Numerical investigation of inward solidification inside spherical capsule by using temperature transforming method

In this study, a numerical analysis of the inward solidification of phase change material inside spherical capsule is carried out. The spherical capsule that is subjected to convection from the outside surface initially is not at its melting temperature. The control volume approach and temperature transforming method are applied to solve the dimensionless energy equation. The model solution results are validated through a comparison with published experimental data for similar case and it shows a considerably good agreement. The analysis results show that the larger diameter spherical capsules have significantly greater solidification time compared to those with smaller diameters of spherical capsules. In addition, the entropy generation inside spherical capsule is analyzed. It is found that the entropy generation increases with increasing sphere capsule diameter, attains a maximum and then decreases. © 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University