Heat transfer of phase change materials (PCMs) in porous materials

doi:10.1007/s11708-011-0140-3

Front Energ

2011, Vol. 5

Issue (2) : 174-180 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-011-0140-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Heat transfer of phase change materials (PCMs) in porous materials

C Y ZHAO¹(

), D ZHOU², Z G WU²

1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK; 2. School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

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Abstract

In this paper, the feasibility of using metal foams to enhance the heat transfer capability of phase change materials (PCMs) in low- and high-temperature thermal energy storage systems was assessed. Heat transfer in solid/liquid phase change of porous materials (metal foams and expanded graphite) at low and high temperatures was investigated. Organic commercial paraffin wax and inorganic calcium chloride hydrate were employed as the low-temperature materials, whereas sodium nitrate was used as the high-temperature material in the experiment. Heat transfer characteristics of these PCMs embedded with open-cell metal foams were studied. Composites of paraffin and expanded graphite with a graphite mass ratio of 3%, 6%, and 9% were developed. The heat transfer performances of these composites were tested and compared with metal foams. The results indicate that metal foams have better heat transfer performance due to their continuous inter-connected structures than expanded graphite. However, porous materials can suppress the effects of natural convection in liquid zone, particularly for PCMs with low viscosities, thereby leading to different heat transfer performances at different regimes (solid, solid/liquid, and liquid regions). This implies that porous materials do not always enhance heat transfer in every regime.

Keywords heat transfer thermal energy storage phase change materials natural convection porous media

Corresponding Author(s): ZHAO C Y,Email:changying.zhao@sjtu.edu.cn, c.y.zhao@warwick.ac.uk

Issue Date: 05 June 2011

Cite this article:

D ZHOU,Z G WU,C Y ZHAO. Heat transfer of phase change materials (PCMs) in porous materials[J]. Front Energ, 2011, 5(2): 174-180.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-011-0140-3
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2011/V5/I2/174

Tab.1 Thermophysical characteristics of selected PCMs

Tab.2 Specifications of the metal foams

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the test rig

Fig.2 Temperature-time history of paraffin

Fig.3 Temperature-time history of calcium chloride hexahydrate

Fig.4 Temperature differences between the PCM (paraffin) and the heater

Fig.5 Temperature differences between the PCM () and the heater

Fig.6 Temperature shifts of calcium chloride hexahyrate with and without metal foams

Fig.7 Temperature differences between the heater and the local measuring points

Fig.8 1-5—solid-solid phase transition temperature at 276°C; 6-10—solid-liquid phase transition temperature at 306°C
Variation of temperature difference inside the containers for different samples

Fig.9 Comparison of average temperature differences inside the containers

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