Melting in a Two-Component Packed Bed

Abstract

The melting of a multi-component mixture that consists of melting and nonmelting components is examined. A numerical solution is obtained by solving the energy equation and continuity equations for both solid and liquid phases for a one-dimensional system. Both constant volume and constant porosity melting models are explored. Experiments were conducted to confirm the numerical results. During the experiments, heat was applied at the bottom of a rectangular packed bed containing salol (benzoic acid 2-hydroxyphenylester) and glass beads. The experiments were conducted with various sizes of glass beads ranging from 120 μm to 450 μm in diameter with salol having an average diameter of 90 μm. During the melting process, the volume fraction of the phase-change material (salol), temperature, and applied heat flux were measured. The volume fraction of the salol was measured utilizing gamma attenuation. Upon melting, the salol moves as two fronts, one downward due to gravity and one upward due to capillary action. The constant porosity model yields results which compare well with the experimental data.