Effect of a novel hybrid nanomaterial in a porous PCM container on the solidification of water with radiative heat removal

Abstract

This article introduces an advanced numerical method to simulate the unsteady freezing inside a curved porous container, enhanced with hybrid nanoparticles and porous foam. By integrating these components and accounting for radiation effects, the study significantly accelerates the freezing process. Replacing water with hybrid nanofluids decreases the solidification time by 6.26%, showcasing the superior thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. Additionally, the incorporation of porous foam is highly effective, reducing freezing time by 78.77%, while the inclusion of radiation cuts the time by 25.78%. In a base scenario using only water without porous foam or radiation, the freezing time extends to 700.12 s. However, the optimized configuration, which combines all these techniques, reduces the process to just 139.30 s, underscoring a marked improvement in cold energy storage performance.