scholarly journals Temperature Control in (Translucent) Phase Change Materials Applied in Facades: A Numerical Study

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 3286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tenpierik ◽  
Wattez ◽  
Turrin ◽  
Cosmatu ◽  
Tsafou
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Gradient ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Specific Heat ◽  
Melting Temperature ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Melting Process ◽  
Large Temperature ◽  
Energy Efficient Buildings ◽  
High Solar Radiation

Phase change materials (PCMs) are materials that can store large amounts of heat during their phase transition from solid to liquid without a significant increase in temperature. While going from liquid to solid this heat is again released. As such, these materials can play an important role in future energy-efficient buildings. If applied in facades as part of a thermal buffer strategy, e.g., capturing and temporarily storing solar energy in so-called Trombe walls, the PCMs are exposed to high solar radiation intensities, which may easily lead to issues of overheating. This paper therefore investigates the melting process of PCM and arrives at potential solutions for countering this overheating phenomenon. This study uses the simulation program Comsol to investigate the heat transfer through, melting of and fluid flow inside a block of PCM (3 × 20 cm2) with a melting temperature of around 25 °C. The density, specific heat and dynamic viscosity of the PCM are modeled as a temperature dependent variable. The latent heat of the PCM is modeled as part of the specific heat. One side of the block of PCM is exposed to a heat flux of 300 W/m2. The simulations show that once part of the PCM has melted convection arises transporting heat from the bottom of the block to its top. As a result, the top heats up faster than the bottom speeding up the melting process there. Furthermore, in high columns of PCM a large temperature gradient may arise due to this phenomenon. Segmenting a large volume of PCM into smaller volumes in height limits this convection thereby reducing the temperature gradient along the height of the block. Moreover, using PCMs with different melting temperature along the height of a block of PCM allows for controlling the speed with which a certain part of the PCM block starts melting. Segmenting the block of PCM using PCMs with different melting temperature along its height was found to give the most promising results for minimizing this overheating effect. Selecting the optimal phase change temperatures however is critical in that case.

Numerical Study of Phase Change of PCM in Spherical Cavities

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 ◽  
pp. 21-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Faistauer ◽  
Petros Rodrigues ◽  
Rejane de Césaro Oliveski
Keyword(s):  
Phase Change ◽  
Melting Temperature ◽  
Wall Temperature ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Liquid Fraction ◽  
Fluid Dynamic ◽  
Melting Process ◽  
Constant Wall Temperature ◽  
Spherical Cavities

This work presents a numerical study of the phase change process of PCM (Phase Change Materials) stored in spherical cavities. The numerical model is two-dimensional and it is composed by the equations of conservation of mass, momentum, energy and volumetric fraction, which are modeled using the enthalpy-porosity technique. The computational mesh is tetrahedral, with refinements on regions that have large thermic and fluid dynamic gradients. The numeric model was validated with result from literature. It was studied the melting process of PCM RT35, RT 55 and RT 82 in spherical cavity with constant wall temperature. Four diameters of spheres D were used (40, 60, 80 and 100 mm) and three temperature differences ΔT (10, 20 and 30 oC) between the wall temperature and the melting temperature of the PCM. Liquid fraction results from the 36 cases studied are presented. It was observed that the time required to reach a certain liquid fraction increases with the diameter and reduces with the increment of ΔT, being possible to predict the fusion time by knowing the characteristic length of the sphere. The largest percentage reduction of the fusion time was obtained with ΔT = 10 oC – 20 oC for all the D considered. The shortest fusion time was obtained with the largest ΔT combined with the smallest D. It is possible to see the dependence of the liquid fraction results in relation with the PCM properties and the its independence in relation its melting temperature, since all the PCM studied presented equal fusion time for the same ΔT and D.

scholarly journals Breakdown of the Stokes-Einstein relation above the melting temperature in a liquid phase-change material

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. eaat8632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuai Wei ◽  
Zach Evenson ◽  
Moritz Stolpe ◽  
Pierre Lucas ◽  
C. Austen Angell
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Melting Temperature ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Switching Behavior ◽  
Einstein Relation ◽  
Elastic Neutron ◽  
Phase Switching ◽  
Memory Applications

The dynamic properties of liquid phase-change materials (PCMs), such as viscosity η and the atomic self-diffusion coefficientD, play an essential role in the ultrafast phase switching behavior of novel nonvolatile phase-change memory applications. To connect η toD, the Stokes-Einstein relation (SER) is commonly assumed to be valid at high temperatures near or above the melting temperatureTmand is often used for assessing liquid fragility (or crystal growth velocity) of technologically important PCMs. However, using quasi-elastic neutron scattering, we provide experimental evidence for a breakdown of the SER even at temperatures aboveTmin the high–atomic mobility state of a PCM, Ge1Sb2Te4. This implies that although viscosity may have strongly increased during cooling, diffusivity can remain high owing to early decoupling, being a favorable feature for the fast phase switching behavior of the high-fluidity PCM. We discuss the origin of the observation and propose the possible connection to a metal-semiconductor and fragile-strong transition hidden belowTm.

