip=0"
1801, A
second-order finite-difference approximation to the physical • <p=60"
problem. In addition, the flexibility of our scheme allows us 0.2 A ip= 120"
a ip=l80"
to concentrate continiously the physical grid system in regions
— Numerical Results 'a
where boundary layers could be expected.
0.0
Local Solid-Liquid Interface Positions. Solid-liquid in- 0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.1 0.08
terface positions as a function of the dimensionless time, T, T
Fig. 4 Predicted and experimental local interface positions as func-
and the angle of perimeter, ip, as a parameter are presented in tion of dimensionless time, r
Fig. 4 for different Rayleigh and Stefan numbers. In each
figure the regime dominated by heat conduction can be
recognized by the concentric melting so that all data points
coincide in this representation. The transition to a melting angles of perimeter the gradients and therefore the interface
process influenced by natural convection begins with fanning velocity increases. An exception are the curves of ip = 0 deg
out of the individual curves. With this definition in mind it and ip = 60 deg for Ra — 10 6 . As discussed in a later section
can be seen, that with increasing Rayleigh number the con- this behaviour may be explained by the occurrence of strong
duction period becomes shorter. The motion of the molten three-dimensional roll cells in the lower part of the melt gap.
material due to the onset of natural convection causes a faster These roll cells, observed during the experiment also for the
propagation speed of the solid-liquid interface at the top of lower Rayleigh numbers may be the reason for the great
the cylinder {ip = 180 deg). Attention may now be turned to deviation between computational and experimental results for
the slopes of the single curves. It is evident, that for advancing <p = 0 deg.

230/Vol. 105, MAY 1983 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 1.0

u.u I 1 1 1 1 1
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
T
Fig. 5 Predicted and experimental molten mass fraction as function
of dimensionless time, r

Although the qualitative behaviour of the curves <p > 0 deg

agree quite well, it can be stated that the computer interface
velocities are somewhat higher. These discrepancies may be
due to small uncertainties in the physical and transport
properties of the PCM, resulting in slightly incorrect ex-
perimental data in dimensionless representation. Further
influence on the mentioned discrepancies may be caused by
the simplifications of the mathematical model, above all
neglecting the volumetric expansion of the PCM during
melting. This effect seems to influence the boundary layer at
the interface in such a manner that the heat transfer will be
reduced. Also, the simplifying assumption of constant
thermophysical properties (e.g., viscosity) may contribute to
deviations between prediction and experiment.
Melting Rates. The result which represents an average
melting velocity and which is available from the experimental
data with sufficient accuracy is the molten mass fraction,
m*L. Thus quantity defined as

m*L = l - — r i [ ('r(p) dvdr (16)

is depicted in Fig. 5 versus dimensionless time, T, for the
different cases under study. From this figure it can be seen,
that the increase of m*L with time reveals an analogous
behaviour to Fig. 4. Furthermore, the results show that for
the regime of developed natural convection an approximately
linear timewise variation of the molten mass fraction is given.
Comparing the experimental data with the computational
results it is evident that the melting rate predicted by the
calculations is somewhat higher. The reasons discussed in the
preceding section may be responsible for these deviations. To
show the influence of natural convection, the melting rate Fig. 6 Experimental (left) and numerical (right) melt front contours for
Ra = 4.10 s and Ste = 0.04 at different dimensionless times, T. The
taking into account only pure heat conduction is also numerical contour maps are divided into isotherms, 0, (left) and
displayed. A comparison with the results of the present study streamfunction, i/*, (right).
confirm the belief that disregard of the convective motion
leads to significant errors. A closer examination shows, that a
difference of 10 percent is reached at r = 0.047 for Ra = heat transfer is greatly enhanced due to natural convection in
4-105 and at T = 0.023 for Ra = 106, which corresponds to a the upper part of the annulus, leading to a fast and downward
molten mass fraction of about 0.6 and 0.43, respectively. directed movement of the solid-liquid interface. Only at the
very beginning can a dominating role of heat conduction be
Presentation of the Melting Process. The presentation of deduced from experiment and computation. After this short
the melting process is done by means of photographs from the period, natural convection flow has an increasing influence on
experiment and calculated results in form of contour plots for the physics of the system. This situation coincides sub-
two different Rayleigh and Stefan numbers. Figure 6 shows sequently with improved heat transfer in that region and
the melting process for Ra - 4-105 and Ste = 0.04 at four accelerates the propagation of the melt front. The inverse
different periods. On the left-hand side are the photographs, effect can be stated in the lower part of the melt zone. The
whereas on the right-hand side the numerical results are cold fluid flowing down along the solid-liquid interface
arranged. The sequence of transient melt contours reveal that inhibits heat transport due to conduction in this part. At the

