An experimental investigation of the melting process in a rectangular enclosure

An experimental investigation of the melting process in the vicinity of a heated vertical wall in a rectangular enclosure is presented in this work. A ̄at-plate heat pipe was used to provide a uniform temperature source. The liquid ̄ow patterns during the melting process were captured and the instantaneous marching of the liquid±solid interface was presented. In addition, the temperature distributions in the phase change material were measured at the mid-plane as well as top and bottom walls of the enclosure. Three di€erent heat transfer regimes were identi®ed during the melting process. The parametric domain covered the range of Ra=2.02 10±2.61 10, Ste Fo=0.001± 0.125 and Pr=804±1055 while the critical Rayleigh number where the transition from the conduction to the convection regime occurs was found to be in the range of 7.869 10±3.237 10. It was found that the melt volume fraction and the time-averaged Nusselt number can be correlated by: V/Vo=4.73Fo 0.906 Ste 1.538 Ra 0.002 and Nu=0.0219Ra 0.387 Pr (H/d) respectively. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.