Effect of charging/discharging temperatures upon melting and solidification of PCM-metal foam composite in a heat storage tube

•When the heating temperature is increased from 65.0 °C to 85.0 °C, the complete melting time is reduced by 56.0%.•When the cooling temperature is reduced from 30.0 °C to 10.0 °C, the full solidification time is shortened by 40.0%.•Increasing the temperature difference between the PCM and the heating/cooling fluid can enhance the temperature response rate but weaken the temperature uniformity in the PCM region.