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 1983, Vol. 105/231

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 Nu Experimental Results.
Ra = 2 10s ; Ste= 0.018
w a
» Ra= 4 I0 5 ; Ste= 0.04
10.0-
o Ra» I0 6 ; Ste = 0.10
— Numerical Results - Ra = 106
8 0-
- R a = 4-105

6.0- - R a = 2-105
^v ~ -till / - R a = 10 5
^ 6
4.0-
*%
t-^ati • i a t i ^ j .
r = 0.02 ^=f^Z!
2.0- ~
pure heat 11?
conduction

I I I 1
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
T
iz.u -
^ Ra = 10 6 ,Ste = 0.1
Nui
10.0- y ^ f f ) W r Ra = 410 5 , Ste = 0.04

T = 0.03
8.0-

6.0-
L^^
4.0- pure heat ^ ^ ^ Z S y Ra = 2-105, Ste = 0.02
conduction
V\ - Ra = 10 5 , Ste = 0.01
2.0-

U.U 1 1 1
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1

Fig. 8 Overall heat transfer coefficients at the tube wall (Nuw) and the
solid-liquid interface (Nu,) versus dimensionless time, r

comparable to the situation of an horizontal fluid layer heated

Fig. 7 Experimental (left) and numerical (right) melt front contours for
Ra = 106 and Ste - 0.1 at different dimensionless times, r. The
numerical contour maps are divided into isotherms, 0, (left) and
streamfunction, 4>, (right).
bottom these counteracting transport mechanisms lead to an
almost total stop of the melting process. In the final stages of
the process (T = 0.08) the computation predicts a streamlined
design of the PCM similar to the experiment. As previously
discussed, three-dimensional roll cells occur during the ex-
perimental run which may be responsible for a more ac-
centuated shape of the melting solid.
The development of secondary roll cells is also verified by
the numerical calculations for Ra - 106 and Ste = 0.1. The
formation of this flow pattern is shown in Fig. 7 and may be
divided into different stages. First, at early times thermal
instability at the bottom occurs. This phenomenon, which is
from below, leads then in the sequel of the calculations to the
development of the abovementioned roll cells. The
establishment of these vortices influences the melting
characteristics of the whole system. Especially the heat
transfer in the lower part of the melting gap is greatly im-
proved which results in a "moonshaped" melting contour. As
indicated above, the roll cells observed in the experiment
showed a three-dimensional structure and were unsteady in
their timewise behaviour. The restriction of the mathematical
model to two-dimensional flow may be the reason for the
main differences between the experimental and calculated
melt shape contours. Nevertheless, some features of the
melting process, like volume and position of the PCM as well
as the transition from a quasi-steady to an oscillating
behaviour, are resolved reasonably.
Overall Heat Transfer Results. Attention will now be
focused on the overall heat transfer coefficients Nu for all
cases under study. In Fig. 8 the calculated results for the heat
transfer at the tube wall as well as the solid-liquid interface
are plotted against the dimensionless time, T. The overall heat
transfer coefficients at the interface, Nu,, and at the tube
wall, Nu,,,, are evaluated from the existing temperature
distribution by the following relations
N u , = - _ _ joe/3/?) dS (17o)
1
Nu„ \(d6/dn) dS (17ft)
2wRn

