Microencapsulated n-octacosane as phase change material for thermal energy storage

This study deals with preparation and characterization of polymethylmetracrylate (PMMA) microcapsules containing n-octacosane as phase change material for thermal energy storage. The surface morphology, particle size and particle size distribution (PSD) were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical characterization of PMMA/octacosane microcapsules was made by FT-IR spectroscopy method. Thermal properties and thermal stability of microencapsulated octacosane were determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The melting and freezing temperatures and the latent heats of the microencapsulated octacosane as PCM were measured as 50.6 and 53.2 °C, 86.4 and −88.5 J/g, respectively, by DSC analysis. TGA analysis indicated that the microencapsulated octacosane degrade in two steps and had good chemical stability. Thermal cycling test shows that the microcapsules have good thermal reliability with respect to the accelerated thermal cycling. Based on the results, it can be considered that the microencapsulated octacosane have good energy storage potential.     

Performance evaluation of a solar thermal energy storage system using nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the thermal performance of a solar latent heat storage unit composed of rectangular slabs combined with a flat-plate solar collector. The rectangular slabs of the storage unit are vertically arranged and filled with phase change material (PCM: RT50) dispersed with high conductive nanoparticles (Al₂O₃). A heat transfer fluid (HTF: water) goes flow in the solar collector and receives solar thermal energy form the absorber area, then circulates between the slabs to transfer heat by forced convection to nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM). A numerical model based on the finite volume method and the conservation equations was developed to model the heat transfer and flow processes in the storage unit. The developed model was validated by comparing the obtained results with the experimental, numerical and theoretical results published in the literature. The thermal performance of the investigated latent heat storage unit combined with the solar collector was evaluated under the meteorological data of a representative day of the month of July in Marrakesh city, Morocco. The effect of the dispersion of high conductive nanoparticles on the thermal behavior and storage performance was also evaluated and compared with the case of base PCM without additives.     

Form-stable phase change materials for thermal energy storage

The present paper considers the state of investigations and developments in form-stable phase change materials for thermal energy storage. Paraffins, fatty acids and their blends, polyethylene glycol are widely used as latent heat storage component in developing form-stable materials while high-density polyethylene (HDPE), styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) triblock copolymer, Eudragit S, Eudragit E, poly (vynil chloride) (PVC), poly (vynil alcohol) (PVA) and polyurethane block copolymer serve as structure supporting component. A set of organic and metallo-organic materials with high transition heat in solid-solid state is considered as perspective for-stable materials to store thermal energy. Another perspective class of form-stable materials are the materials on the basis of such porous materials as expanded perlite and vermiculite impregnated with phase change heat storage materials. The technology of producing new form-stable ultrafine heat storage fibers is developed. It opens availability to produce the clothers with improved heat storage ability for extremely cold regions. The perspective fields of application of form-stable materials are discussed. The further directions of investigations and developments are considered.     

High-temperature phase change materials for thermal energy storage

The development of energy saving technologies is very actual issue of present day. One of perspective directions in developing these technologies is the thermal energy storage in various industry branches. The review considers the modern state of art in investigations and developments of high-temperature phase change materials perspective for storage thermal and a solar energy in the range of temperatures from 120 to 1000 °C. The considerable quantity of mixes and compositions on the basis of fluorides, chlorides, hydroxides, nitrates, carbonates, vanadates, molybdates and other salts, and also metal alloys is given. Thermophysical properties of potential heat storage salt compositions and metal alloys are presented. Compatibility of heat storage materials (HSM) and constructional materials have found its reflection in the present work. Data on long-term characteristics of some HSMs in the course of repeated cycles of fusion and solidification are analyzed. Article considers also other problems which should be solved for creation of commercial high-temperature heat storage devices with use of phase change materials.     

Experimental validation of a CFD model for tubes in a phase change thermal energy storage system

A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model for tubes in a phase change thermal energy storage system has been developed and validated with experimental results. The heat transfer fluid (HTF) flows in tubes which are configured in a unique arrangement during the charging and discharging processes. Water was used as the phase change material (PCM) which was contained in a cylindrical tank with four tubes coiled inside it. Experiments were conducted for both freezing and melting processes. A three-dimensional CFD model using Ansys code was developed and validated with experimental results. This model endeavoured to describe both the freezing and melting processes of the PCM. The inlet and outlet HTF temperatures as well as nine temperature locations in the PCM were compared with the CFD results. The average effectiveness as well as the duration of the phase change process of each experimental point was also compared with results from the CFD. From this study, it was concluded that the CFD model developed can accurately predict the behaviour of the thermal storage system during charging and discharging. The paper gives details of the CFD model and compares results from the model and experiments.     

