The porosity of a packed bed can be decreased by vibrat- ing the containment vessel as the vessel is filled with the particles. The vibration promotes particle settling.
(a) Consider the air chilling process of Problem 7.110a. Determine the outlet air temperature To and mass rate at which the PCM is melted for s = 0.30. Assume the total mass of PCM and the mass flow rate of air are unchanged. The length of the containment vessel Lv is decreased to compen- sate for the reduced porosity.
(b) Determine To and the PCM melting rate for the case where the diameter of the containment vessel Dv is decreased to compensate for the reduced porosity. Which containment vessel configuration is preferred?