Size effect at discharging process of coconut oil as latent thermal energy storage
Shofi Dhiya Ulhaq(1), Akhmad Yusuf(1), Surjamanto Wonorahardjo(2), Inge Magdalena Sutjahja(1*)

(1)Physics Department, FMIPA, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
*inge[at]fi.itb.ac.id
(2)Building Technology Research Group, SAPPK, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jl. Ganesha No. 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

Abstract

Coconut oil is one of the organic PCM materials with a high thermal energy storage capability in the form of sensible and latent heat. Ideally, the latent heat storage occurs at a relatively constant temperature associated with phase change transition. Due to relatively low thermal conductivity, the size effect is vital to optimizing material performance, particularly at the discharging process related to latent heat release. This study will show the simulation results of the size effect in the solidification process of coconut oil by using ANSYS FLUENT. The plastic ball with a radius of 4 cm and 12 cm filled with coconut oil solidified from 308 K to 283 K, and several temperature sensors were placed in the ball to study the heat exchange process. We take the input parameters of density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, and viscosity from previous experimental studies. We reported the time evolution of temperature and liquid fraction until the molten coconut oil solidified from different detector positions in each ball. We found that the phase transition of coconut oil occurs gradually due to the mixture of its component.

Keywords: Coconut oil- Phase Change Material- Solidification- Ansys Fluent

Topic: Energy and Environmental Physics