Heat transfer and parametric studies of an encapsulated phase change material based cool thermal energy storage system

This work investigates the transient behaviour of a phase change material based cool thermal energy storage (CTES) system comprised of a cylindrical storage tank filled with encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) in spherical container integrated with an ethylene glycol chiller plant. A simulation program was developed to evaluate the temperature histories of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) and the phase change material at any axial location during the charging period. The results of the model were validated by comparison with experimental results of temperature profiles of HTF and PCM. The model was also used to investigate the effect of porosity, Stanton number, Stefan number and Peclet number on CTES system performance. The results showed that increase in porosity contributes to a higher rate of energy storage. However, for a given geometry and heat transfer coefficient, the mass of PCM charged in the unit decreases as the increase in porosity. The St number as well as the Ste number is also influential in the performance of the unit. The model is a convenient and more suitable method to determine the heat transfer characteristics of CTES system. The results reported are much useful for designing CTES system.

Role of Composite Phase Change Material on the Thermal Performance of a Latent Heat Storage System: Experimental Investigation

Paraffin wax is a perfect phase change material(PCM)that can be used in latent heat storage units(LHSUs).The utilization of such LHSU is restricted by the poor conductivity of PCM.In the present work,a metal foam made of aluminium with PCM was used to produce a composite PCM as a thermal conductivity technique in PCM⁃LHSU and water was used as heat transfer fluid(HTF).An experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of LHSU using pure PCM and composite PCM.The study included time⁃dependent visualization of the PCM during the melting and solidification processes.Besides,a thermocouple network was placed inside the heat storage to record the temperature profile during each process.Results showed that better performance could be obtained using composite PCM⁃LHSU for both melting and solidification processes.The melting time of composite PCM⁃LHSU was about 83%faster than that of a simple PCM⁃LHSU,and the percentage decreasing in the solidification time was about 85%due to the provision of metal foam.

Parametric Study on Phase Change Material Based Thermal Energy Storage System

The usage of phase change materials (PCM) to store the heat in the form of latent heat is increased, because large quantity of thermal energy is stored in smaller volumes. In the present experimental investigation, sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate is employed as phase change material and it is stored in stainless steel capsules. These capsules are kept in fabricated tank and hot water is supplied into it. The experimental design is prepared by considering the parameters: flow rate, heat transfer fluid inlet temperature and PCM capsule shape. Experiments are conducted according to the experimental design and responses are recorded. The effect of selected parameters on TES using PCM is studied by analyzing experimental data. The experimental data are also analyzed using Fuzzy Logic to find the optimal values of flow rate, heat transfer fluid inlet temperature and PCM capsule shapes. The present work utilizes Fuzzy Logic to find the optimal parameters for designing the effective Thermal Energy Storage System (TES).

Green's function solution for transient heat conduction in annular fin during solidification of phase change material

The Green＇s function method is applied for the transient temperature of an annular fin when a phase change material （PCM） solidifies on it. The solidification of the PCMs takes place in a cylindrical shell storage. The thickness of the solid PCM on the fin varies with time and is obtained by the Megerlin method. The models are found with the Bessel equation to form an analytical solution. Three different kinds of boundary conditions are investigated. The comparison between analytical and numerical solutions is given. The results demonstrate that the significant accuracy is obtained for the temperature distribution for the fin in all cases.

Optimum Distribution of Two Different Phase Change Materials between Various Components of Roof Air-Conditioned Room, Suitable to Reduce Annual Energy Consumption

Obviously, the outside annual climate change caused either by a major solar input during the hottest period or by a temperature drop during the coldest period leads to discomfort in inside buildings. This effect can be reduced by storing heat transmitted in phase change materials (PCM) as latent heat, in order to ensure a good situation of thermal comfort during all months of the year. In this work, thermal behavior of two roofing systems is studied. One roof is constituted only by usual materials in building. In the other, two phase change materials (PCM) are introduced according to three configurations. Study is interested to assess incorporation effect of two PCMs within the roof and to evaluate the optimum locations to reduce the energy consumption of air-conditioned room. Mono-dimensional numerical model validated analytically and experimentally, is used to carry out a parametric analyzes to determine characteristics of the layers in which the roofs are formed regardless of external climate effect. Numerical calculations are performed for three configurations of roof. Results show that insertion of phase change materials in roof provides best energy consumption saving regardless annual climate change. Generally, the three configurations lead to different results, depending on the combination of PCMs. This difference becomes less important when selection of PCMs take account the thermal comfort level and temperatures of hottest and coldest periods.

