Solidification of Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Material (NEPCM) in an Enclosure

The effects of nanoparticle dispersion ( Q=0, 0.025, 0.05 ) on solidification of different type of mixture of nanofluids namely, Cu-water, TiO2-Water and Al2O3-Water nanofluid inside a vertical enclosure are investigated numerically for different Grashof number ( Gr=10^4 ,10^5 ,10^6 ). An enthalpy porosity technique is used to trace the solid and liquid interface. Comparisons with previously published works show the accuracy of the obtained results. A maximum of 16% decrease in solidification time for Gr=106 in comparison with Gr=105 was found with the Cu nanoparticles and 0.2% volume fraction. It was observed that dispersion of nanoparticles can be used to control the solidification time based on enhancing conduction heat transfer mechanism of solidification.