Analysis of heat transfer during the melting of a phase-change material

In this work, the melting process of a solid phase-change material contained in a rectangular enclosure heated from a vertical side at a constant heat flux is investigated analytically. The propagation and the inclination of the solid-liquid interface along with the time evolution of the melted fraction are studied and evaluated. It was found that the model predicts very well the propagation of the interface during the initial stages of the melting process, while it under predicts it during the later stages of melting. However, it predicts well the melted fraction. It may be stated that the results relating to the position, inclination, propagation and the melted fraction are found to be in a good agreement with published experimental result. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.