Phase Changing

Material in Solar
Thermal Energy
Storage

Tiffany Wu
Energy Technology and Polic
University of Texas at Austin

Contents

Introduction
Benefits and Drawbacks of PCM
PCM Options
Encapsulation
Increasing Thermal Conductivity
Conclusion

Introduction

Most systems have a disconnect

between supply and demand

Intermittent solar energy supply

can be maximized with a heat
storage system

Thermal energy can be

stored both as sensible
and latent heat

Continued efforts to find a phase changing material is

currently underway

(Fath, 1998; Kousksou, 2007; Pasupathy, 2008)

Benefits and Drawbacks

of PCM
Benefits:
Higher storage density than sensible heat
Smaller volume
Smaller temperature change between storing and
releasing energy
Drawbacks:
High cost
Corrosiveness
Density change
Low thermal conductivity
Phase separation
Incongruent melting
Supercooling
(Pasupathy, 2008)

PCM Options

(Pasupathy, 2008)

PCM Options
Inorganic
Glaubers salt, calcium chloride hexahydrate,
sodium thiosulfate penthydrate, sodium carbonate
decahydrate
Benefits:
Low cost and readily available
High volumetric storage density
Relatively high thermal conductivity
Drawbacks:
Corrosive
Decomposition
Incongruent melting
Supercooling

(Pasupathy, 2008; Farid, 2004)

PCM Options
Organic
Paraffin waxes and fatty acids
Benefits:
Melts congruently
Chemically and physically stable
High heat of fusion
Drawbacks:
More expensive and flammable
Low thermal conductivity in solid state
Lower heat storage capacity per volume
(Pasupathy, 2008; Farid, 2004)

PCM Options

Encapsulation

Prevents reactivity towards

environment
Compatible with stainless steel,
polypropylene, and polyolefin
Controls volume as phases change
Prevents large drops in heat transfer
rates

(Farid, 2004)

(Kenisarin, 2007)

Increasing Thermal
Conductivity

Metallic fillers
Metal matrix structures
Finned tubes

Aluminum filling with VSP 25 and VSP

Finned Tubes
(Farid, 2004; Kenisarin, 2007)

PCM-Graphite Matrix

Total solidification time of PCM is

shorter with fins and lessing rings,
but the total quantity of stored heat
is slightly smaller

The VSP25 filling provided the

highest thermal conductivity of 1W/
(mK), which is about six times that of
pure paraffin
(Kenisarin, 2007)

Conclusion

Thermal energy storage is imperative to

make solar energy more reliable and
competitive

Further research in phase changing

material can improve the efficiency of
energy storage

Design of the system is also important in

optimizing energy storage

References

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Other Applications

Cooling of heat and electrical engines

Cooling: use of off-peak rates
Cooling: food, wine, milk products (absorbing peaks in demand),
greenhouses
Heating and hot water: using off-peak rates
Medical applications: transportation of blood, operating tables, hot
cold therapies
Passive storage in bio-climatic building/architecture (HDPE, paraffin)
Safety: temperature level maintenance in rooms with computers or
electrical/electronic appliances
Smoothing exothermic temperature peaks in chemical reactions
Solar power plants
Spacecraft thermal systems
Thermal comfort in vehicles
Thermal protection of electronic devices (integrated in the appliance)
Thermal protection of food: transport, hotel trade, ice-cream, etc.
Thermal storage of solar energy

(Kenisarin, 2007)