Investigation of Thermal Properties in Nanofluids for Thermal Energy Storage Applications

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aitor Zabalegui ◽  
Bernadette Tong ◽  
Hohyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Traditional Theory ◽  
Energy Storage Applications ◽  
Particle Addition

Phase change materials (PCMs) are promising for thermal energy storage applications, but low thermal conductivity limits their heat exchange rate with a working fluid. The nanofluid approach has been established as a method of thermal conductivity enhancement, but particle addition may have an adverse effect on specific energy storage capacity. Latent heat reduction beyond traditional theory has been observed experimentally for carbon nanotubes dispersed in paraffin wax. Nanofluid latent heat and effective thermal conductivity were analyzed to investigate the effects of particle addition on thermal properties affecting PCM energy storage performance. It is shown that particle diameter significantly impacts nanofluid latent heat, with smaller particles generating greater degrees of reduction, but has a negligible effect on thermal conductivity. A method to approximate nanofluid latent heat of fusion is presented, considering the diameter-dependent reduction observed.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Thermal Properties in Thermal Energy Storage Modeling

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Law Torres Sevilla ◽  
Jovana Radulovic
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Heat Capacity ◽  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Specific Heat ◽  
Melting Temperature ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Specific Heat Capacity ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage

This paper studies the influence of material thermal properties on the charging dynamics in a low temperature Thermal Energy Storage, which combines sensible and latent heat. The analysis is based on a small scale packed bed with encapsulated PCMs, numerically solved using COMSOL Multiphysics. The PCMs studied are materials constructed based on typical thermal properties (melting temperature, density, specific heat capacity (solid and liquid), thermal conductivity (solid and liquid) and the latent heat) of storage mediums in literature. The range of values are: 25–65°C for the melting temperature, 10–500 kJ/kg for the latent heat, 600–1,000 kg/m3 for the density, 0.1–0.4 W/mK (solid and liquid) for the thermal conductivity and 1,000–2,200 J/kgK (solid and liquid) for the specific heat capacity. The temperature change is monitored at three different positions along the tank. The system consists of a 2D tank with L/D ratio of 1 at a starting temperature of 20°C. Water, as the heat transfer fluid, enters the tank at 90°C. Results indicate that latent heat is a leading parameter in the performance of the system, and that the thermal properties of the PCM in liquid phase influence the overall heat absorption more than its solid counterpart.

scholarly journals Enhancement of the Thermal Energy Storage Using Heat-Pipe-Assisted Phase Change Material

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Behi ◽  
Mohammadreza Behi ◽  
Ali Ghanbarpour ◽  
Danial Karimi ◽  
Aryan Azad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Heat Pipe ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Phase Change Materials ◽  
Liquid Fraction ◽  
Energy Storage Applications ◽  
Change Material

Usage of phase change materials’ (PCMs) latent heat has been investigated as a promising method for thermal energy storage applications. However, one of the most common disadvantages of using latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is the low thermal conductivity of PCMs. This issue affects the rate of energy storage (charging/discharging) in PCMs. Many researchers have proposed different methods to cope with this problem in thermal energy storage. In this paper, a tubular heat pipe as a super heat conductor to increase the charging/discharging rate was investigated. The temperature of PCM, liquid fraction observations, and charging and discharging rates are reported. Heat pipe effectiveness was defined and used to quantify the relative performance of heat pipe-assisted PCM storage systems. Both experimental and numerical investigations were performed to determine the efficiency of the system in thermal storage enhancement. The proposed system in the charging/discharging process significantly improved the energy transfer between a water bath and the PCM in the working temperature range of 50 °C to 70 °C.

