圆柱形相变蓄热器蓄/放热性能实验研究

设计并搭建了以太阳能为热源的圆柱形蓄热器实验台,将封装了相变材料(PCM)的蓄热球体放置在蓄热器中,测量蓄热器进出口和蓄热器内第一～七层的热媒(HTF)温度,对所测温度和流最进行数据采集.分析HTF的进口温度和流量变化对蓄热器热性能的影响.结果表明,随着HTF的进口温度的提高,完成蓄热所需的时间不断减少,蓄热效率得到提高,流速的增加对蓄热的影响不大.初步掌握热媒的流动特性对相变蓄热装置蓄放热过程的影响,为蓄热器的工程应用设计、评价提供参考依据.     

圆柱形等距螺旋盘管式相变蓄热装置蓄热性能研究

文章设计了一种以石蜡为相变材料的圆柱形等距螺旋盘管式相变蓄热装置,并通过实验分析了该装置的传热特性,以及传热流体入口温度、入口流量对石蜡的融化特性、相变蓄热装置的蓄热量及相变蓄热系统总传热系数的影响。分析结果表明:融化后期,石蜡的融化速率会明显加快;当传热流体入口温度一定时,随着入口流量逐渐增大,蓄热装置的最终显热蓄热量略微升高;与传热流体入口流量相比,传热流体入口温度对石蜡融化速率影响较大;相变阶段,石蜡的传热性能较强,传热流体入口温度越高,石蜡的传热性能越不稳定。     

螺旋盘管式相变储热单元储热性能

以石蜡作为相变材料,制作了内通流体螺旋盘管结构的相变储热单元。在对储热单元储热过程进行传热分析的基础上,利用实验手段对储热单元在不同工况下的储热性能进行了研究。通过对其储热过程中相变材料相变过程的分析,提出储热器设计的优化方案。利用实验数据得到其准则关联式,为其在工程中的应用提供了依据。     

中温相变蓄热装置蓄放热性能的数值分析与实验研究

以所研制的相变温度为76℃的相变蓄热装置为研究对象,通过数值模拟和实验研究,对该相变蓄热装置的蓄、放热性能进行了模拟分析与实验验证。研究结果表明:所研究的相变温度为76℃的中温相变蓄热装置具有良好的蓄、放热性能,为在太阳能利用、工业废热利用以及暖通空调蓄热等领域的工程应用提供了可能。     

相变胶囊的蓄放热特性分析

运用显热容法对相变胶囊在外部对流换热条件下的蓄放热特性进行了分析。对Stefan数、Biot数、相变半径等影响因素的分析结果表明，相变胶囊的优点表现为持续稳定的热流特性、对相变材料的导热性能要求不高、换热效率高、适用于在小温差条件下的热能存储和供给。     

组合式高温相变蓄热器蓄热过程的数值模拟

通过对相同管径蓄热管组成的高温相变蓄热器蓄热过程进行模拟,得到了蓄热过程中相变材料(PCM)温度和液相率随时间的变化曲线以及不同时刻液相率的分布云图。针对温度曲线和云图所显示的问题,在保证蓄热量的前提下,提出了蓄热管组合式排布的设计方案,并对其蓄热性能进行了模拟。研究结果表明,采用所提出的组合式方案有效地减少了蓄热时间,降低了"死区"对蓄热器蓄热性能的影响,使PCM的液相率分布更加均匀,可为用于太阳能热发电的高温相变蓄热器的优化设计提供理论依据。     