Time-Temperature Charge Function of a High Dynamic Thermal Heat Storage with Phase Change Material

A thermal heat storage system with an energy content of 40 kWh and a temperature of 58°C will be presented. This storage system is suitable for supporting the use of renewable energies in buildings and for absorbing solar heat, heat from co-generation and heat pumps or electric heat from excess wind and solar power. The storage system is equipped with a plate heat exchanger that is so powerful that even with small temperature differences between the flow temperature and the storage temperature a high load dynamic is achieved. The storage system has a performance of 2.8 kW at 4 K and 10.6 kW at a temperature difference of 10 K. Thus, large performance variations in solar thermal systems or CHP plants can be buffered very well. Further a storage charge function Q(T, t) will be presented to characterize the performance of the storage.

A New Kind of Shape-stabilized Phase Change Materials

Based on the lowest melting point and Schroeder’s theoretical calculation formula,nano- modified organic composite phase change materials（PCMs）were prepared.The phase transition temperature and the latent heat of the materials were 24℃and 172 J/g,respectively.A new shape-stabilized phase change materials were prepared,using high density polyethylene as supporting material.The PCM kept the shape when temperature was higher than melting point.Thus,it can directly contact with heat transfer media.The structure,morphology and thermal behavior of PCM were analyzed by FTIR,SEM and DSC.

Effect of Phase Change Materials on the Thermal Protective Performance of the Multi-layered Fabrics Examined by TPP Tester under Flash Fire

Cotton fabrics treated with phase change materials( PCMs)were used in multi-layered fabrics of the fire fighter protective clothing to study its effect on thermal protection. The thermal protective performance( TPP) of the multi-layered fabrics was measured by a TPP tester under flash fire. Results showed that the utilization of the PCM fabrics improved the thermal protective performance of the multi-layered fabrics. The fabric with a PCM add on of 41. 9% increased the thermal protection by 50. 6% and reduced the time to reach a second degree burn by 8. 4 s compared with the reference fabrics( without PCMs). The employment of the PCM fabrics also reduced the blackened areas on the inner layers. The PCM fabrics with higher PCM melting temperature could bring higher thermal protective performance.

Strain Engineering for Germanium-on-Insulator Mobility Enhancement with Phase Change Liner Stressors

We investigate the strain in various Ge-on-insulator （GeOI） micro-structures induced by three phase-change maferials （PCMs） （Ge2Sb2Te5, Sb2Te3, GeTe） deposited. The PCMs could change the phase from amorphous state to polycrystalline state with a low temperature thermal annealing, resulting in an intrinsic contraction in the PCM films. Raman spectroscopy analysis is performed to compare the strain induced in the GeOI micro- structures by various PCMs. By comparison, Sb2 Tea could induce the largest amount of tensile strain in the GeOI micro-structures after the low temperature annealing. Based on the strain calculated from the Raman peak shifts, finite element numerical simulation is performed to calculate the strain-induced electron mobility enhancement for Ge n-MOSFETs with PCM liner stressors. With the adoption of Sb2 Te3 liner stressor, 22% electron mobility enhancement at Xinv=1×10^13cm^-2 could be achieved, suggesting that PCM especially Sb2 Te3 liner stressor is a promising technique for the performance enhancement of Ge MOSFETs.

Storage and exchange thermal characteristic analysis of phase change wallboard room with different conditions

Based on the phase change material (PCM) thermal characteristic,some testing methods such as differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) etc were used to select the low melting mixture of capric and lauric acid as PCM of phase change wallboard (PCW). The PCW room was established,and some contrast analysis of the storage and exchange thermal characteristic of PCW room and ordinary wall room were made under different conditions. The results show that the fluctuation of indoor air temperature in PCW room is smaller than that in ordinary room obviously. The exchange energy of PCM room with outdoor is less than that of ordinary wall room. In the winter condition,PCW room utilizes valley period electricity to storage energy in the night,while releases at peak period electricity in daytime,which can divert 40% of peak load. In the summer condition,PCW room can reduce the peak cooling load by 25% compared with ordinary wall room.

