Thermal stress analysis of PCM containers for temperature smoothing of waste gas

This article develops an analytical and numerical approach to evaluate thermal stress in a phase change material (PCM) system, used for temperature smoothing of waste gas of Electric Arc Furnace, in which the PCM is encapsulated in a cylindrical steel container. Thermal analysis shows that temperature distribution in the PCM system can be considered as uniform at any time instant according to the lumped capacitance method; the thermal behaviour of PCM system is thus simulated as a sequence of steady state analyses. Mechanical analysis adopts an axialsymmetric plane analytical model to compare elastic thermal stress distribution for different stainless steels and to identify AISI 316 as the most suitable material for the PCM container. A simple two-bars model and a stress index are also used to allow a physical understanding and a satisfactory interpretation of the PCM system response. Mechanical analysis shows that thermal stresses exceed the yield point of both stainless steels used in the container. A finite element elastic-plastic model is then developed to estimate the extension of the plastic zone. Finally, an alternative PCM system geometry based on concentric pipes is designed to keep the maximum stresses in the PCM container below the yielding point. A sensitivity analysis shows that the most relevant design parameters of the alternative geometry are the diameter of inner pipe and thickness of the external pipe.