Experimental Study of Melting and Solidification of Paraffin Wax with Dispersion of Al2O3 in Rectangular Enclosure

In this experimental based research work, the performance of Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) during charging (melting) and discharging (solidification) processes were studied under varying conditions. The results from the CFD simulations for these conditions were published earlier. Here, the experimental results had been discussed. Paraffin wax concentration was varied to form the TESS. Al2O3 was included as nano-material with a varying concentration – 0% (Base Model), 1% (Variant-1), 2% (Variant-2) and 3% (Variant-3). It was observed that the Variant-1 had provided better performance for Configuration A under the heat load of 125 W and 175 W in the melting process. During the solidification process for the Configuration B, Base Model had better performance than the variants with nano-fluids. Results from CFD simulations as well as experimental procedure were in good agreement for this research work. KeywordsTESS, Melting Solidification, CFD