Study on a Novel Form-Stable Capric Acid/Organophilic Montmorillonite Composite for Thermal Energy Storage

2012 ◽  
Vol 271-272 ◽  
pp. 197-203
Author(s):  
Ting Wei ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Bai Cun Zheng ◽  
Yan Feng Gao ◽  
Wei Hong Guo
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Capric Acid ◽  
Scanning Calorimetry ◽  
Sem Images ◽  
Excellent Thermal Stability ◽  
Organophilic Montmorillonite

A novel form-stable capric acid/organophilic montmorillonite composite for thermal energy storage is developed in this study. The morphology and thermal properties were determined by scanning electron microscope(SEM), polarized optical microscope(POM), differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and thermogravimetric analyzer(TGA). The DSC results showed that the on-set temperature of the sample with 40% wt CA was closed to 29°C, the latent heat was 35.8 J/g at 56 kPa and 51.5 J/g at 0 kPa, while the on-set temperature of sample with 60% CA was also 29°C, the latent heat was 79.7 J/g at 56 kPa and 80.8 J/g at 0 kPa. TG investigations revealed that the composites had excellent thermal stability above their working temperature ranges. The POM images exhibited phase behaviors of composites to confirm leakage, and the samples with 20% and 40% CA showed good thermal properties. In addition, SEM images presented the microstructure of all the samples. All of the conclusions indicated that sample with 40% wt CA was a better candidate for novel form-stable CA/OMMT composite for low-temperature thermal energy storage applications.

Experimental Characterization of the Thermal Diffusivity of Paraffin Phase Change Material Embedded With Herringbone Style Graphite Nanofibers

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Warzoha ◽  
Anthony Rao ◽  
Rebecca Weigand ◽  
Amy S. Fleischer
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Thermal Diffusivity ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Specific Heat ◽  
Latent Heat ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Melt Temperature ◽  
Graphite Nanofibers

Phase change materials (PCMs) are promising candidates for thermal energy storage due to their intrinsically high values of latent heat. However, PCMs are unable to effectively utilize all of their energy storage capacities due to their poor thermophysical properties. In this study, the effect of graphite nanofibers (diameter = 2 to 1000 nm, length = 100μm) on the bulk thermal properties of paraffin PCM (Tmelt = 56 °C) is investigated. Material properties including effective thermal conductivity, specific heat, latent heat, melt temperature and thermal diffusivity are measured using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) and comparative reference bar apparatus. Results suggest that the addition of nanostructures not only increases thermal conductivity by up to 180%, but also reduces the specific heat capacity and density of nano-enhanced paraffin, leading to improved thermal diffusivity and thus greater utilization of its latent heat for transient thermal energy storage.

scholarly journals Thermal energy storage in embankments: Investigation of the thermal properties of an unsaturated compacted soil

2020 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 07011
Author(s):  
Mojdeh Lahoori ◽  
Sandrine Rosin-Paumier ◽  
Yves Jannot ◽  
Ahmed Boukelia ◽  
Farimah Masrouri
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Energy Storage ◽  
Temperature Variation ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Thermal Energy Storage ◽  
Transient State ◽  
Temperature Sensors ◽  
Compacted Soils ◽  
Compacted Soil

Thermal energy storage in compacted soils can be considered as a new economically efficient and environmentally friendly technology in geotechnical engineering. Compacted soils are usually unsaturated; therefore, reliable estimates and measurements of their thermal properties are important in the efficiency analysis of these structures. In this study, a method is used to estimate the thermal properties of an unsaturated compacted soil. Several temperature sensors were placed in a thermo-regulated metric scale container to monitor the imposed temperature variation in the range of the 20 to 50 °C. This imposed temperature variation reproduced the temperature variation in the thermal energy storages. An inverse analytical model based on a one-dimensional radial heat conduction equation is used to estimate the thermal diffusivity using the temperature variation between two temperature sensors. The volumetric heat capacity was measured using a calorimeter in the laboratory, enabling the estimation of the thermal conductivity of the compacted soil. Then, this estimated thermal conductivity was compared with the thermal conductivity values measured with two other methods (steady-state and transient-state method). The difference between them are discussed in terms of the sample heterogeneity, sample size, and measurement method.

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