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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2016) | Viewed by 30117

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Prof. Dr. Mohammed Mehdi Farid

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Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
Interests: energy storage; food processing; biofuel
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Dear Colleagues,

Work on energy storage with phase change has been ongoing for some time but has increased dramatically during the last 10 years, following the establishment of a number of companies worldwide producing varieties of phase change materials, ranging from paraffin and esters to hydrated salts. Significant works have been done on the use of these materials in buildings in a passive or active way showing potential energy saving. The use of PCM is not limited to buildings but also many other applications, including the cooling of electronic devices and batteries.

It is the objective of this Special Issue to publish original works done on the use of PCM in all application.

Prof. Dr. Mohammed Mehdi Farid
Guest Editor

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Keywords

PCM
latent heat
energy saving
thermal mass
thermal management
buildings
peak load shifting
price based control

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

8539 KiB

Open AccessArticle

2D Conduction Simulation of a PCM Storage Coupled with a Heat Pump in a Ventilation System

by Joseph Virgone and Abdelkrim Trabelsi

Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(7), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6070193 - 30 Jun 2016

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4954

Abstract

Efforts to simulate heat transfer in a PCM (Phase Change Material) storage device are generally led by considerations of Biot number and material thickness, of 2D versus 1D representation, and of possible hysteresis effects arising from the characterisation of the PCM using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In this paper we present a numerical treatment of heat conduction in a paraffin-based storage brick, based on experimental data for a full scale, heat storage component studied under laboratory conditions. The PCM was modelled adopting equivalent thermophysical properties during the phase change. An equivalent heat capacity and thermal conductivity were provided for an appropriate description of energy release and storage in the process of solidification and melting. The geometry of the metal container induces 2D effects that are generally neglected in numerical modelling. The thickness of the plates (about 2 cm) is sufficiently large to require the modelling of conduction in the PCM, but can also induce convection that has been neglected in this study. Experimental results are presented and compared for both a 1D and 2D model of the PCM device. It was concluded that a 2D representation is essential for configurations; like the case study and geometry we had; with a large difference in thermal conductivity between PCM and metal casing. Two curves of equivalent heat capacity (measured via DSC) were introduced for heating and cooling phases. Comparisons to experimental results indicated significant errors in the models during melting and solidification of the PCM, which could be reduced by instead adopting the mean of the two heat capacity curves. The rate of temperature change during the experiments and for the DSC characterisation was analysed and found to explain well the observations. In particular, as novelty, two peaks of equivalent heat capacity have been observed with DSC when the rate is very low instead of only one peak using current rate: and that explains the real behaviour in the experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Materials (PCM))

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2865 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Feasibility of Storing Latent Heat with Liquid Crystals. Proof of Concept at Lab Scale

by Rocío Bayón, Silverio Coco, María Barcenilla, Pablo Espinet, Gorka Imbuluzqueta, Jokin Hidalgo and Esther Rojas

Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(5), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6050121 - 25 Apr 2016

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5939

Abstract

In this work, the first experimental results of thermotropic liquid crystals used as phase change materials for thermal storage are presented. For that purpose, the n = 10 derivative from the family of 4′-n-alkoxybiphenyl-4-carboxylic acids has been prepared. Different techniques like polarized-light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and rheological measurements have been applied for its characterization. Having a mesophase/isotropic transition temperature around 251 °C, a clearing enthalpy of 55 kJ/kg, a thermal heat capacity of around 2.4 kJ/kg and a dynamic viscosity lower than 0.6 Pas, this compound fulfills the main requirements for being considered as latent heat storage material. Although further studies on thermal stability are necessary, the results already obtained are both promising and encouraging since they demonstrate de viability of this new application of liquid crystals as thermal storage media. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Materials (PCM))

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2518 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Evaluation of a Paraffin as Phase Change Material for Thermal Energy Storage in Laboratory Equipment and in a Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

by Jaume Gasia, Laia Miró, Alvaro De Gracia, Camila Barreneche and Luisa F. Cabeza

Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(4), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6040112 - 18 Apr 2016

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 7797

Abstract

The thermal behavior of a commercial paraffin with a melting temperature of 58 °C is analyzed as a phase change material (PCM) candidate for industrial waste heat recovery and domestic hot water applications. A full and complete characterization of this PCM is performed based on two different approaches: a laboratory characterization (mass range of milligrams) and an analysis in a pilot plant (mass range of kilograms). In the laboratory characterization, its thermal and cycling stability, its health hazard as well as its phase change thermal range, enthalpy and specific heat are analyzed using a differential scanning calorimeter, thermogravimetric analysis, thermocycling and infrared spectroscopy. Laboratory analyses showed its suitability up to 80 °C and for 1200 cycles. In the pilot plant analysis, its thermal behavior was analyzed in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger under different heat transfer fluid mass flow rates in terms of temperature, power and energy rates. Results from the pilot plant analysis allowed understanding the different methods of heat transfer in real charging and discharging processes as well as the influence of the geometry of the tank on the energy transferred and required time for charging and discharging processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Materials (PCM))

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1902 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Performance Evaluation of Fatty Acid Ester and Paraffin Based Mixed SSPCMs Using Exfoliated Graphite Nanoplatelets (xGnP)

by Hwayoung Lee, Su-Gwang Jeong, Seong Jin Chang, Yujin Kang, Seunghwan Wi and Sumin Kim

Appl. Sci. 2016, 6(4), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/app6040106 - 12 Apr 2016

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 6528

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs) have been used in various fields including the materials of buildings. In this research, mixed shape-stabilized PCMs (Mixed SSPCMs) were prepared by impregnating coconut oil and n-hexadecane into exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP) through a vacuum impregnate method. Coconut oil is fatty acid ester PCM which is relatively economical in comparison to other PCMs, and n-hexadecane is paraffin PCM that has high latent heat capacity. Drawbacks include leakage in a liquid state and low thermal conductivity resolved by xGnP. When preparing Mixed SSPCMs, coconut oil and n-hexadecane were impregnated at different proportions, namely 70:30, 50:50, 30:70 wt %. Mixed SSPCMs were analyzed through SEM, FT-IR, DSC, TGA and TCi. As a result, we confirmed the microstructure, chemical stability, thermal properties, thermal stability and thermal conductivity of Mixed SSPCMs. Latent heat capacity of Mixed SSPCMs were 89.06, 104.30 and 124.50 J/g while those of SSPCMs containing single PCM were 82.34 and 96.40 J/g. Thermal conductivity of Mixed SSPCMs was more than 284% higher than that of pure coconut oil and n-hexadecane. Finally, we confirmed that coconut oil and n-hexadecane were impregnated into xGnP, and the Mixed SSPCMs have high thermal durability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Materials (PCM))

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1983 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Entropy Generation within a Square Enclosure for Sensible and Latent Heat Transfers

by Alissar Yehya and Hassane Naji

Appl. Sci. 2015, 5(4), 1904-1921; https://doi.org/10.3390/app5041904 - 17 Dec 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4265

Abstract

This paper deals with the numerical simulation of heat transfer and entropy generation in a 2D square enclosure for convective melting. A thermal lattice Boltzmann method (TLBM) is used to handle the study, which has been conducted for Prandtl numbers from 0.02 to 70 at Rayleigh numbers of 10⁴ and 10⁵. The results are presented in terms of the total entropy generation, average Bejan number and average Nusselt number. Within the range considered for the key parameters, the entropy generation is found to be controlled by the heat transfer loss for low Prandtl numbers. However, for the large Prandtl numbers, its variation is dominated by shearing losses. Moreover, the presence of the latent heat state decreases the overall thermodynamic losses while increasing the quantity of heat transferred. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Materials (PCM))

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