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Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2017) | Viewed by 42593

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Luisa F. Cabeza

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Guest Editor

GREA Innovació Concurrent, Universitat de Lleida, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Interests: thermal energy storage; building; energy efficiency; renewable energy; social acceptance of technologies; climate change mitigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Sumin Kim

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Building Environment & Materials Lab, School of Architecture, Soongsil University, Seoul 06978, Korea
Interests: energy saving building materials; phase change materials; green buildings; building environments; indoor air quality

Dr. Alvaro De Gracia

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Departament d’Enginyeria Mecanica, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Paisos Catalans 26, 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Interests: thermal energy storage; numerical simulations; building applications; industrial applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Phase change materials (PCM) have attracted the attention of researchers for their use in different thermal energy storage (TES) systems. These materials can store and release high amounts of energy in a reduced thermal range, making them suitable for implementation in multiple applications, such as buildings, industrial processes, concentrating solar power plants, solar cooling plants, or waste heat recovery systems. Efforts on materials research are focused on the characterization and development of new materials, the overcoming of technical barriers, such as low thermal conductivity, and the improvement of the material properties with the use of nano- or micro-particles. Moreover, experimental tests at prototype scale are of crucial importance to analyze the performance of PCM use in a given application under laboratory or real conditions. Furthermore, numerical models play an important role to improve the design and control strategies of PCM units, which may lead to increase overall efficiency and to reduce investments and running costs, making the use of PCM technologies attractive to the market. Finally, the study of life cycle analyses (LCA) of PCM systems have demonstrated that the use of appropriate TES systems using PCM can lead to less pollution in the environment and less CO₂ emissions.

Prof. Luisa F. Cabeza
Dr. Sumin Kim
Dr. Alvaro de Gracia
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Phase change materials (PCM)
Thermal Energy Storage (TES)
Solar applications
Buildings
Industrial applications
Waste heat recovery
Materials development
Numerical modelling

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

41 pages, 2128 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Challenges of the Usual Graphical Methods Used to Characterize Phase Change Materials by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

by Stéphane Gibout, Erwin Franquet, Didier Haillot, Jean-Pierre Bédécarrats and Jean-Pierre Dumas

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(1), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/app8010066 - 9 Jan 2018

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6289

Abstract

Modeling the thermal behavior of a plant or devices using Phase Change Materials (PCM) requires to know their thermophysical properties. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is a technic largely used to investigate them. However, under the pretext to experiment with small samples, some authors consider the DSC curves as directly representing the properties of the materials without realizing that this interpretation is very often incompatible with the thermodynamics laws: as an example, although a pure substance melts at a fixed temperature

T_{F}

, it is proposed a melting through a temperature range higher than

T_{F}

and depending on the experiments (heating rates, sample masses...), for solutions the suggested characteristic temperatures are incompatible with the phase diagram, and also a hysteresis phenomenon is invented... In this paper, we demonstrate by a model coupling thermodynamics and conduction heat transfers, that the DSC curves are exactly compatible with the thermodynamics of phase changes (melting at fixed temperature for pure substances, in conformity with phase diagrams for solutions...). The cases of pure substances, saline solutions, substances with impurities or solid solutions are detailed. We indicate which information can, however, be given by the curves. We also propose a more sophisticated method by inverse calculations to determine the specific enthalpy whose all the thermodynamical properties can be deduced. Finally, we give some indications to understand and use the results indicating supercooling. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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3252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Attenuation of Temperature Fluctuations on an External Surface of the Wall by a Phase Change Material-Activated Layer

by Dariusz Heim and Anna Wieprzkowicz

Appl. Sci. 2018, 8(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/app8010011 - 22 Dec 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4068

Abstract

Periodical changes of temperature on an external surface of building envelope, e.g., thermal stress or excessive heat gains, is often an undesirable phenomenon. The idea proposed and described in the following paper is to stabilize the external surface temperature in a period of significant heat gains by the originally developed, novel composite modified by phase change material (PCM) and applied as an external, thin finishing plaster layer. The PCM composite is made from porous, granulated perlite soaked with paraffin wax (T_m = 25 °C) and macro-encapsulated by synthetic resin. The effect of temperature attenuation was estimated for two designated periods of time—the heat gains season (HGS) and the heat losses season (HLS). The attenuation coefficient (AC) was proposed as evaluation parameter of isothermal storage of heat gains determining the reduction of temperature fluctuations. The maximum registered temperature of an external surface for a standard insulation layer was around 20 K higher than for the case modified by PCM. The calculated values of AC were relatively constant during HGS and around two times lower for PCM case. The obtained results confirmed that the proposed modification of an external partition by equipped with additional PCM layer can be effectively used to minimize temperature variations and heat flux in the heat gains season. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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2458 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improving Performance of Cold-Chain Insulated Container with Phase Change Material: An Experimental Investigation

by Li Huang and Udo Piontek

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(12), 1288; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7121288 - 11 Dec 2017

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 6570

Abstract

The cold-chain transportation is an important means to ensure the drug and food safety. An cold-chain insulated container incorporating with Phase Change Material (PCM) has been developed for a temperature-controlled transportation in the range of 2~8 °C. The container configuration and different preconditioning methods have been determined to realize a 72-h transportation under extremely high, extremely low, and alternating temperature conditions. The experimental results showed that the temperature-controlled time was extended from 1 h to more than 80 h and the internal temperature maintained at 4~5 °C by using a PCM with a melting/freezing point of 5 °C, while the container presented a subcooling effect in a range of −1~2 °C when using water as PCM. The experimental values of the temperature-controlled time agreed well with the theoretical values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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4065 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Energy Saving Potential of PCMs in Buildings under Future Climate Conditions

by Abdo Abdullah Ahmed Gassar and Geun Young Yun

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(12), 1219; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7121219 - 25 Nov 2017