Natural Convection in an Enclosure With Blend of Micro Encapsulated Phase Change Materials

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin Khakpour ◽  
Jamal Seyed-Yagoobi
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Thermal Expansion ◽  
Natural Convection ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pure Water ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Effective Density

This numerical study investigates the effect of using a blend of micro-encapsulated phase change materials (MEPCMs) on the heat transfer characteristics of a liquid in a rectangular enclosure driven by natural convection. A comparison has been made between the cases of using single component MEPCM slurry and a blend of two-component MEPCM slurry. The natural convection is generated by the temperature difference between two vertical walls of the enclosure maintained at constant temperatures. Each of the two phase change materials store latent heat at a specific range of temperatures. During phase change of the PCM, the effective density of the slurry varies. This results in thermal expansion and hence a buoyancy driven flow. The effects of MEPCM concentration in the slurry and changes in the operating conditions such as the wall temperatures compared to that of pure water have been studied. The MEPCM latent heat and the increased volumetric thermal expansion coefficient during phase change of the MEPCM play a major role in this heat transfer augmentation.

Phase Change Process Inside a Small-radii Cylinder Subjected to Cyclic Convective Boundary Conditions: a Numerical Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yousef Kanani ◽  
Avijit Karmakar ◽  
Sumanta Acharya
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Convective Boundary Condition ◽  
Freezing Process ◽  
Fourier Number ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Convective Boundary

Abstract We numerically investigate the melting and solidi?cation behavior of phase change materials encapsulated in a small-radii cylinder subjected to a cyclic convective boundary condition (square wave). Initially, we explore the effect of the Stefan and Biot numbers on the non-dimensionalized time required (i.e. reference Fourier number Tref ) for a PCM initially held at Tcold to melt and reach the cross?ow temperature Thot. The increase in either Stefan or Biot number decreases Tref and can be predicted accurately using a correlation developed in this work. The variations of the PCM melt fraction, surface temperature, and heat transfer rate as a function of Fourier number are reported and analyzed for the above process. We further study the effect of the cyclic Fourier number on the periodic melting and freezing process. The melting or freezing front initiates at the outer periphery of the PCM and propagates towards the center. At higher frequencies, multiple two-phase interfaces are generated (propagating inward), and higher overall heat transfer is achieved as the surface temperature oscillates in the vicinity of the melting temperature, which increases the effective temperature difference driving the convective heat transfer.

Heat Transfer Enhancement of Finned Copper Foam/Paraffin Composite Phase Change Material

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingting Wu ◽  
Yanxin Hu ◽  
Xianqing Liu ◽  
Changhong Wang ◽  
Zijin Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Transfer Rate ◽  
Flow Resistance ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Heat Transfer Performance ◽  
Melting Process ◽  
Copper Foam ◽  
Composite Phase Change Material ◽  
Change Material

Background: The employment of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) provides a potential selection for heat dissipation and energy storage. The main reason that hinders the wide application is the low thermal conductivity of PCMs. Combining the proper metal fin and copper foam, the fin/composite phase change material (Fin-CPCM) structure with good performance could be obtained. However, the flow resistance of liquid paraffin among the porous structure has seldom been reported, which will significantly affect the thermal performance inside the metal foam. Furthermore, the presence of porous metal foam is primarily helpful for enhancing the heat transfer process from the bottom heat source. The heat transfer rate is slow due to the one-dimensional heat transfer from the bottom. It should be beneficial for improving the heat transfer performance by adding external fins. Therefore, in the present study, a modified structure by combining the metal fin and copper foam is proposed to further accelerate the melting process and improve the temperature uniformity of the composite. Objective: The purpose of this study is to research the differences in the heat transfer performance among pure paraffin, Composite Phase Change Materials (CPCM) and fin/Composite Phase Change Material (Fin-CPCM) under different heating conditions, and the flow resistance of melting paraffin in copper foam. Methods: To experimentally research the differences in the heat transfer performance among pure paraffin, CPCM and Fin-CPCM under different heating conditions, a visual experimental platform was set up, and the flow resistance of melting paraffin in copper foam was also analyzed. In order to probe into the limits of the heat transfer capability of composite phase change materials, the temperature distribution of PCMs under constant heat fluxes and constant temperature conditions was studied. In addition, the evolution of the temperature distributions was visualized by using the infrared thermal imager at specific points during the melting process. Results: The experimental results showed that the maximum temperature of Fin-CPCM decreased by 21°C under the heat flux of 1500W/m2 compared with pure paraffin. At constant temperature heating conditions, the melting time of Fin-CPCM at a temperature of 75°C is about 2600s, which is 65% less than that of pure paraffin. Due to the presence of the external fins, which brings the advantage of improving the heat transfer rate, the experimental result exhibited the most uniform temperature distribution. Conclusion: The addition of copper foam can accelerate the melting process. The addition of external fins brings the advantage of improving the heat transfer rate, and can make the temperature distribution more uniform.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document