232/Vol. 105, MAY 1983 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use

 The quantity S, ( T) in the first equation_denotes the length of 10?
the actual interface contour. Although Nu,- represents the true
heat transfer conditions at the moving interface, the practical Ra
evidence is questionable because_of the time-dependent
nominator, S^r). For this reason, Nu,v may be more valuable
Turbulent Flow
since this heat transfer coefficient reflects the proper heat
input into the system and also may be obtained easily from Time
experimental data. Nevertheless, both diagrams show high dependent 3-dimensional
values of Nu, and Nulv at the very beginning associated with a 10s Flow
sharp decrease which is characteristic for transient heat
conduction. The end of this period of nearly one-dimensional Steady 3 - dimensional Flow
behaviour is indicated by a spanwise spreading into individual
curves. As already seen during the discussion of the local
Steady 2-dimensional Flow
results this fanning out occurs at earlier times for high
Rayleigh numbers and indicates that the melting process
changes into a regime dominated by natural convection. No motion
Attention may first be turned to the curves representing the "T
heat flux at the tube wall. For Ra < 4«105 the sharp descent 0.1 10 «y
and the transition region period is followed by an only slight Pr
decrease in the timewise development. The curve for Ra = Fig. 9 Flow regimes occuring in a horizontal fluid layer heated from
106, however, passes a distinct extremum, followed by an below [25]
oscillation with diminishing mean values. Worth mentioning
is the fact that for very long times (T — oo) the liquid will take
the temperature of the surrounding tube wall, and therefore
the heat transfer will become zero. For comparison, also, the
experimental data are depicted. They agree reasonably well
with the numerical results. The discrepancy for Ra = 106 may
be due some effects discussed previously.
The results for Nu, show a quite different behaviour since
all curves pass through a minimum and then rise with time. As
before, the results for the lower Rayleigh numbers are in
contrast to the highest Rayleigh numbers studied. Whereas
the slopes of the former increase with advancing time the
slope for Ra = 106 decreases sightly during the oscillation.

Special Features of the Flow Regime at Ra = 10 6 . The

change in the flow characteristics for Ra = 106 from a quasi-
steady into an unsteady phase is an interesting feature of the
flow system being worthwhile for a closer examination.
Regarding the lower part of the melting gap approximately as
a horizontal fluid layer heated from below, it is possible to
define a height, h*, of that layer by some suitable measure.
Because the layer thickness grows as the melting process
advances with time, the corresponding Rayleigh number,
Ra*, increases. So basically all the flow regimes known from
research on heated horizontal fluid layers must be traversed
continuously. In Fig. 9, a diagram is shown, taken from
Krishnamurti [29], which classifies the various flow regimes
as function of Rayleigh versus Prandtl number. It is seen that
for the range Pr > 50 the transition to time-dependent flow
occurs at Ra* = 5.5-10 4 followed by a change in the
oscillatory behaviour at Ra* = 1.2«105. This transition in-
dicated by a dotted line is associated with a doubling of the
oscillation frequency of the particular flow cells.
Although the mathematical model employed is restricted to
planar fluid flow and the approximation of the lower part of
the melt zone appears as a somewhat rough simplification, the
time dependent nature of the secondary roll cells is clearly
reflected by the timewise behaviour of the overall heat
transfer coefficients. From Fig. 10 it can be recognized, that
the periods of regular oscillations become shorter with in-
creasing time, doubling their frequency at the end of the
record. The time interval depicted in Fig. 10 corresponds with
a height of the fluid layer of approximately h* - 0.5 R0
which leads to Ra* = 1.25-105. This value agrees well with
those found for frequency transition by Krishnamurti [29].
However some caution is indicated in the attempt to correlate
fully three-dimensional phenomena by two-dimensional
models. Nevertheless, the main features of such flows should
be realized, apart from exact quantitative results.
0.045 0.046 0.047 0.048 0.049 0.05
0.052 0.051
T
Fig. 10 Time-independent behaviour of the overall heat transfer
coefficients (Ra = 10 6 ;Ste = 0.1)
To illustrate the violent movement of the secondary vortices
and the associated temperature distribution in the lower part
of the melt zone a series of eight chronological arranged
contour plots are presented in Fig. 11. From the single pic-
tures development and disappearance of the secondary eddies
may be recognized. Especially the contour map for T =
0.05055 should be mentioned, where four of them are present.
Conclusions
The characteristics of the melting process inside a
horizontal tube have been studied theoretically and by ex-
periments. The analytical results were obtained by means of
numerical methods and have been compared to previous
works [15, 16]. The method for generating boundary-fitted
coordinate systems numerically has been proven to be a
flexible tool for analyzing such moving boundary problems.
The solution of the whole set of discretized governing
equations by a fully implicit procedure leads at each time step
simultaneously to the shape of the molten region as well as to
the flow and temperature distributions.
As discussed in a previous section this is in contrast to the
treatment of Pannu et al. [15] and Saitoh and Hirose [16].
Due to our experimental findings the predictions from [15]
and [16] for Ra = 2-10 5 , Pr = 145, Ste = 0.115 seem to be
erroneous. The results of [15] may be explained by the very
coarse grid system which did not approximate the continuous

