Abstract
This paper presents the melting behavior and melting heat transfer of a phase change material (PCM) in water. A rectangular n-hexadecane solid as a water-insoluble material was placed vertically in the water. Then melting behavior of n-hexadecane and its melting rate were observed under a variety of water temperature conditions in test vessel. The local heat transfer coefficient was defined based on the melting rate. From the result of this experiment, it was found that the melting heat transfer coefficient of n-hexadecane in water uniform without the edge of vertical hexadecane layer and it decreases little as lower because of downward water flow along the n-hexadecane layer.
