Preparation and Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer Performance for Methyl Palmitate /Expanded Graphite Phase Change Composite

2020 ◽  
Vol 834 ◽  
pp. 132-138
Author(s):  
Bi Chuan Chi ◽  
Yan Yao ◽  
Su Ping Cui

Methyl palmitate (MP) is a promising phase change energy storage material. It features high latent heat, suitable phase change temperature, low degree of supercooling and so on. However, like other organic phase change materials, the common problem of lower thermal conductivity makes it unable to perform better in energy storage. Expanded graphite (EG) has been proven to be high-efficiency for enhancing the thermal conductivity of organic phase change materials. MP/EG phase change composite was prepared and characterized in this research, and the heat transfer performance was numerical simulated by finite element analysis software ABAQUS. Results show that MP can be absorbed into the layered pores of EG, and the stable absorption ratio is 77%. Numerical simulation results reveal that EG can significantly enhance the heat transfer performance of MP. Moreover, EG can decrease the system temperature gradient during phase change process that makes the heat transfer and temperature distribution more uniform.

Author(s):  
C. Y. Zhao ◽  
D. Zhou ◽  
Z. G. Wu

In this paper the solid/liquid phase change heat transfer in porous materials (metal foams and expanded graphite) at low and high temperatures is experimentally investigated, in an attempt to examine the feasibility of using metal foams to enhance the heat transfer capability of phase change materials for use with both the low and high temperature thermal energy storage systems. In this research, the organic commercial paraffin wax and inorganic hydrate calcium chloride hydrate salts were employed as the low-temperature materials, while the sodium nitrate is used as the high-temperature PCM in the experiment. The heat transfer characteristics of these PCMs embedded with open-cell metal foams were studied experimentally. The composites of paraffin and expanded graphite with different graphite mass ratios, namely, 3%, 6% and 9%, were also made and the heat transfer performances of these composites were tested and compared with metal foams. Overall metal foams can provide better heat transfer performance than expanded graphite due to their continuous inter-connected structures. But the porous materials can suppress the natural convection effect in liquid zone, particularly for the PCMs with low viscosities, thereby leading to the different heat transfer performance at different regimes (solid, solid/liquid and liquid regions). This implies that the porous materials don’t necessarily mean they can always enhance heat transfer in every regime.


Author(s):  
D. Zhou ◽  
C. Y. Zhao

Phase change materials (PCMs) have been widely used for thermal energy storage systems due to their capability of storing and releasing large amounts of energy with a small volume and a moderate temperature variation. Most PCMs suffer the common problem of low thermal conductivity, being around 0.2 and 0.5 for paraffin and inorganic salts, respectively, which prolongs the charging and discharging period. In an attempt to improve the thermal conductivity of phase change materials, the graphite or metallic matrix is often embedded within PCMs to enhance the heat transfer. This paper presents an experimental study on heat transfer characteristics of PCMs embedded with open-celled metal foams. In this study both paraffin wax and calcium chloride hexahydrate are employed as the heat storage media. The transient heat transfer behavior is measured. Compared to the results of pure PCMs samples, the investigation shows that the additions of metal foams can double the overall heat transfer rate during the melting process. The results of calcium chloride hexahydrate are also compared with those of paraffin wax.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Arunachalam

Energy storage helps in waste management, environmental protection, saving of fossil fuels, cost effectiveness, and sustainable growth. Phase change material (PCM) is a substance which undergoes simultaneous melting and solidification at certain temperature and pressure and can thereby absorb and release thermal energy. Phase change materials are also called thermal batteries which have the ability to store large amount of heat at fixed temperature. Effective integration of the latent heat thermal energy storage system with solar thermal collectors depends on heat storage materials and heat exchangers. The practical limitation of the latent heat thermal energy system for successful implementation in various applications is mainly from its low thermal conductivity. Low thermal conductivity leads to low heat transfer coefficient, and thereby, the phase change process is prolonged which signifies the requirement of heat transfer enhancement techniques. Typically, for salt hydrates and organic PCMs, the thermal conductivity range varies between 0.4–0.7 W/m K and 0.15–0.3 W/m K which increases the thermal resistance within phase change materials during operation, seriously affecting efficiency and thermal response. This paper reviews the different geometry of commercial heat exchangers that can be used to address the problem of low thermal conductivity, like use of fins, additives with high thermal conductivity materials like metal strips, microencapsulated PCM, composite PCM, porous metals, porous metal foam matrix, carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, etc. Finally, different solar thermal applications and potential PCMs for low-temperature thermal energy storage were also discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 993 ◽  
pp. 920-926
Author(s):  
Bi Chuan Chi ◽  
Yan Yao ◽  
Su Ping Cui

The binary eutectic mixtures of fatty acid esters are promising phase change materials for energy storage application. However, the low thermal conductivity which is a common problem for organic phase change materials restricts their further and better applications. In order to solve the problem, a novel composite phase change material (CPCM) was prepared in this research by using methyl palmitate-methyl stearate (MP-MS), a typical binary eutectic mixture of fatty acid esters, as phase change material and expanded graphite (EG) as heat transfer enhancer. The heat transfer performance of MP-MS/EG CPCM was numerical simulated by finite element analysis software ABAQUS. Numerical simulation results revealed that EG could notably enhance the heat transfer performance of MP-MS eutectic mixture. The heat transfer rate and phase change reaction rate of MP-MS/EG CPCM were 14 times and 3 times that of MP-MS eutectic mixture, respectively.


2013 ◽  
Vol 860-863 ◽  
pp. 862-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Fei Zheng ◽  
Zhong Zhu Qiu ◽  
Jie Chen

Phase change materials in the form of emulsion (PCE) is a category of novel phase change fluid used as heat storage and transfer media. It plays an important role in commercially viable applications (energy storage, particularly).The emulsion is made of microparticles of a phase change wax (a kind of paraffin or mixture ) as a phase change material (PCM), mixed paraffin directly with water. This paper presents information on the different PCM emulsions by different researchers. It gives the method of preparation of the PCE, and makes a special effort to investigate the heat transfer phenomena and the method of enhancing the thermal conductivity of the emulsion.


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