Journal of Heat Transfer MAY 1983, Vol. 105/233

Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use


T = 0.05035 T = 0.05075
T = 0.05045 T = 0.05089
T = 0.05055 T = 0.05099
T = 0.05109 T = 0.05065
Fig. 11 Time-dependent flow in the lower part of the melt zone for Ra
= 10 6 ;Ste = 0.1. Distribution of isotherms, e, (left) and streamfunction,
<l>, (right).
physical problem in a sufficient degree during the whole
evolution phase. In the procedure used by [16] the influences
of the various components for stabilization of the numerical
algorithm, and those for reducing simultaneously the
execution times, cannot be estimated nor was this done by the
corresponding authors. Therefore, the practice of [16] to
compare predictions for Ra = 1.2»105 with experimental
results for Ra = 3 • 106 seems not to be very meaningful.
From our point of view the experimental and numerical
results of the problem studied should be summarized as
follows:
• The period of pure heat conduction is very short and
depends on the Rayleigh number.
• Almost the whole melting process is influenced by the
fluid motion due to natural convection. Therefore, any
analysis of processes involving phase change should consider
this effect.
• At lower Rayleigh numbers, a quasi-steady melting
process produces a steamlined design of the PCM in the final
stages, whereas quite different melt front contours appear at
higher Rayleigh numbers.
• Experimental and numerical predicted results agree well
with the exception of the bottom region of the melting gap.
Experimental observations showed a three-dimensional
Bernard convection in this part which may be responsible for
some discrepancies, mainly due to the restriction of the
mathematical model to planar fluid motion.
References
1 Hale, N. W., Jr., and Viskanta, R., "Solid-Liquid Phase Change Heat
Transfer and Interface Motion in Materials Cooled or Heated From Above and
Below," International Journal of Heal and Mass Transfer, Vol. 23, 1980, pp.
283-292.
234/Vol. 105, MAY 1983
Downloaded From: http://heattransfer.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 01/30/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
2-Hale, N. W., Jr., and Viskanta, R., "Photographic Observation of the
Solid-Liquid Interface Motion During Melting of a Solid Heated from an
Isothermal Vertical Wall," Letters in Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 5, 197^
pp.329-337.
3 Bareiss, M., Betzel, T., and Beer, H., "Melting from a Vertical Wall:
Influence of Different Wall Heights and Temperature Differences on Heat
Transfer and Interfacial Motion," University report, Darmstadt 1980.
4 White, R. D., Bathelt, A. G., and Viskanta, R., "Study of Heat Transfer
and Melting from a Cylinder Imbedded in a Phase Change Material," ASME
Paper No. 77-HT-42, 1977.
5 Bathelt, A. G., Viskanta, R., and Leidenfrost, W., "Latent Heat of
Fusion Energy Storage: Experiments on Heat Transfer from Cylinders During
Melting," ASME JOURNAL or HEAT TRANSFER, Vol. 101, 1979, pp. 453-458.
6 Bathelt, A. G., and Viskanta, R., "Heat Transfer at the Solid-Liquid
Interface During Melting from a Horizontal Cylinder," International Journal
ofHeatandMass Transfer, Vol. 23,1980, pp. 1493-1503.
7 Viskanta, R., Bathelt, A. G., and Hale, N. W., "Latent Heat-of-Fusion
Energy Storage: Experiments on Heat Transfer During Solid-Liquid Phase
Change," Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Alternative
Energy Sources, Bal Harbour, Fla., 1980.
8 Goldstein, R. J., and Ramsey, J. W., "Heat Transfer to a Melting Solid
with Application to Thermal Energy Storage Systems," in Heat Transfer
Studies: A Festschrift for E.R.G. Eckert, edited by J. P. Hartnett, Hemisphere,
Washington, 1979, pp. 199-206.
9 Bareiss, M., and Beer, H., "Influence of Natural Convection on the
Melting Process in a Vertical Cylindrical Enclosure," Letters in Heat and Mass
