Effects of location of nano-enhanced PCM-packed bed on the process of heat transfer and phase transition in a nonuniform magnetic field

Abstract

The phase change and thermal process intensification under nonuniform magnetic field (MGF) effects during hybrid nanofluid (NF) convection are investigated in this study using various arrangements of phase change material (PCM)-packed bed (PB) in a vented cavity. The PCM-PB is is considered as a triangular shape. The numerical research is done using the finite element method for different Reynolds numbers (Re between 200 and 600), inlet port sizes (between 0.5 and 2.5), Hartmann numbers (Ha between 0 and 60), nonuniform MGF component amplitudes (between 0 and 1), and different locations of the triangle PCM-PB zone. The process of phase change is accelerated by increasing the Re and port size, and the entire transition time (tf) is reduced by 63% and 76%, respectively, when mix/max Re and min/max port sizes are considered. By using NF, the phase change is improved even further, and tf is further reduced by 17.6%-31.5%. When MGF strength and amplitude of the nonuniform component are increased, tf is reduced by about 13% and 6%. At the highest Ha, the average heat transfer (HT) drops by about 59%. The flow patterns, phase transition, and thermal performance are all significantly impacted by the placement of the PCM-PB zone. In terms of phase change process, configuration C2 by using NF at Ha = 60 is the best case while case at Ha = 0 by using only water is the worst case. The tf value is reduced by about 82.6% at the best case. When phase change and HT processes are considered, the optimal design of triangular PCM-PB zones alters.