Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Thermal performance of micro-encapsulated PCM with LMA thermal T

percolation in TES based heat sink application
⁎
B. Praveen, S. Suresh
Nanotechnology Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Paraffin is one of preferred entrant phase change material (PCM) for the thermal energy storage (TES) based heat
Micro-encapsulated PCM sink application. Encapsulation is one of the preferred methods to address the inherent issue with paraffin such
Low melt alloy as volume expansion, spillage and low bulk thermal conductivity. In this study, describes the synthesis, char-
Thermal percolation acterization and heat transfer performance of micro-encapsulated (ME) paraffin of average size ∼64 µm by in-
Heat sink
situ polymerization method. To conquer the adverse effect of reduced thermal diffusion in the bulk ME PCM, a
Heat diffusion
thermal percolation by low melt alloy (LMA: Bi (32%), Sn (59%), Zn (4%) and In (5%)) of ∼16% volume was
incorporated. The characterization results show the form-stability and thermal degradation of PCM. The ex-
periment with heat sink was conducted with fin and without finned heat sink for power levels of 1.57, 2.45, 3.61,
4.49 and 5.51 kW/m2. The results reveal the promising role of ME PCM/LMA in keeping the heat sink without fin
at a lower temperature for a prolonged duration. Obtained an enhancement ratio of 1.87–2.57 and 2.06–3.58 in
time to reach set point temperatures of 55 and 65 °C with heat load of 1.57–5.51 kW/m2 LMA percolation. The
complete melting and more uniform temperature distribution in the PCM occurred within the operating tem-
perature. Moreover, the recovery time of heat sink also diminished radically. Based on the results, the ME PCM
can conquer the adverse effect due to the above mentioned drawback of conventional paraffin and the LMA
percolation layer gives a prompt thermal response compared with fins of same volume fraction in the heat sink.

1. Introduction
The passive thermal management technology in electronics packa-
ging by thermal energy storage (TES) based heat sink has gained more
attention [1]. The heat sink with passive mechanisms has benefits such
as low noise, powerless operation, less complexity in design and low
cost. The phase change materials (PCM) have proven a proficient and
cost-effective material for TES systems. PCM in TES based heat sink
application are preferred owing to their desired properties such as high
heat of fusion, inertness, low cost and bulk availability [2].
Over the past few years, the passive thermal management metho-
dology has gained attention due to its potential applications. The re-
searchers reported that the PCM incorporated heat sink could perform
adequately with the intermittent or pulsating heat load condition [3].
The PCM incorporated heat sink can act as a thermal damper to smooth
the temperature peak of the electronics components [4]. The solid-
liquid PCM are most reported PCM candidates having an appropriate
melting point to the current application. Organic PCM such as tricosane
[5], n-eicosane [6], paraffin [7] and 1-hexadecanol [8] with heat sink
were reported to perform well by early researchers. Among the series of
organic compounds and their mixtures, paraffin has attractive thermal
properties like high latent heat of phase transition (200–230 kJ/kg K),
better thermal durability, thermal stability and low cost [9].
Conversely, these solid-liquid PCM have the issue of volume ex-
pansion, low bulk thermal conductivity and chance of leakage in the
liquid phase [10]. For an electronics heat sink, the components are
densely packed and most of them are fragile and sensitive. The leakage
and volume expansion may affect the neighbouring components. These
factors limit the practical applicability of solid-liquid PCM in the heat
sink. To address this concern, enclosing of these solid-liquid PCM have
been developed [11]. Encapsulation is one of the promising methods to
enclose or protect the PCM using a thermally conductive shell. This can