Current Controlled Relaxation Oscillations in Ge_2Sb_2Te_5-Based Phase Change Memory Devices

The relaxation oscillation of the phase change memory （PCM） devices based on the Ge2Sb2Te5 material is investigated by applying square current pulses. The current pulses with different amplitudes could be accurately given by the independently designed current testing system. The relaxation oscillation across the PCM device could be measured using an oscilloscope. The oscillation duration decreases with time, showing an inner link with the shrinking threshold voltage Vth. However, the relaxation oscillation would not terminate until the remaining voltage Von reaches the holding voltage Vh. This demonstrates that the relaxation oscillation might be controlled by Von. The increasing current amplitudes could only quicken the oscillation velocity but not be able to eliminate it, which indicates that the relaxation oscillation might be an inherent behavior for the PCM cell.

Performance of a Phase Change Material Battery in a Transparent Building

This research evaluates the performance of a Phase Change Material(PCM)battery integrated into the climate system of a new transparent meeting center.The main research questions are:a.“Can the performance of the battery be calculated?”and b.“Can the battery reduce the heating and cooling energy demand in a significant way?”The first question is answered in this document.In order to be able to answer the second question,especially the way the heat loading in winter should be improved,then more research is necessary.In addition to the thermal battery,which consists of Phase Change Material plates,the climate system has a cross-flow heat exchanger and a heat pump.The battery should play a central role in closing the thermal balance of the lightweight building,which can be loaded with hot return or cold outdoor air.The temperature of the battery plates is monitored by multi-sensors and simulated by the use of PHOENICS(Computational Fluid Dynamics)and MATLAB.This paper reports reasonable agreement between the numerical predictions and the measurements,with a maximum variance of 10%.The current coefficient of performance for heating and cooling is already high,more than 27.There is scope for increasing this much further by making use of the very low-pressure difference of the battery(below 25 Pascal),low pressure fans and the ventilation system as a whole.

Simulation of the Hygrothermal Behavior of a Building Envelope Based on Phase Change Materials and a Bio-Based Concrete

Phase Change Materials(PCMs)have high thermal inertia,and hemp concrete(HC),a bio-based concrete,has strong hygroscopic behavior.In previous studies,PCM has been extensively combined with many materials,however,most of these studies focused on thermal properties while neglecting hygroscopic aspects.In this study,the two materials have been combined into a building envelope and the related hygrothermal properties have been studied.In particular,numerical studies have been performed to investigate the temperature and relative humidity behavior inside the HC,and the effect of adding PCM on the hygrothermal behavior of the HC.The results show that there is a high coupling between temperature and relative humidity inside the HC,since the relative humidity changes on the second and third days are different,with values of 8%and 4%,respectively.Also,the variation of relative humidity with temperature indicates the dominant influence of temperature on relative humidity variation.With the presence of PCM,the temperature variation inside the HC is damped due to the high thermal inertia of the PCM,which also leads to suppression of moisture evaporation and thus damping of relative humidity variation.On the second and third days,the temperature changes at the central position are reduced by 4.6%and 5.1%,compared to the quarter position.For the relative humidity change,the reductions are 5.3%and 5.4%on the second and third days,respectively.Therefore,PCM,with high thermal inertia,acts as a temperature damper and has the potential to increase the moisture buffering capacity inside the HC.This makes it possible for such a combined envelope to have both thermal and hygric inertia.

Melting and Solidification Heat Transfer Characteristics of a Phase-Change Material in a Latent Heat Storage Vessel: Effects of a Perforated Partition Plate and Metal Fiber

Today, latent heat storage technology has advanced to allow reuse of waste heat in the middle-temperature range. This paper describes an approach to develop a latent heat storage system using middle-temperature waste heat (~100oC - 200oC) from factories. Direct contact melting and solidification behavior between a heat-transfer fluid (oil) and a latent heat storage material mixture were observed. The mixture consisted of mannitol and erythritol (Cm = 70 mass %, Ce = 30 mass %) as a phase-change material (PCM). The weight of the PCM was 3.0 kg and the flow rate of the oil, foil, was 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 kg/min. To decrease the solidified height of the PCM mixture during the solidification process, a perforated partition plate was installed in the PCM region in the heat storage vessel. PCM coated oil droplets were broken by the perforated partition plate, preventing the solidified height of the PCM from increasing. The solidification and melting processes were repeated using metal fiber. It was found that installing the metal fiber was more effective than installing the perforated partition plate to prevent the flow out problem of the PCM.

