TY - JOUR
TI - Numerical simulation of paraffin melting in circular tube using lattice Boltzmann method
AU - Liu Xiao-Yan
AU - Zhang Nan-Di
AU - Li Xiao-Qing
AU - Li Cong
AU - Yu Peng
AU - Liang Gao-Jie
AU - Ma Chuan
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2022
VL - 26
IS - 3
SP - 2113
EP - 2123
PT - Article
AB - Paraffin melting is widely used in the fields of phase change materials energy storage, gathering and transportation pipe-line paraffin removal, etc. Analysis of the phase change mechanism and influencing factors of paraffin melting in the circular tube deeply has important guiding significance for improving the heat storage capacity by changing the structure of phase change material storage device and ensuring the safe transportation of crude-oil in the pipe-line. A double distribution lattice Boltzmann model based on enthalpy method is established to simulate the temperature field and the flow field of paraffin melting in a circular tube in this paper. The influence of different Rayleigh and Prandtl numbers on the paraffin melting process in a circular tube is analyzed. The results show that the natural-convection process is strengthened with the increase of the Rayleigh number, and the decrease of the average Nusselt number on the wall is smooth in the transition stage of wax melting due to the existence of fuzzy zone. The melting rate of paraffin can be accelerated or reduced by controlling the Prandtl number, so as to meet the relevant requirements of engineering.