CONJUGATE SOLIDIFICATION AND MELTING IN MULTICOMPONENT OPEN AND CLOSED SYSTEMS

Motivated by phase change technologies of geological materials, the time-dependent conjugate solidification and melting of multicomponent materials are considered in one dimension with open and closed thermal convection. The scaling of the driving temperature difference for convection is a function of the temperature difference between the isotherm which delimits a rigid mush from a slurry, and the free stream temperature. The temporal evolution of the solid and mushy zones for the open system multicomponent case is qualitative similar to the single component case. Maximum heat transfer rates are as much as 1.35 times that of coupled, conductive solidification/melting. The convecting, closed system case yields two possible outcomes: a monotonic progression of solidification or an oscillation in the positions of the isotherms, depending on the ratio of the heat transfer coefficient to the enthalpy content and geometry of the fluid reservoir.