Numerical model of a latent heat storage system for biological fluid administration - Development and experimental validation

The use of phase change materials (PCM) for heat storage is progressively increasing, since its effective contribution is continuously being proven. In medical applications the use of PCM can contribute not only to energy savings, but can also be a solution to assure the delivery of medical supplies or even biological fluid administration at the required temperature. In this paper, the development of a numerical model to simulate the warming up process during the administration of a biological fluid is presented. The model uses fundamental energy conservation laws applied to control volumes and the resulting differential equations are solved by means of the explicit finite difference method (FDM). An algorithm for solving the finite difference approximations to the resulting conservation equations was developed, and the reliability of the model was experimentally validated. The achieved results confirm the adequacy of the numerical model to simulate warming up processes during fluids administration. Furthermore, the modelling principle can be extended to other case studies.