相变蓄热式太阳能木材干燥供热系统设计

设计了一种具有相变蓄热的太阳能木材干燥供热系统，介绍了系统的组成、工作流程和特点。利用太阳能作为能源干燥木材，有利于木材加工企业节能降耗，也有利于保护自然环境。     

Development of a ventilation system utilizing thermal energy storage for granules containing phase change material

We have developed an experimental ventilation system that features direct heat exchange between ventilation air and granules containing a phase change material (PCM). Measurement of outlet air temperature when the inlet air temperature was periodically varied to simulate changes of outdoor ambient air temperature showed that the outlet air temperature was stabilized and remained within the phase change temperature range. This effect is expected to be useful in practical ventilation systems. The potential of such systems for reducing ventilation load was examined through computer simulation for eight representative cities of Japan. This revealed how different temperature conditions would affect required heat storage capacity.     

相变储能太阳能热泵系统的试验研究

文章建立了相变储能太阳能热泵系统试验平台,介绍了系统的运行方式以及各个部分的运行原理,选取典型日进行试验,并对试验数据进行分析。分析结果表明:相变储能太阳能热泵系统能够满足北方农村的供暖需求,可以保证白天室内的温度达到22℃,COP的最大值为6.3;太阳能热泵系统停止工作后,相变储能箱可以保证室内温度达到供暖的需求温度7 h,起到了"削峰填谷"的作用,运行费用显著降低;相变储能太阳能热泵系统解决了单纯电加热供暖方式费用高、能耗高的问题,具有显著的节能性。     

Thermal performance of phase change material energy storage floor for active solar water-heating system

The conventional active solar water-heating floor system contains a big water tank to store energy in the day time for heating at night, which takes much building space and is very heavy. In order to reduce the water tank volume or even cancel the tank, a novel structure of an integrated water pipe floor heating system using shapestabilized phase change materials (SSPCM) for thermal energy storage was developed and experimentally studied in this paper. The thermal performances of the floors with and without the SSPCM were compared under the intermittent heating condition. The results show that the Energy Storage Ratio (ESR) of the SSPCM floor is much higher than that of the non-SSPCM floor; the SSPCM floor heating system can provide stable heat flux and prevent a large attenuation of the floor surface temperature. Also, the SSPCM floor heating system dampens the indoor temperature swing by about 50% and increases the minimum indoor air temperature by 2°C–3°C under experimental conditions. The SSPCM floor heating system has a potential of making use of the daytime solar energy for heating at night efficiently.     

Numerical analysis of latent heat thermal energy storage using encapsulated phase change material for solar thermal power plant

Thermal energy storage improves the load stability and efficiency of solar thermal power plants by reducing fluctuations and intermittency inherent to solar radiation. This paper presents a numerical study on the transient response of packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage system in removing fluctuations in the heat transfer fluid (HTF) temperature during the charging and discharging period. The packed bed consisting of spherical shaped encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) is integrated in an organic Rankine cycle-based solar thermal power plant for electricity generation. A comprehensive numerical model is developed using flow equations for HTF and two-temperature non-equilibrium energy equation for heat transfer, coupled with enthalpy method to account for phase change in PCM. Systematic parametric studies are performed to understand the effect of mass flow rate, inlet charging system, storage system dimension and encapsulation of the shell diameter on the dynamic behaviour of the storage system. The overall effectiveness and transient temperature difference in HTF temperature in a cycle are computed for different geometrical and operational parameters to evaluate the system performance. It is found that the ability of the latent heat thermal energy storage system to store and release energy is significantly improved by increasing mass flow rate and inlet charging temperature. The transient variation in the HTF temperature can be effectively reduced by decreasing porosity.     

Thermal performance of phase change material energy storage floor for active solar water-heating system

The conventional active solar water-heating floor system contains a big water tank to store energy in the day time for heating at night, which takes much building space and is very heavy. In order to reduce the water tank volume or even cancel the tank, a novel structure of an integrated water pipe floor heating system using shape-stabilized phase change materials (SSPCM) for thermal energy storage was developed and experimentally studied in this paper. The thermal performances of the floors with and without the SSPCM were compared under the intermittent heating condition. The results show that the Energy Storage Ratio (ESR) of the SSPCM floor is much higher than that of the non-SSPCM floor; the SSPCM floor heating system can provide stable heat flux and prevent a large attenuation of the floor surface temperature. Also, the SSPCM floor heating system dampens the indoor temperature swing by about 50% and increases the minimum indoor air temperature by 2°C–3°C under experimental conditions. The SSPCM floor heating system has a potential of making use of the daytime solar energy for heating at night efficiently.     