Transfer, Vol. 7, 1980, pp. 329-338.
10 Horsthemke, A., and Marschall, E., "Speicherung von Thermischer
Energie in Salz- und Metallschmelzen," Brennstoff-Warme-Kraft, Vol. 28,
1976, pp. 18-22.
11 Shamsundar, N., and Sparrow, E. M., "Effect of Density Change on
Multidimensional Conduction Phase Change," ASME JOURNAL OF HEAT
TRANSFER, Vol. 98, 1976, pp. 550-557.
12 Yao, L. S., and Chen, F. F., "Effects of Natural Convection in the
Melted Region Around a Heated Horizontal Cylinder," ASME JOURNAL OF
HEAT TRANSFER, Vol. 102,1980, pp. 667-672.
13 Sparrow, E. M., Patankar, S. V., and Ramadhyani, S., "Analysis of
Melting in the Presence of Natural Convection in the Melt Region," ASME
JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER, Vol. 99, 1977, pp. 520-526.
14 Gartling, D. K., "Finite Element Analysis of Convective Heat Transfer
Problems with Change of Phase," Proceedings of the 1st International Con-
ference on Numerical Methods in Laminar and Turbulent Flow, Swansea, 1978,
pp.489-500.
15 Pannu, J., Joglekar, G., and Rice, P. A., "Natural Convection to
Cylinders of Phase Change Material used for Thermal Storage," AIChE
Symposium Series, 1980, pp. 47-55.
16 Saitoh, T., and Hirose, K., "High-Rayleigh Number Solutions to
Problems of Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage in a Horizontal Cylinder
Capsule," ASME JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER, Vol. 104,1982, pp. 545-553.
17 Saitoh, T., and Hirose, K., "Numerical Method for the Two-
Dimensional Freezing Problem Around a Horizontal Cylinder Encompassing a
Density Inversion Point," Bulletin oftheJSME, Vol. 24, 1981, pp. 147-152.
18 Rieger, H., Projahn, U., and Beer, H., "Analysis of the Heat Transport
Mechanisms During Melting Around a Horizontal Circular Cylinder," In-
ternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 25, 1982, pp. 137-147.
19 Nicholas, D., and Bayazitoglu, Y., "Thermal Storage of a Phase Change
Material in a Horizontal Cylinder," Proceedings of the 3rd International
Conference on Alternative Energy Sources, Bal Harbour, Fla., 1980.
20 Bareiss, M., and Beer, H., "Experimental and Analytical Study of the
Melting Process Inside a Horizontal Tube," to be published, in the In-
ternational Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.
21 Hale, D. V., Hoover, M. J., and O'Neil, M. J., Phase Change Material
Handbook, NASA-CR-61363, 1971.
22 Vargaftik, N. B., Tables on the Thermophysical Properties of Liquids
andGases, Hemisphere, Washington, 1975.
23 Eckert, E. R. G., and Drake, R. M., Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1972, pp. 222.
24 Thompson, J. F., Thames, F. C , and Mastin, C. W., "Automatic
Numerical Generation of Body-Fitted Curvilinear Coordinate System for Field
Containing any Number of Arbitrary Two-Dimensional Bodies," Journal of
Computational Physics, Vol. 15, 1974, pp. 299-319.
25 Projahn, U., Rieger, H., and Beer, H., "Numerical Analysis of Laminar
Natural Convection Between Concentric and Eccentric Cylinders," Numerical
Heat Transfer, Vol. 4, 1980, pp. 131-146.
26 Rieger, H., and Projahn, U., "Laminar Natural Convection Heat
Transfer in a Horizontal Gap, Bounded by an Elliptic and a Circular Cylin-
der, '' Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Numerical Methods
in Thermal Problems, Venice, 1981, pp. 1036-1047.
27 Thomas, P. D., and Middlecoff, J. F., "Direct Control of the Grid Point
Distribution in Meshes Generated by Elliptic Equations," AIAA Journal, Vol.
18, 1980, pp. 652-656.
28 Stone, H. L., "Iterative Solution of Implicit Approximations of
Multidimensional Partial Differential Equations," SIAM Journal of
Numerical Analysis, Vol. 5, 1968, pp. 530-558.
29 Krishnamurti, R., "On the Transition to Turbulent Convection, pt. 2:
The Transition to Time-Dependent Flow," Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol.
42, 1970, pp. 309-320.
Transactions of the ASME