156

S. Karthikeyan, R. Velraj / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 60 (2012) 153e160

h dp
dp G
Nu
3:6
mf
kf

!0:365

(1)

steel with 0.7 m height and 0.35 m diameter, and is well insulated
with glass wool on the outer surface. The PCM encapsulated in
plastic balls of an outer diameter of 70 mm and a wall thickness of
0.5 mm with a total number of 260 balls are packed inside the tank.
A centrifugal air blower, ow adjusting valves and an orice meter

2.3. Enthalpy e temperature relationship

Hp cp *Tp
Hp
Hp
Hp
Hp
Hp

#
"
Tp # Tm1 # a1
cp *Tp la1
#
" a1
Tp # Tm1
cp *Tp la1 la2
a2"
#
Tp # Tm2 # e1
cp *Tp la1 la2 le1
#
"e1
Tp # Tm2
cp *Tp la1 la2 le1 le2
e2
cp *Tp la1 la2 le1 le2

for Tp " Tm1 # a1

for Tm1 # a1 < Tp " Tm1
for Tm1 < Tp " Tm1 a2
for Tm2 # e1 < Tp " Tm2
for Tm2 < Tp " Tm2 e2
for Tp >Tm2 e2

2.4. Method of solution

The equations for the HTF and the PCM are discretized by the
explicit nite difference scheme. The forward difference approximation for the time derivative, and the central difference approximation for the space derivative are used. In particular, the
convective term of the HTF equation is resolved by the upwind (or
backward difference) scheme, as the ow in the axial direction is
convection dominated. The discretized equation of HTF and PCM
are solved simultaneously for the new values of temperature of HTF
and enthalpy of PCM at increasing time step. The temperature of
the PCM is calculated from the enthalpy temperature relationship
at every time step. The above calculation is repeated by considering
this new set of temperature values as the present values for nding
the temperature in the next time step. The simulation is continued
until the temperature of the HTF and the PCM at all the nodes of the
storage tank reaches the inlet temperature of the HTF.

3.2. Error analysis

The error associated with primary experimental measurements
such as temperature and mass ow rate and the performance
parameters evaluated such as instantaneous and cumulative heat
transfer using the root sum square method are listed in Table 3.

3. Experimental investigation
3.1. Experimental setup
An experimental study has been performed with the experimental setup shown in Fig. 4. It consists of a storage tank made of
AIR OUTLET

PCM PACKED
BED

AIR BLOWER

are provided to supply air at varying rates. The air is heated by

nned electric heaters tted inside an insulated enclosure. The
RTDs (resistance temperature detectors, Type Pt 100) are provided
at the inlet to the tank, and at ve equally spaced locations along
the axial direction of the bed, to measure the HTF temperature
variations. Similarly, another ve RTDs are inserted in the PCM and
they are located at the center of the capsules which are placed at
ve equally spaced locations along the axis of the storage tank, to
measure the PCM temperature variations during the experiment.
The charging experiments are carried out at two different HTF ow
rates of 0.015 kg/s and 0.05 kg/s. The HTF at the inlet is maintained
at a constant temperature of 70 ! C during the charging process. The
temperature variations of the HTF and PCM at various heights of the
storage tank are recorded and these measurements are used to
evaluate the complete charging time for any given height.

CONTROL
VALVE

4. Results and discussion

Fig. 5a and b show the charging time of the PCM at various
heights of the bed evaluated experimentally, and also using the
three different models for two different mass ow rates of 0.05 kg/s
and 0.015 kg/s respectively, in order to validate and assess the
capabilities of the models. The charging time refers to the time
required for the PCM at a given height, to attain the temperature of
the inlet HTF. It is seen from the gure that the results of model 3
are in good agreement with the results of the experiments in both
of the cases. There is absolutely no difference between the results of

Table 3
Estimated values of uncertainties.

ORIFICE METER
AIR HEATER

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.

Parameters

Error (%)

Temperature
Mass ow rate
Instantaneous heat transferred
Cumulative heat transferred

1.05
1.00
1.45
1.48