新型平底型相变蓄热器蓄热性能的数值模拟北大核心CSCD

为了解决相变材料低热导率所引起的换热效果差的问题,向相变材料中添加高导热的金属泡沫材料以加速固液相变过程、提升整体蓄热效率。然而,浮升力导致高温流体堆积在蓄热单元顶部,蓄热单元底部的相变材料较难熔化。为了改善底部难熔的现象,本工作在控制相变材料容积不变的前提下,以一定的比例切除蓄热单元底部,形成新型平底型相变蓄热器。通过数值模拟的方法,对蓄热单元熔化过程中的熔化率、蓄热量、熔化相界面、速度分布和温度分布进行分析。结果表明,新型平底型相变蓄热器能够有效减少底部难熔区域,从而提高蓄热器整体的蓄热效率。其中底部横切比为0.7时,完全熔化时间最短,比圆管缩短了18.12%。通过模拟结果的对比分析可以发现,去除底部相变材料减小了热源到蓄热器底部(难熔区)的距离,增强了熔化末期底部难熔区域的换热。在熔化末期,横切比为0.7的蓄热单元,在相界面处的流速比圆管的提高了2.10倍。说明底部横切强化了熔化末期蓄热单元底部的传热,减小了蓄热单元底部的低温区域,从而推动了整体的熔化进程。     

Discharge performance of a thermal energy storage unit with paraffin-expanded graphite composite phase change materials

本工作对石蜡（PA）及石蜡/膨胀石墨（97% PA/3% EG和95% PA/5% EG）复合相变储热材料的热性能进行了探究,考察了不同直径储热单元在干燥介质温度为25℃,风速为0.8 m/s条件下的放热性能。结果表明,在石蜡中添加膨胀石墨后,复合材料导热系数较纯石蜡分别提高了178.10%和214.30%,可以有效改善石蜡的导热性能,缩短放热时间;储热单元直径对放热性能有显著影响,随着石蜡相变储热单元直径的增大,放热时间线性增加;膨胀石墨的添加可以明显缩短放热时间,随膨胀石墨含量的增加,相同直径储热单元的放热时间逐渐缩短;膨胀石墨对储热单元放热性能的改善效果随直径变化而不同,在一定范围内随储热单元直径的增大而效果逐渐显著,达到极值后随直径的增大效果逐渐减弱,本实验条件下,最优储热单元直径在35~50 mm之间。结合实际生产需求,最优直径为35 mm。     

Review on storage materials and thermal performance enhancement techniques for high temperature phase change thermal storage systems

Designing a cost-effective phase change thermal storage system involves two challenging aspects: one is to select a suitable storage material and the other is to increase the heat transfer between the storage material and the heat transfer fluid as the performance of the system is limited by the poor thermal conductivity of the latent heat storage material. When used for storing energy in concentrated solar thermal power plants, the solar field operation temperature will determine the PCM melting temperature selection. This paper reviews concentrated solar thermal power plants that are currently operating and under construction. It also reviews phase change materials with melting temperatures above 300 °C, which potentially can be used as energy storage media in these plants. In addition, various techniques employed to enhance the thermal performance of high temperature phase change thermal storage systems have been reviewed and discussed. This review aims to provide the necessary information for further research in the development of cost-effective high temperature phase change thermal storage systems.     

Microencapsulation of coco fatty acid mixture for thermal energy storage with phase change material

Thermal energy storage systems provide several alternatives for efficient energy use and energy conservation. Microcapsules of natural coco fatty acid mixture were prepared to be used as phase change materials for thermal energy storage. The coacervation technique was used for the microencapsulation process. Several alternatives for the capsule wall material were tried. The microcapsules were characterized according to their geometric profiles, phase transition temperatures, mean particle sizes, chemical stabilities, and their thermal cycling. The diameters of microcapsules prepared in this study were about 1 mm. Coco fatty acid mixtures have kept their geometrical profiles even after 50 thermal cycles for melting and freezing operations in temperature range from 22 to 34°C. It was found that gelatin+gum Arabic mixture was the best wall material for microencapsulating coco fatty acid mixtures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical study on thermal energy storage performance of phase change material under non-steady-state inlet boundary

