Szczegóły publikacji
Opis bibliograficzny
Natural convection and flow structure evolution during solid–liquid phase change in a horizontal annulus / Mikołaj BOBULA, Jerzy WOŁOSZYN // International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer ; ISSN 0735-1933 . — 2026 — vol. 172 Pt. 4 art. no. 110415, s. 1–15. — Bibliogr. s. 14–15, Abstr. — Publikacja dostępna online od: 2026-01-08
Autorzy (2)
Słowa kluczowe
Dane bibliometryczne
| ID BaDAP | 165697 |
|---|---|
| Data dodania do BaDAP | 2026-02-17 |
| Tekst źródłowy | URL |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2025.110415 |
| Rok publikacji | 2026 |
| Typ publikacji | artykuł w czasopiśmie |
| Otwarty dostęp |  |
| Czasopismo/seria | International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer |
Abstract
Natural convection plays a crucial role in many engineering and research areas, including processes involving phase change. The melting process is of particular importance, as the thermal and flow behaviour of phase change materials (PCMs) evolves dynamically during this transition. This study presents a detailed numerical analysis of the melting process in a horizontal annular configuration, performed for three PCMs with Prandtl numbers (Pr) of 23, 116, and 230, at three Stefan numbers (Ste) and six dimensionless diameters (δ). The corresponding Rayleigh (RaD) numbers ranged from 0.014×106 to 32.335×106. Three distinct branches of flow structures were identified in the evolution of the flow patterns, and their occurrence depends primarily on the Prandtl number and the dimensionless diameter. The presented results indicate that increasing the dimensionless diameter (δ) and the Stefan number (Ste) promotes the development of convective cells, whereas a higher Prandtl number (Pr) suppresses this tendency. More than two convective cells were observed to develop within the liquid PCM region only when RaD exceeded approximately 0.3×106, a threshold value that is independent of Pr and can be regarded as a critical condition for the onset of multi-cell convection. The characteristic stages of the flow were also identified with reference to the Nusselt number and the stream separation angle of the liquid PCM.