Fatty Acid/Expanded Graphite Encapsulating Form-Stable Phase Change Materials for Energy Storage

The lauric-myristic-palmitic acid( LA-MA-PA) ternary eutectic mixtures/expanded graphite( EG) composite phase change materials( PCMs) were prepared by absorbing LA-MA-PA into the porous network of EG. The optimum ratio of ternary eutectic mixtures to EG was determined to be 93∶7 without liquid LA-MA-PA leakage from the composite PCMs. In order to make the structure more stable, the composite PCMs were encapsulated by surface treatment agent to prepare LA-MA-PA/EG encapsulating form-stable PCMs which were characterized by scanning electron microscope( SEM),Fourier transformation infrared spectroscope( FT-IR),differential scanning calorimetry( DSC) and thermal treatment. The results showed there was no chemical reaction between surface treatment agent and LA-MA-PA,and the samples were compactly encapsulated which left almost no imprint on the filter paper after thermal treatment. The phase change temperature and latent heat of LA-MA-PA/EG encapsulating form-stable PCMs were tested to be29. 32 ℃ and 96. 20 J/g,respectively. Additionally,the heat transfer efficiency of heat storage was improved by the addition of EG.

PCM纺织品调温性能测试装置的设计与应用

为研究PCM纺织品的调温性能,研制开发了由温度控制板、行进装置和数据采集装置3部分构成的PCM纺织品调温性能测试装置,提出以温度下降速率T′和热调节能力Id这2个指标评价PCM纺织品的调温性能.PCM纺织品与普通纺织品的对比试验表明:研制的测试装置能模拟人体皮肤和环境温度的变化,温度下降速率T′和热调节能力Id这2个指标可以表征PCM纺织品的调温性能.

新型非易失相变存储器PCM应用研究

并行I/O技术有效优化了I/O性能,但对访问延迟却难以控制.相变存储器(phase change memory,PCM)作为一种SCM(storage class memory),具有非易失性、随机可读写、低延迟、高吞吐率、体积小和低功耗的特点,为I/O性能优化提供了最直接有效的途径.研究了PCM的特性与存在的问题,总结了目前PCM的应用研究进展,针对高性能计算中的并行I/O问题,提出了一种基于相变存储器PCM的层次式并行混合存储模型,能够有效提高并行文件系统元数据服务效率和并行I/O吞吐率.

相变材料(PCM)在工业建筑节能中的应用

介绍了相变材料的主要性能,结合工业建筑的特点和基本要求,阐述了相变材料在工业建筑围护结构与采暖空调中的应用,并针对相变材料在实际应用中存在的问题,提出了相变材料的研究方向。

严寒地区轻质建筑应用PCM节能改造研究

轻质建筑具有快速装配与可拆卸特性,在工地与灾后重建中应用广泛,但存在室内热环境差、能耗大等问题。以安达地区某轻质建筑为研究对象,建立了EnergyPlus三维模型,分析了相变材料(PCM)在轻质建筑墙体中使用方位、位置和厚度等影响因素。结果表明:轻质建筑墙体使用PCM可大幅降低能耗,削弱室内温度波动幅度并延长迟滞时间,PCM用在北朝向最佳,但各朝向能耗差异不大。PCM宜放置于保温材料内侧,相比外侧最冷月节能4.38 kW·h,提高室内温度约0.33℃。PCM最优厚度60 mm,相比无PCM墙最冷月节能180.8 kW·h,节能率为16.2%。

基于PCM的GPU存储系统设计与优化

以相变存储器(PCM)为代表的新型非易失存储器,具有存储密度高和静态功耗低等传统动态随机存取存储器(DRAM)不具备的优势,但是过长的写操作延时会严重影响访存的性能。设计了基于PCM的图形处理器(GPU)中的存储系统。仿真结果显示,GPU程序中的内存写请求分布极不均匀,对少量的内存地址有非常高的访问频率。面向访存分布不均匀特点的专用缓冲单元设计,能够有效地存储频繁访问的内存数据,从而减少对PCM的访问次数,消除过长的写操作延时对系统性能的负面影响。GPU仿真器上的结果显示,基于缓冲单元的PCM存储系统能够有效地提高GPU的运算性能。