Due to the solar radiation intensity variation over time, the outlet temperature or mass flow rate of heat transfer fluid (HTF) presents non-steady-state characteristics for solar collector. So, in the phase change thermal energy storage (PCTES) unit which is connected to solar collector, the phase change process occurs under the non-steady-state inlet boundary condition. In present paper, regarding the non-steady-state boundary, based on enthalpy method, a two dimensional physical and mathematical model for a shell-and-tube PCTES unit was established and the simulation code was self-developed. The effects of the non-steady-state inlet condition of HTF on the thermal performance of the PCTES unit were numerically analyzed. The results show that when the average HTF inlet temperature in an hour is fixed at a constant value, the melting time (time required for PCM completely melting) decreases with the increase of initial inlet temperature. When the initial inlet temperature increases from 30 °C to 90 °C, the melting time will decrease from 42.75 min to 20.58 min. However, the total TES capacity in an hour reduces from 338.9 kJ/kg to 211.5 kJ/kg. When the average inlet mass flow rate in an hour is fixed at a constant value, with the initial HTF inlet mass flow rate increasing, the melting time of PCM decreases. The initial inlet mass flow rate increasing from 2.0 × 10⁻⁴ kg/s to 8.0 × 10⁻⁴ kg/s will lead to the melting time decreasing from 37.42 min to 23.75 min and the TES capacity of PCM increasing from 265.8 kJ/kg to 273.8 kJ/kg. Under all the studied cases, the heat flux on the tube surface increases at first, until it reaches a maximum then it decreases over time. And the larger the initial inlet temperature or mass flow rate, the earlier the maximum value appearance and the larger the maximum value.     

Encapsulated phase change materials for thermal energy storage: Experiments and simulation

In the present study, encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) were used for the storage of thermal energy. Both experiments and simulation were performed to evaluate the characteristics of encapsulated PCMs. Tests were conducted in a packed bed to determine the performance of the encapsulated PCM. In the preparation of encapsulated PCMs, the coacervation technique was used. The performance of the encapsulated PCM was evaluated in terms of encapsulation ratio, hydrophilicity, and energy storage capacity. The experiments were designed, based on surface response method, to optimize the processing conditions. It was found that a higher coating to paraffin ratio led to a higher paraffin encapsulation ratio. The hydrophilicity value of encapsulated paraffin depended mainly on the ratio of paraffin to coating. The higher the ratio, the lower was its product hydrophilicity. When the paraffin to coating ratio was constant, the higher concentration of HCHO led to a lower hydrophilicity of the product. The encapsulated paraffin has shown large energy storage and release capacity (20–90 J g^?1) during its phase changes depending on different ratios of paraffin to coating. Thermal cyclic test showed that encapsulated paraffin kept its geometrical profile and energy storage capacity even after 1000 cycles of operation. In the experiments and simulation of fluid heating process in encapsulated PCM charged packed bed, results showed that Eulerian granular multiphase model in FLUENT 4.47 is suitable for simulation of such a system. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microencapsulation of phase change material with poly(ethylacrylate) shell for thermal energy storage

Microcapsules containing caprylic acid and polyethylacrylate shells were prepared using an emulsion polymerization technique for thermal energy storage applications. Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was used as a crosslinking agent. The influence of the crosslinking agent concentration on the phase change properties of microcapsules was examined. The caprylic acid microcapsules (MicroPCMs) were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. The results showed that microcapsules were synthesized successfully and that the best shell material:crosslinking agent concentration ratio was 1:0.2. The melting and freezing temperatures were measured through differential scanning calorimetry analysis and found to be 13.3 and 7.1°C, respectively. The melting and crystallization heats were determined to be 77.3 and ?77.0 kJ/kg, and the mean particle diameter was 0.64 μm. The thermal cycling tests of the microcapsules were performed for 400 heating/cooling cycles, and the results indicate that the synthesized microcapsules have good thermal reliabilities. Air stability test proved that the thermal properties and physical form of microcapsules were not affected by air. We recommend the prepared thermal, air, and chemically stable caprylic acid microcapsules for thermal energy storage applications as novel microPCM with latent heat storage capacities and properties. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance of indirect through pass natural convective solar crop dryer with phase change thermal energy storage

