Solidification performance of metal-foam-enhanced phase change composites in thermal energy storage systems for underground mines

Phase change cold storage technology represents one of the effective approaches to ensuring the stability and safety of independent cooling systems in mine chambers. This study established an experimental model of a metal foam cold storage device and employed dimensional analysis and numerical simulation methods to investigate the effects of porosity, pore density, material, and thickness on the solidification performance of metal foam composite PCMs. The results indicate that the porosity, material, and thickness of the metal foam significantly influence the solidification performance of the composite PCMs. When the porosity decreases from 0.96 to 0.70, the dimensionless time for phase change completion is reduced by 36%, while the maximum value of Nu* on the PCM side increases from 9.38 to 245.68. Finally, the correlations for Nu* and the liquid fraction were fitted nonlinearly, providing data references for the relevant design.