Heat transfer in a phase change material under constant heat flux

A new composite phase change material based on porous diatomite, saturated with paraffin by immersion method, has been developed. The results of the study of heat propagation in this material heated from one side with a constant power source are presented. On the basis of the enthalpy model, numerical computations were carried out, a comparison with the experimental results was made, and the influence of the properties of the composite material on the thermal processes in it was analyzed. In the computations, the heat flux power, the phase transition temperature range, and the characteristics of the phase change material were varied. The analysis of the computation results has shown that the use of the phase change material allows not only increasing the heat-storage capacity of the composite material, but also controlling the heat fluxes. As a result, it becomes possible to reduce the peak values of the heat flux passing through the material and to limit the material temperature range during heating for a long time.