Review of solidification and melting performance of phase change materials in the presence of magnetic field, rotation, tilt angle, and vibration

Due to the poor thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs), the operation of Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is restricted by the limited heat exchange rate between PCMs and heat sources or sinks. The current review discusses the effects of magnetic field, rotation, tilt angle, and vibration on the discharging and charging heat performance of PCMs and nano-enhanced PCMs (NEPCMs) which are encapsulated in various container geometries and orientations based on melting and solidification standpoints. From this review, it is concluded that the orientation and design of the heat exchanger has a significant effect on the melting/solidi-fication performance. The melting and solidification performance have been improved by increasing the mag-netic number and decreasing the Hartmann number. Moreover, rotating cavity in a counter direction of buoyancy flow has improved the melting rate/time. The optimum tilting angle varies depending on the thickness of PCM layers. In terms of the vibration effect, frequency and amplitude/frequency are found to have an important role at low and high discharge rates, respectively. Following a comprehensive review, a few sugges-tions are provided as future research topic in this field.

Automated summary

This review discusses the effects of magnetic field, rotation, tilt angle, and vibration on the heat performance of PCMs and NEPCMs. The orientation and design of the heat exchanger are found to have a significant effect on the melting/solidification performance. Increasing the magnetic number and decreasing the Hartmann number improve the melting and solidification performance, while rotating the cavity in a counter direction of buoyancy flow improves the melting rate/time. The optimum tilting angle varies depending on the thickness of PCM layers, and the vibration effect depends on the frequency and amplitude/frequency.