Inward Solidification Heat Transfer of Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials in a Spherical Capsule: An Experimental Study

The classical problem of inward solidification heat transfer inside a spherical capsule, with an application to thermal energy storage (TES), was revisited in the presence of nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCM). The model NePCM samples were prepared by dispersing graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) into 1-tetradecanol (C₁₄H₃₀O) at loadings up to 3.0 wt %. The transient phase change, energy retrieval, and heat transfer rates during solidification of the various NePCM samples were measured quantitatively using a volume-shrinkage-based indirect method. The data reduction and analysis were carried out under single-component, homogeneous assumption of the NePCM samples without considering the microscale transport phenomena of GNPs. It was shown that the total solidification time becomes monotonously shorter with increasing the loading of GNPs, in accordance with the increased effective thermal conductivity. The maximum relative acceleration of solidification was found to be more than 50% for the most concentrated sample, which seems to be appreciable for practical applications. In addition to enhanced heat conduction, the possible effects due to the elimination of supercooling and viscosity growth were elucidated. The heat retrieval rate was also shown to be increased monotonously with raising the loading of GNPs, although the heat storage capacity is sacrificed. Despite the remarkable acceleration of the solidification time, the use of a high loading (e.g., 3.0 wt %) was demonstrated to be possibly uneconomical because of the marginal gain in heat retrieval rate. Finally, correlations for the transient variations of the melt fraction and surface-averaged Nusselt number were proposed.