Enzyme-catalyzed Synthesis of Novel Solid–liquid Phase Change Energy Storage Materials Based on Levulinic Acid and 1,4 butanediol

With the rapid development of society, all kinds of non-renewable energy resources are constantly developed and utilized, energy storage is one of the best ways to solve the energy shortage. In this study , levulinic acid (LA) and 1,4 butanediol (BDO) were used to synthesize a novel polyol ester (LABDO) by biological and chemical methods. The biological method exhibited excellent performance in the synthesis process, where 87.5% of LABDO yield under optimal conditions, while the chemical method had more byproducts and higher energy consumption. Finally, the thermal properties of the obtained phase change materials (PCMs) were evaluated. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that the melting temperature of LABDO was 50.51°C, the latent heat of melting was 156.1J/g, and the pyrolysis temperature was 150-160°C. Compared with traditional paraffin wax, the prepared PCMs have suitable phase transition temperature, higher latent heat of melting and better thermal stability. The thermal conductivity can be increased to 0.34W·m-1· k-1 by adding expanded graphite. In summary, LABDO can be used as low temperature phase change energy storage materials.

Thermal and microstructural analysis of the low-melting Bi-In-Pb alloy

Low-melting alloys, based on bismuth and indium, have found commercial use in soldering, safety devices, coatings, and bonding applications. In this respect, the accurate knowledge of their thermal properties such as melting and solidification temperatures, latent heat of melting, supercooling tendency, etc. is of large importance. In the present research, low-melting alloy with nominal composition Bi40In40Pb20 (at. %) was investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) and by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Microstructural and chemical (SEM-EDS) analysis has revealed the existence of two coexisting phases in the prepared alloy, which was identified as BiIn and (Pb). Melting and solidification temperatures and the related heat effects were measured by the DSC technique. The solidus temperature obtained from the DSC heating curves was 76.3 °C and the solidus temperature obtained from the corresponding DSC cooling runs was 61.2 °C. The experimentally obtained results were compared with the results of thermodynamic calculation according to CALPHAD (calculation of phase diagram) approach, and a close agreement was noticed.

Thermal characterization of the In–Sn–Zn eutectic alloy

Thermal properties, including melting temperature, latent heat of melting, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity, of a low-melting In–Sn–Zn eutectic alloy were investigated in this work. The In–Sn–Zn eutectic alloy with nominal composition 52.7In-44.9Sn-2.4Zn (at.%) was prepared by the melting of pure metals under an argon atmosphere. The conducted assessment consisted of both theoretical and experimental approaches. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for the measurement of melting temperature and latent heat, and the obtained results were compared with the results of thermodynamic calculations. The measured melting temperature and the latent heat of melting for the In–Sn–Zn eutectic alloy are 106.5±0.1 °C and 28.3±0.1 Jg-1, respectively. Thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the In–Sn–Zn eutectic alloy were studied by the xenon-flash method. The determined thermal conductivity of the investigated eutectic alloy at 25 °C is 42.2±3.4 Wm-1K-1. Apart from providing insight into the possibility for application of the investigated alloy as the metallic phase-change material, the obtained values of thermal properties can also be utilized as input parameters for various simulation processes such as casting and soldering.

Solid–liquid and liquid–solid transitions in metal nanoparticles

At the nanoscale, the activation energy of solidification is found equal to the latent heat of melting.

Preparation and Heat Transfer/Thermal Storage Properties of High-Temperature Molten Nitrate Salts

The thermal stability of molten salts, operating temperature range and latent heat of melting for the molten salts at high temperature have been studied in the present investigation. The multi-component molten salts composed of purified potassium nitrate, purified sodium nitrate were prepared by statical mixing method [1]. The stability experiments were carried out at 500 to 600°C, and the experimental result showed that the purified nitrate molten salts performed better high-temperature thermal stability and its optimum operating temperature was increased from 500°C to 550°C. DSC analysis indicated that the purified nitrate molten had a lower melting point and a higher phase change latent heat. The melting point of purified binary nitrate molten salts was sharp decreased to 225.2°C and latent heat of melting for molten salts was also reduced from 78.41J/g to 81.15J/g compared with unpurified nitrate salts. Besides, the change in the concentration of impurities by analyzing in the binary molten salts, and combination of XRD test results can be found that the degree of degradation reduce and improve the thermal efficiency of the storage of binary molten salts by purified sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate.

Energy of plate tectonics calculation and projection

Mathematics and observations suggest that the energy of the geological activities resulting from plate tectonics is equal to the latent heat of melting, calculated at mantle's pressure, of the new ocean crust created at midocean ridges following sea floor spreading. This energy varies with the temperature of ocean floor, which is correlated with surface temperature. The objective of this manuscript is to calculate the force that drives plate tectonics, estimate the energy released, verify the calculations based on experiments and observations, and project the increase of geological activities with surface temperature rise caused by climate change.