Limitations of using phase change materials for thermal energy storage

Лебедев, В. А.; Amer, Ahmed E.

doi:10.1088/1755-1315/378/1/012044

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although increasing the thermal conductivity is an important goal/outcome, increases in the thermal conductivity are typically accompanied by decreases in the latent heat, and there are relatively few studies that address both parameters simultaneously [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. Some NEPCMs undergo rapid changes in the structure and thermal performance when subjected to repeated charging/discharging cycles (thermal cycling), and cyclic tests have been conducted to determine the stability and effectiveness of a particular NEPCM [29]. During repeated thermal cycles and the resulting phase change process, the buoyancy forces may result in segregation of the two phases, which can adversely affect the effective thermophysical properties of the NEPCM [30].…”

Section: Limiting Factors Affecting Nepcmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During repeated thermal cycles and the resulting phase change process, the buoyancy forces may result in segregation of the two phases, which can adversely affect the effective thermophysical properties of the NEPCM [30]. A number of investigations have indicated that most organics, such as paraffin and other fatty acids, change very little, even at high cycle counts; some inorganic PCMs cannot withstand as many cycles before their thermophysical properties are susceptible to degradation [29,31]. Thus, for more stable NEPCMs, it may be advisable to use organic PCMs.…”

Section: Limiting Factors Affecting Nepcmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review of Thermal Property Enhancements of Low-Temperature Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials

Williams

Peterson

2021

Nanomaterials

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Phase change materials (PCMs) are of increasing interest due to their ability to absorb and store large amounts of thermal energy, with minimal temperature variations. In the phase-change process, these large amounts of thermal energy can be stored with a minimal change in temperature during both the solid/liquid and liquid/vapor phase transitions. As a result, these PCMs are experiencing increased use in applications such as solar energy heating or storage, building insulation, electronic cooling, food storage, and waste heat recovery. Low temperature, nano-enhanced phase change materials (NEPCM) are of particular interest, due to the recent increase in applications related to the shipment of cellular based materials and vaccines, both of which require precise temperature control for sustained periods of time. Information such as PCM and nanoparticle type, the effective goals, and manipulation of PCM thermal properties are assembled from the literature, evaluated, and discussed in detail, to provide an overview of NEPCMs and provide guidance for additional study. Current studies of NEPCMs are limited in scope, with the primary focus of a majority of recent investigations directed at increasing the thermal conductivity and reducing the charging and discharging times. Only a limited number of investigations have examined the issues related to increasing the latent heat to improve the thermal capacity or enhancing the stability to prevent sedimentation of the nanoparticles. In addition, this review examines several other important thermophysical parameters, including the thermal conductivity, phase transition temperature, rheological affects, and the chemical stability of NEPCMs. This is accomplished largely through comparing of the thermophysical properties of the base PCMs and their nano-enhanced counter parts and then evaluating the relative effectiveness of the various types of NEPCMs. Although there are exceptions, for a majority of conventional heat transfer fluids the thermal conductivity of the base PCM generally increases, and the latent heat decreases as the mass fraction of the nanoparticles increases, whereas trends in phase change temperature are often dependent upon the properties of the individual components. A number of recommendations for further study are made, including a better understanding of the stability of NEPCMs such that sedimentation is limited and thus capable of withstanding long-term thermal cycles without significant degradation of thermal properties, along with the identification of those factors that have the greatest overall impact and which PCM combinations might result in the most significant increases in latent heat.

