Experimental investigation of an elliptical enclosure for a latent heat thermal energy storage
Anwar ALSHURAIFAT, Ali RADWAN, Salah HARIDY, Aasim AHMED
Abstract. This study experimentally investigates the melting behavior of a paraffin-based Phase Change Material (PCM) in a vertical elliptical container as an alternative to traditional circular designs. The thermal conductivity of the PCM was measured, and a series of experimental tests evaluated the thermal response of PCM melting under controlled heating fluid temperatures. The melting profile and temperature distribution were systematically recorded and analyzed over an eight-hour period. Results demonstrated that increasing the temperature of the heating fluid enhances the melting rate. After eight hours of thermal energy charging with heating fluid temperatures of 75 °C, 80 °C, and 85 °C, the average PCM temperature reached approximately 51.9 °C, 53.7 °C, and 57.3 °C, respectively. These findings provide experimental validation for the potential of non-traditional geometries to enhance PCM melting performance in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage systems.
Keywords
Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage, Phase Change Materials, Elliptical Enclosure Design, Melting Behavior
Published online 6/20/2026, 7 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Anwar ALSHURAIFAT, Ali RADWAN, Salah HARIDY, Aasim AHMED, Experimental investigation of an elliptical enclosure for a latent heat thermal energy storage, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 67, pp 547-553, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904176-72
The article was published as article 72 of the book Climate Action and Sustainability
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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