An experimental study of the temperature evolution of a single fin submerged in a phase changing material during melting at different heat fluxes

• Published in: Journal of physics. Conference series 2021-11, Vol.2116 (1), p.12047
• Main Authors: Tassenoy, R, Beyne, W, Plas, W, Lecompte, S, De Paepe, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1742-6588; 1742-6596
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/2116/1/012047

An experimental setup has been designed to study a single cylindrical fin placed in a cylindrical enclosure filled with phase changing material (PCM). The heat flux to the fin is measured at the top of the fin. The temperature evolution at different fin heights is measured by thermocouples placed internally in the fin. The evolution of these temperatures has been studied for different heat fluxes. This provides insight in the contribution of the different fin heights to the total heat transfer to the PCM during the different stages of the melting process. As such they can be used to assess the effectiveness of the fin over its length. After approximately 6h, the fin temperature stabilizes during melting. Due to the temperature drop over the fin, the bottom temperature reached is significantly lower than the temperature at the top and the contribution of this lower part to the total heat transfer is lower as well. For heat fluxes higher than 3805±75 W/m 2 , the steady-state temperatures at fin locations in contact with the melting PCM are similar. For low heat fluxes, this steady-state temperature is not reached during a 12h experiment. Longer experiments are thus needed to study the steady-state behaviour at these lower heat fluxes.