Latent heat thermal energy storage heat exchangers store heat energy by virtue of the phase transition that occurs in the thermal storage media. Since phase change materials (PCMs) are utilized as the media, there is a critical necessity for the appropriate selection of the PCM utilized. Since multiple thermo-physical properties and multiple PCMs are required to be evaluated for the selection, there arises a need for multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) algorithms to be adopted for the selection. But owing to the different weight estimation techniques employed and the voluminous quantity of selection algorithms available, there arises a need for a comparative methodology to be adopted. This study was intended to select an optimal PCM for a sustainable steam cooking application coupled with a thermal energy storage system. In this research study, six PCMs were chosen as the alternatives and five thermo-physical properties were chosen as the criteria for the evaluation. 11 different algorithms were augmented with 3 different weight estimation techniques and therefore a total of 33 algorithms were employed in this study. All of the algorithms have chosen Erythritol as the optimal PCM for the application. The outcomes of the MCDM algorithms have been validated through an intricate Pearson’s correlation coefficient study.
Low thermal conductivity of organic phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal
energy storage systems induces the necessity to apply suitable heat transfer
enhancement techniques for these materials. The purpose of this study was to
improve thermal conductivity of a PCM erythritol by using sodium chloride as
an additive, such that the material can be applied for steam cooking systems
when integrated with solar parabolic trough collectors. In this study,
erythritol-NaCl composites were synthesized by using the melting method, and
the key physicochemical properties of the composites were estimated by using
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) coupled with thermo-gravimetric
analysis (TGA). The observations indicate that there has been a significant
improvement in the thermal conductivity of erythritol supplemented with
NaCl. Further, thermal behaviour of the material indicates that it is
suitable for steam cooking applications. Furthermore, mathematical models
based on the experimental observations can be potentially utilized for
further studies of erythritol-NaCl composites.
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