Heat storage characteristics of phase change material microcapsule slurry in a rectangular cavity with a heating vertical wall

This paper has dealt with the Heat storage characteristics of the microcapsule slurry composed of phase change material (PCM) as a latent heat storage material and water. A rectangular cavity with a heating vertical wall, which was filled with the microcapsule slurry, was selected as the present research model. The heating wall temperature, the width of the cavity and the PCM concentration were set as parameters. It was clarified that the transportation of latent heat evolved by melting of the PCM in the slurry exerted on a remarkable influence on the natural convection heat transfer. In addition, it was found that the heat transfer coefficient reached a local maximum value with an increase in initial temperature difference between heating wall and PCM. The heat storage completion time also have a local maximum value with an increase in heating wall temperature due to the latent heat by melting the PCM in the slurry.