Development of Sensible Heat Storage Materials Using Sand, Clay and Coal Bottom Ash

In this paper, the mechanical and thermal properties of a sand-clay ceramic with additives coal bottom ash (CBA) waste from incinerator coal power plant are investigated to develop an alternative material for thermal energy storage (TES). Ceramic balls are developed at 1000°C and 1060°C using sintering or firing method. The obtained ceramics were compressed with a compression machine and thermally analyse using Decagon devise KD2 Pro thermal analyser. A muffle furnace was also used for thermal cycling at 610°C. It was found that the CBA increased the porosity, which resulted in the increase of the axial tensile strength reaching 3.5 MPa for sand-clay and ash ceramic. The ceramic balls with the required tensile strength for TES were selected. Their volumetric heat capacity, and thermal conductivity range respectively from 2.4075 MJ·m-3·°C-1 to 3.426 MJ·m-3·°C-1 and their thermal conductivity from 0.331 Wm-1·K-1, to 1.014 Wm-1·K-1 depending on sand origin, size and firing temperature. The selected formulas have good thermal stability because the most fragile specimens after 60 thermal cycles did not present any cracks. These properties allow envisioning the use of the ceramic balls developed as filler material for thermocline thermal energy storage (structured beds) in Concentrating Solar Power plants. And for other applications like solar cooker and solar dryer.

Thermal Cycling Stability of Mg-25Al-15Zn-14Cu PCM

Thermal cycling tests of repeated melting/freezing processes were performed to check the thermal stability of Mg-25Al-15Zn-14 Cu alloy as phase change thermal storage material（PCM）. Latent heat storage capacity and phase transition temperature of the PCMs were determined by differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） technique as a function of repeated thermal cycles such as 0, 100, 200, and 1000. The present work also comprised the investigation of the density and microstructure of Mg-25Al-15Zn-14 Cu alloy before and after thermal cycles by using the hydrostatic method and optical microscopy（OM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, and electron probe microanalysis（EPMA）, respectively. The results show that the melting temperature of alloy after 1000 thermal cycles is 415.1 ℃ and the latent heat value is 190.4 J/g. Compared with the original alloy, the phase transition temperature will increase by 1.87% and the value of phase change latent heat will decrease by 7.35%, which are in a suitable range. Therefore, Mg-25Al-15Zn-14 Cu alloy has a good thermal reliability in terms of the change in its thermal properties with respect to thermal cycling for 1000, and can be used for a middle-temperature thermal storage utility.

Novel and durable composite phase change thermal energy storage materials with controllable melting temperature

The development of high temperature phase change materials(PCMs)with great comprehensive performance is significant in the future thermal energy storage system.In this study,novel and durable Al-Si/Al_(2)O_(3)-Al N composite PCMs with controllable melting temperature were successfully synthesized by using pristine Al powder as raw material and tetraethyl orthosilicate as SiO_(2)source.The Al_(2)O_(3)shell and Al-Si alloy were in-situ produced via the substitution reaction between molten Al and SiO_(2).Importantly,the crack caused by the incomplete encapsulation of the Al_(2)O_(3)shell could repair itself by the nitridation reaction of internal molten Al and thereby forming a highly dense Al_(2)O_(3)-Al N composite shell.The produced dense Al_(2)O_(3)-Al N composite shell could significantly improve the thermal cycling stability of composite PCMs,and thus,the thermal storage density decrease of the Al-Si/Al_(2)O_(3)-Al N(59.8 J/g to77.7 J/g)was far less than that of the Al-Si/Al_(2)O_(3)(118.5 J/g)after 3000 thermal cycles.Moreover,the synthesized Al-Si/Al_(2)O_(3)-Al N still exhibited a controllable melting temperature(571.5-637.9℃),relatively high thermal storage density(105.6-150.7 J/g),great dimensional stability and structural stability after3000 thermal cycles.Hence,the synthesized Al-Si/Al_(2)O_(3)-Al N composite PCMs,as promising preferential thermal energy storage materials,can be stably used in the energy utilization efficiency improvement of various systems for more than 6 years.

Carbonate-salt-based composite materials for medium- and high-temperature thermal energy storage

This paper discusses composite materials based on inorganic salts for medium- and high-temperature thermal energy storage application. The composites consist of a phase change material （PCM）, a ceramic material, and a high thermal conductivity material. The ceramic material forms a microstructural skeleton for encapsulation of the PCM and structural stability of the composites; the high thermal conductivity material enhances the overall thermal conductivity of the composites. Using a eutectic salt of lithium and sodium carbonates as the PCM, magnesium oxide as the ceramic skeleton, and either graphite flakes or carbon nanotubes as the thermal conductivity enhancer, we produced composites with good physical and chemical stability and high thermal conductivity. We found that the wettability of the molten salt on the ceramic and carbon materials significantly affects the microstructure of the composites.

A one-step method for producing microencapsulated phase change materials

This short communication reports our recent work on the synthesis and characterisation ofmicrocapsules of phase change materials using silica as the shell material through a one-step method. The method uses no surfactants or dispersants for stabilising the capsules. The results show that the one-step method allows the tuning of the size and polydispersity of the capsules, and the use of different core materials. Analyses of the capsules show that they contain about 65% phase change materials. The results also suggest no need for a stabilising agent due to self-stabilisation by the amine groups. Further work is underway to investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of the microcapsules and the scale-up of the method.