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Section: Limiting Factors Affecting Nepcmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limiting Factors Affecting Nepcmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Thermal Property Enhancements of Low-Temperature Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials

Williams

Peterson

2021

Nanomaterials

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“…Additionally, in comparison to other TES technologies (sensible heat and thermo-chemical energy storage) in use, it offers a high energy storage density. Though it has favorable characteristics, its poor thermal conductivity, which affects charging and discharging rates, should be enhanced [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Bio-Inspired TES Tank for Heat Transfer Enhancement in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Systems

Cabeza,

Mani Kala,

Zsembinszki

et al. 2024

Applied Sciences

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Thermal energy storage (TES) systems play a very important part in addressing the energy crisis. Therefore, numerous researchers are striving to improve the efficiency of TES tanks. The TES technology has the potential to reach new heights when the biological behavior of nature is incorporated into the design of TES tanks. By mimicking the branched vein pattern observed in plants and animals, the heat transfer fluid (HTF) tube of a TES tank can enhance the heat transfer surface area, hence improving its thermal efficiency without the need to add other enhancements of heat transfer methods. Accordingly, in this study, a unique additive-manufacturing-based bio-inspired TES tank was designed, developed, and tested. A customized testing setup was used to assess the bio-inspired TES tank’s thermal performance. A comparison was made between the bio-inspired TES tank and a conventional shell-and-tube TES tank. The latent TES system’s thermal performance was significantly enhanced by the biomimetic approach for the design of a TES tank, even before the optimization of its design. The results showed that, compared to the shell-and-tube TES tank, the bio-inspired TES tank had a higher discharging rate and needed 52% less time to release the stored heat.

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“…However, solar radiation is not available throughout the day and varies throughout the year. Hence, it is essential to develop efficient methods for storing solar energy so that it can be used when solar radiation is not available 1‐7 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The analysis of thermal cycling for PCMs is important in thermal energy storage systems (TESSs). Organic materials, such as fatty acids and paraffins, can be implemented as PCMs in systems that use solar energy and operate at relatively low temperatures (about 30°C‐60°C) 6,20 . Careful selection of the appropriate PCM is essential for the TESS.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal performance of an accumulator unit using phase change material with a fixed volume of fins

2021

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Summary Melting rate enhancement inside an accumulator unit for a phase change material (PCM) has been numerically investigated in a shell‐and‐tube (S‐T) arrangement that incorporates the circular type of fins, considering a fixed total volume of fins. The number of fins was chosen as the design parameter. The heat transfer fluid (HTF) was chosen as water that flows through the selected accumulator unit during the process of melting. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique has been utilized for the simulation of the accumulator using ANSYS FLUENT software by considering a two‐dimensional axisymmetric cylindrical accumulator in a vertical direction. During the melting process, two heat transfer mechanisms were considered, namely, conduction and convection. The HTF flow was 5 L/min with a flow temperature of 358 K for charging. The predicted complete melting time of the PCM decreased by 53.125%, 65.625%, 71.875%, and 71.875% for fins numbering 6, 18, 30, and 36, respectively, compared with the S‐T without fins where it took approximately 480 minutes to melt completely. The optimal fin parameters are recommended in this study as follows: number of fins N = 30, thickness t/d = 0.01858, interval d/L = 0.03227, and aspect ratio t/h = 0.015. These recommended values maximize the thermal performance of the selected accumulator unit. The effects of changing the flow rate of the heat transfer fluid and its inlet temperature have been found to be significant on the PCM melting rate. The total melting time of the PCM is found to be reduced by about 57% when the inlet flow temperature is increased from 343 to 358 K. Moreover, the total melting time reduces by about 70.5% with an increase in the heat transfer fluid mass flow rate from 0.15 to 5 L/min. Furthermore, increasing the HTF flow rate from 0.15 to 5 L/min leads to a reduction of about 61.1% in the predicted total time that is required for solidification. The temperature differences for low flow rates are greater than those for high flow rates. The novelty of this study is in investigating the performance at a fixed total volume of fins.

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Limitations of using phase change materials for thermal energy storage

Cited by 11 publications

References 22 publications

A Review of Thermal Property Enhancements of Low-Temperature Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials

A Review of Thermal Property Enhancements of Low-Temperature Nano-Enhanced Phase Change Materials

Development of a Bio-Inspired TES Tank for Heat Transfer Enhancement in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Systems

Thermal performance of an accumulator unit using phase change material with a fixed volume of fins

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