A state-of-the-art solar crop dryer was developed with thermal energy storage to maintain continuity of drying of herbs for their colour and flavour vulnerability. The dryer consists of flat plate solar collector, packed bed phase change energy storage, drying plenum with crop trays and natural ventilation system. Dryer is designed with a maximum collector area of 1.5 m², six crop trays with an effective area of 0.50 × 0.75 m², can hold 12 kg of fresh leafy herbs. The dryer is attached with a packed bed thermal energy storage having capacity of 50 kg phase change material (PCM). The drying system works in such a manner that phase change material stores the thermal energy during sun shine hours and releases the latent and sensible heat after sunset, thus dryer is effectively operative for next 5–6 h. The temperature in drying chamber was observed 6 °C higher than the ambient temperature after sunshine hours till the mid night during the month of June at Jodhpur. Economic performance of the dryer was analysed with return on capital and simple payback period as 0.65 and 1.57 year respectively on optimum cost of raw material and product sale price.     

Enhanced thermal conductivity of copper-doped polyethylene glycol/urchin-like porous titanium dioxide phase change materials for thermal energy storage

A composite phase change material (PCM) of copper-doped polyethylene glycol (PEG) 2000 impregnated urchin-like porous titanium dioxide (TiO₂) microspheres (PEG/TiO₂) was successfully synthesised. The urchin-like porous TiO₂ structures contain hollow cavities that can provide a high PEG loading capacity of up to 80 wt%. Copper nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the outer and inner surfaces of the 0.8PEG/TiO₂ as additives to enhance the thermal conductivity of the composite PCM. The latent heat of the Cu/PEG/TiO₂ porous composite PCM reached 133.8 J/g, and the thermal conductivity was 0.58 W/(mK), which was 152.2% higher than that of TiO₂ and 38.1% higher than 0.8PEG/TiO₂. Moreover, the Cu/PEG/TiO₂ porous composite PCM has excellent thermal stability and reliability.     

Thermal properties and crystallization kinetics of pentaglycerine/graphene nanoplatelets composite phase change material for thermal energy storage

Solid-solid phase change materials (SSPCMs) used in thermal energy storage (TES) system attract much attention in recent days. Here, graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) were introduced into pentaglycerine (PG) with mass ratios of 1 wt%, 2 wt%, and 4 wt% to obtain PG/GnPs PCMs. The structure and thermal property of PG/GnPs PCMs were characterized by SEM, XPS, FT-IR, POM, DSC, thermal conductivity tester, and heat transfer performance test system. The effect of GnPs on the crystallization kinetic of PG was investigated by isoconversional method. The results indicated that PG and GnPs were uniformly mixed together by physical reaction. GnPs reduced the subcooling and enhanced the thermal conductivity of the PG/GnPs. The heat transfer rate of PG/GnPs was improved during to the high thermal conductivity. Crystallization kinetic results presented that the activation energy increases with the GnP content. In summary, GnPs improved the thermal behaviors of PG.     

PolyHIPE composite based-form stable phase change material for thermal energy storage

A novel shape-stabilized n-hexadecane/polyHIPE composite phase change material (PCM) was designed and thermal energy storage properties were determined. Porous carbon-based frameworks were produced by polymerization of styrene-based high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) in existence of the surface modified montmorillonite nanoclay. The morphological and mechanical properties of the obtained polyHIPEs were investigated by scanning electron microscopy analysis and the compression test, respectively. The polyHIPE composite with the best pore morphology and the highest compression modulus was determined as a framework to prepare the form stable n-hexadecane/polyHIPE composite phase change material using the one-step impregnation method. The chemical structure and morphologic property of composite PCM was investigated by FT-IR and polarized optical microscopy analysis. Thermal stability of the form-stable PCM (FSPCM) was examined by TG analysis. The n-hexadecane fraction engaged into the carbon foam skeleton was found of as 55 wt% from TG curve. differential scanning calorimetry analysis was used for determining melting temperature and latent heat storage capacity of FSPCM and these values were determined as (26.36°C) and (143.41 J/g), respectively. The results indicated that the obtained composite material (FSPCM) has a considerable potential for low temperature (18°C-30°C) thermal energy storage applications with its thermal energy storage capacity, appropriate phase change temperatures and high thermal stability.