The development of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) applications and products is closely related to the market penetration of the renewable energy technologies. With the initial aim of matching the phase shift between resource availability and demand in solar energy systems, the range of PCM applications expanded rapidly during the last decades, entering economic sectors where some form of passive thermal regulation was required. This review focuses on examining both conventional applications and recent advances and niche areas—such as space applications—where PCM-based systems demonstrated a potential to improve the operation at process level. The literature survey conducted here gave special attention to recent application of PCM-based systems such as data centres cooling and electric vehicles battery thermal management. Recent advances in PCM-based systems designs were surveyed in the second part of the article. The main PCM containment and system integration directions were discussed and recent representative studies were discussed. Some topics considered marginal but nevertheless essential to large scale implementation of PCM-based systems were mentioned and their coverage in the literature was assessed: health risks, environmental and lifecycle issues.
Electric vehicles battery systems (EVBS) are subject to complex charging/discharging processes that produce various amount of stress and cause significant temperature fluctuations. Due to the variable heat generation regimes, latent heat storage systems that can absorb significant amounts of thermal energy with little temperature variation are an interesting thermal management solution. A major drawback of organic phase change materials is their low thermal conductivity, which limits the material charging/discharging capacity. This review paper covers recent studies on thermal performance enhancement of PCM thermal management for electric vehicles batteries. A special focus is placed on the constraints related to electric vehicles battery systems, such as mass/volume minimization, integration with other battery thermal management systems, operational temperature range, adaptability to extreme regimes and modulation of the melting/solidification behavior. The main research outcomes are as follows: quantitative/comparative assessment of common enhancement technique in terms of performance; approaches to deal with special constraints related to EVBS from the thermal control point of view.
Thermal control methods based on phase change materials have a wide range of applications, from thermal management to latent heat storage for renewable energy systems, with intermittent availability. Organic PCMs have some advantages over inorganics; however, their major drawback is flammability. In critical applications, such as buildings, electric vehicles, and aerospace applications, flammability is an issue that must be addressed in order to comply with safety standards. This review paper covers current studies assessing the PCM response to fire or excessive temperature, methods for ensuring flame retardancy, and their impact on the PCMs key characteristics: phase transition temperature range, latent heat, heat transfer rate, and compatibility with other system materials. A special focus is set on the preparation methods and the effectiveness of the flame-retardance achievement method. Some research gaps and further research directions are identified and discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.