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5548

Abstract

Energy consumption reduction under changing climate conditions is a major challenge in buildings design, where excessive energy consumption creates an economic and environmental burden. Improving thermal performance of the buildings through support applying phase change material (PCM) is a promising strategy for reducing building energy consumption under future climate change. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the energy saving potentials in buildings under future climate conditions in the humid and snowy regions in the hot continental and humid subtropical climates of the east Asia (Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong) when various PCMs with different phase change temperatures are applied to a lightweight building envelope. Methodology in this work is implemented in two phases: firstly, investigation of energy saving potentials in buildings through inclusion of three types of PCMs with different phase temperatures into the building envelop separately and use weather file in the present (2017); and, secondly, evaluation of the effect of future climate change on the performance of PCMs by analyzing energy saving potentials of PCMs with 2020, 2050 and 2080 weather data. The results show that the inclusion of PCM into the building envelope is a promising strategy to increase the energy performance in buildings during both heating and cooling seasons in Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong under future climate conditions. The energy savings achieved by using PCMs in those regions are electricity savings of 4.48–8.21%, 3.81–9.69%, and 1.94–5.15%, and gas savings of 1.65–16.59%, 7.60–61.76%), and 62.07–93.33% in Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong, respectively, for the years 2017, 2020, 2050 and 2080. In addition, BioPCM and RUBITHERMPCM are the most efficient for improving thermal performance and saving energy in buildings in the tested regions and years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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3203 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Comparison of Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials Prepared at Laboratory Containing the Same Core and Different Shell Material

by Jessica Giro-Paloma, Cemil Alkan, Josep Maria Chimenos and Ana Inés Fernández

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(7), 723; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7070723 - 14 Jul 2017

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5332

Abstract

Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials (MPCM) are widely used in active and passive systems for thermal energy storage. To evaluate the strength of a proper shell/PCM system, comparisons were performed between laboratory-prepared MPCM samples produced by in situ polymerization with a phase change temperature of 50 °C and a particle size of around 1–2 μm with tetracosane as PCM, and polystyrene (PS) and poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as shells. Evaluation of mechanical performance was performed for different samples by means of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) at different temperatures (23 °C and 60 °C) and with different encapsulation ratios (1:3 and 1:1, shell:core) in order to compare their properties with the PCM below and above its phase change. Evaluations of the Effective Young’s modulus (E) and deformation properties were performed for both types of MPCM. For an encapsulation mass ratio of 1:3, PS has better mechanical properties because, when increasing the temperature, the E decreases less than with PMMA. In the comparison between PS/tetracosane systems with different encapsulation mass ratios (1:3 and 1:1), E values were higher for the 1:3 encapsulation mass ratio at both temperatures under study. This means that, in terms of mechanical and thermal properties, the best combination core/shell/encapsulation mass ratio is PS/tetracosane/1:3. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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2322 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phase Change Material Selection for Thermal Processes Working under Partial Load Operating Conditions in the Temperature Range between 120 and 200 °C

by Jaume Gasia, Marc Martin, Aran Solé, Camila Barreneche and Luisa F. Cabeza

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(7), 722; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7070722 - 14 Jul 2017

Cited by 47 | Viewed by 7566

Abstract

In some processes, latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) systems might work under partial load operating conditions (the available thermal energy source is discontinuous or insufficient to completely charge the phase change material (PCM)). Therefore, there is a need to study how these conditions affect the discharge process to design a control strategy that can benefit the user of these systems. The aim of this paper is to show and perform at laboratory scale the selection of a PCM, with a phase change temperature between 120 and 200 °C, which will be further used in an experimental facility. Beyond the typical PCM properties, sixteen PCMs are studied here from the cycling and thermal stability point of view, as well as from the health hazard point of view. After 100 melting and freezing cycles, seven candidates out of the sixteen present a suitable cycling stability behaviour and five of them show a maximum thermal-stable temperature higher than 200 °C. Two final candidates for the partial loads approach are found in this temperature range, named high density polyethylene (HDPE) and adipic acid. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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4931 KiB

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Synergistically-Enhanced Thermal Conductivity of Shape-Stabilized Phase Change Materials by Expanded Graphite and Carbon Nanotube

by Zhang-Peng Liu and Rui Yang

Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(6), 574; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7060574 - 2 Jun 2017

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5942

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of expanded graphite plate (EGP) and/or multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-filled, shape-stabilized, phase change material (SSPCM), based on paraffin, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer (SBS), was investigated. The results demonstrated that both EGP and MWCNT increased the thermal conductivity of the SSPCM. EGP showed a greater thermal conductivity improvement than MWCNT. The conductivity of EGP-filled SSPCM reached 0.574 W/mK at 9 wt %, while that of MWCNT was just 0.372 W/mK at the same loading. Furthermore a series of EGP/MWCNT hybrid fillers were prepared and introduced into the SSPCM, and a synergistic effect was observed between the two fillers. When the EGP/MWCNT ratio was 8:2, the most significant thermal conductivity enhancement to the SSPCM was obtained. The thermal conductivity was 0.674 W/mK, 288% that of the SSPCM and 117% that of 9 wt % EGP-filled SSPCM. The SEM photos showed that a bridging of two-dimensional (2D) planar EGP by flexible one-dimensional (1D) MWCNT was constructed. The so-formed EGP-MWCNT network favored heat transfer along it and led to a decreased thermal interface resistance due to the increased EGP-MWCNT junctions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phase Change Material (PCM) 2017)

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