纳米复合相变材料固液相变储能过程研究进展

对纳米复合相变材料固液相变储能过程的若干最新研究进行了回顾,从相变储能系统的动态性能和典型的凝固、熔化传热过程两方面总结了相关研究的进展,并重点评述了数值模拟研究中纳米复合相变材料有效热物性预测方法的适用性及其与实验结果之间的偏差,最后对纳米复合相变材料固液相变储能过程的未来发展和重点研究方向进行了展望。     

金属基相变材料的研究进展及应用

金属基相变材料由于具有储能密度高、热稳定性好、热导率高等优点,在潜热热能储存系统中具有极大的优势。本文回顾了金属基相变材料的发展历程,归纳了金属基相变材料的性能参数,总结了各种热物性的测量方法,探讨了金属基相变材料与容器材料的相容性问题,分析了金属基相变材料在太阳能热发电、工业余热回收和电力削峰填谷中的应用前景。金属基相变材料的高温腐蚀性是目前限制其在热控制中应用的主要因素。为了实现金属基相变材料的广泛应用,需要重点解决金属基相变材料的封装问题。     

Performance of a natural circulation solar air heating system with phase change material energy storage

The design, construction and performance evaluation of a passive solar powered air heating system is presented. The system, which has potential applications in crop drying and poultry egg incubation, consists of a single-glazed flat plate solar collector integrated with a phase change material (PCM) heat storage system. The PCM is prepared in modules, with the modules equispaced across the absorber plate. The spaces between the module pairs serve as the air heating channels, the channels being connected to common air inlet and discharge headers. The system was tested experimentally under daytime no-load conditions at Nsukka, Nigeria, over the ambient temperature range of 19–41 °C, and a daily global irradiation range of 4.9–19.9 MJ m⁻². Peak temperature rise of the heated air was about 15 K, while the maximum airflow rate and peak cumulative useful efficiency were about 0.058 kg s⁻¹ and 22%, respectively. These results show that the system can be operated successfully for crop drying applications. With suitable valves to control the working chamber temperature, it can also operate as a poultry egg incubator.     

A new type of phase change heat storage tank in solar energy combination system

介绍了一种新型笼屉式相变蓄热水箱,通过实验测试对比分析相变蓄热水箱与普通蓄热水箱对太阳能组合系统的太阳能保证率及系统能效比的影响。实验表明：同等水箱容积,使用相变蓄热水箱时太阳能集热系统的小时集热量为普通蓄热水箱的3.7倍,相变蓄热水箱有利于提高太阳能保证率及系统能效比。在太阳能辐照强度相似的情况下,相变蓄热水箱会使太阳能保证率平均提高72%,使系统能效比平均提高26%。同时相变蓄热水箱可减少夜间水箱上部的热损失,使水箱上部水温降减少50%。     

应用于太阳能热发电站的高岭土基相变储热材料的制备

由于高岭土具有优异的吸附性和包覆性,文章以高岭土为载体,硬脂酸钠为相变材料,制备出一种新型的高岭土/硬脂酸钠相变储热材料,并利用XRD,SEM,FTIR和DSC现代测试技术对该相变储热材料的结构和各项性能进行研究。分析结果表明:高岭土和硬脂酸钠之间存在吸附关系,二者未发生化学反应;高岭土基相变储热材料的熔融、冷凝温度分别为252.86,256.91℃,熔融、冷凝相变潜热值分别为109.25,109.01 J/g;经500次热循环后,高岭土基相变储热材料的储热性能没有明显降低,高岭土与硬脂酸钠之间的结合方式也没有发生变化。     

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.     

A new model of phase change process for thermal energy storage

Thermal energy can be converted into mechanical energy through the melting process of a phase change material (PCM). A PCM mixed with an insoluble liquid has higher energy converting efficiency during the whole melting process, where the massive microvacuum formed during the freezing process is filled by the insoluble liquid, which increases utilization of the volume change. The traditional theoretical model of the phase change process is unable to sufficiently describe the mixed PCM; therefore, a new model aimed at analyzing the characteristics of the volumetric change rate, as well as the freezing and melting times of the mixed PCM, is theoretically constructed. In this paper, the effective heat capacity method is used, and the effects of porosity are considered when the PCM is in the solid state. Comparisons of this model with the traditional model are carried out using both simulations and experiments for different pressures and geometric structures. Our results indicate that the introduced model has better accuracy when describing the phase change process of the pure PCM mixed with an insoluble liquid.