Abbreviations: DSC, differential scanning calorimetric; EDS, energy dispersive spectroscopy; LMA, low melt alloy; ME PCM/LMA, micro-encapsulated PCM with
LMA; PCM, phase change material; PSD, particle size distribution; RT, room temperature; SEM, scanning electron microscope; SPT, set point temperature; TC,
thermocouple; TCE, thermal conductivity enhancer; TES, thermal energy storage; TGA, thermo-gravimetric analysis; Φfin, efficiency with fin; ΦLMA, efficiency with
LMA
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ssuresh@nitt.edu (S. Suresh).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.01.080
Received 23 September 2018; Accepted 22 January 2019
0196-8904/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
B. Praveen and S. Suresh
prevent leakage and can avoid the reaction with the immediate en-
vironment and incompatible components [12]. The most momentous
aspect of microcapsules is their large surface area due to the micro-
scopic size which augments the heat transfer [13]. In recent years,
paraffin was encapsulated with a shell made of materials such as
polystyrene [14], Urea-formaldehyde [15], Calcium carbonate [16].
Sari et al. [14] reported that their synthesized micro/nano-capsules of
eutectic mixture of n-tetracosane and n-octadecane with polystyrene
shell material capsules had good thermal constancy and were suitable
for low-temperature thermal energy storage applications.
Jin et al. [15] prepared and characterized micro-capsules containing
paraffin as PCM in the core with a shell of urea formaldehyde. The
synthesized micro-capsules showed thermal stability up to 200 °C. They
were potentially useful in energy conservation and functional heat
storage materials. Zhang et al. [17] synthesized and characterized n-
eicosane as core PCM with silica shell micro-capsules of mean particle
size of 17 µm. The characterization results showed no mass degradation
up to 250 °C and indicated good phase change properties which are
suitable for application in textiles and fibers. In addition to this study, a
series of experiments reported towards the feasibility of micro-en-
capsulation of PCM [12]. All the studies reported that the micro- or
nano encapsulation of PCM could avoid the interference with its con-
tainer, have less or no effect on PCM volume change, have improved
heat-transfer due to the shape, light permeability, and better thermal
stability properties.
Even with PCM having desired properties as explained, their in-
herent low range of thermal conductivity adversely affects the heat
transfer performance. Addition or incorporation of thermal con-
ductivity enhancers (TCEs) can aid heat transfer within the PCM. These
TCEs facilitate uniform heat diffusion which leads to uniformity in
melting of bulk PCM and this in turn results in better performance of
the heat sink. Experimentally reported TCEs are metallic fins [18–22],
porous materials [23], metallic forms [24], nano-additives [25–28].
The concept of TCE by metallic fins was first proposed by Henze et al.
[18]. They reported that, the fins in the bulk PCM could significantly
affect the heat transfer within the PCM. Later on, Nayank et al. [19]
studied the performance of PCM heat sink by varying the number of fins
by 2, 4 and 8. The results showed that the presence of fins enhanced the
heat diffusion and consequently decreased the heat sink base tem-
perature by 7 °C. Hossei-nizadeh et al. [20] also reported that more
uniform melting of PCM occurred in the heat sink with fins. Further-
more, Balaji et al. [21,22] conducted experiments with plate fin heat
sink. The heat sink with plate fin showed reduced temperature for a
long time compared with heat sink without fins. However, the fins in
the heat sink reduce the volume of PCM. Recently researchers explored
that the addition of nano-sized particle into the PCM may enhance the
thermal conductivity and create more nucleation sites with little weight
addition to the system. The nano additives include mainly oxide par-
ticles such as Al2O3, CuO, TiO2, SiO2, ZnO [25], carbon materials such
as EG [26], GNF, CNT [27] and MCNT [28].
Metal and its alloys with low melting point have good heat transfer
capacity than that of conventional organic PCMs. Therefore, low
melting metals and alloys (LMA) can be considered as effective TCE in
organic PCM mainly due to their high thermal conductivity [29–34].
Recently, Yang et al. [30] conducted an experimental study in heat pipe
with LMA (E-Bi In Sn) incorporated in a cross-fin heat sink. The com-
parative study shows that, with the same heating load, low melt alloy
heat sink can perform twice as good as the organic PCM. LMA possess
much higher thermal conductivity and had a quick response to the
thermal shock. Venkitaraj et al. [31] investigated the effect of adding
LMA of Bi, Sn, Zn and In with pentaerythritol as PCM for energy storage
application. In metals and alloys, the thermal transport occurs by the
electron movement which is much superior than that of the organic
materials. Therefore, the metal and its alloys with a low melting point
added with PCM have an enhanced heat transfer rate than that of PCM
in the pure form [32]. Recently, Al Omari et al. [33] proposed an
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Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86
approach of heat transfer augmentation with Gallium which is having a
low melting point (29.3 °C). They reported that the liquid metal showed
more cooling effect than the conventional PCM. However, Gallium has
an inherent corrosion behavior with most other metals which limits its
application. Another work by Yang et al. [34] reported an experimental
study with Gallium as low melting point PCM for ultra-high thermal
shock (10 W/cm2). The LMA as PCM showed a prolonged working
duration of 1.2–2.4 times the conventional PCM.
Till now, many works have been reported with conventional or
derived PCM with finned heat sink for thermal management applica-
tion. In this study, we attempted to conquer the inherent drawback of
organic PCM as discussed, by encapsulating the paraffin with TCE for
heat sink application. The paraffin is encapsulated in mirco-size (ME
PCM) by an in-situ polymerization method. Contrary to works pub-
lished so far, the present proposed approach to use LMA as the facil-
itator for prompting heat transfer in the ME PCM. To reduce the in-
terface resistance between the micro capsules, a lead free LMA of Bi
(32%), Sn (59%), Zn (4%) and In (5%) having melting temperature of
120–125 °C was used as TCE. The LMA acts as a thermal percolation
layer around the micro-capsules which creates an interconnected
thermal course through the encapsulated PCM cavities, in our concept,
as a metallic mesh in the ME PCM. The thermal performance of ME
PCM was evaluated in a heat sink with and without fins. The effect of
LMA thermal percolation layer was compared with the fin with an
optimum volume fraction of ∼16% with different power levels. The
evaluations were based on time to reach the SPTs, time to full melt and
uniformity in the spatial discrepancy in temperatures in the bulk PCM
for power levels of 1.57–5.51 kW/m2.
2. Experimental
2.1. Materials and method
The materials used for the encapsulation process include paraffin,
deionized water, ammonium chloride, resorcinol, sodium hydroxide
pellets, urea and formaldehyde solution which were purchased from
Spectrum chemical Pvt. Ltd. Ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride (EMA) was
commercially supplied by Sigma-Aldrich. The LMA with the material
composition of Bi (32%), Sn (59%), In (5%), Zn (4%) and having a
melting temperature in the range 121–131 °C was purchased from Saru
Metals Pvt Ltd, India. The relative weight proportions of Bi, Sn, and Zn
and In within the alloy was confirmed by the Energy Dispersive
Spectroscopy (EDS) spectrum which is shown in Fig. 1.
The micro-encapsulated PCM was prepared through in-situ poly-
merization method. The process of synthesis is explained as follows.
Ethylene-maleic anhydride (EMA) was elected as the emulsifier in the
encapsulation process. EMA solution of 2.5 wt% was mixed with deio-
nized water and the solution was stirred for 10 h at 50 °C to dissolve the
emulsifier completely. EMA initiates the polycondensation process in
which the monomers having two functional groups leads to the for-
mation of the polymer. The in-situ polymerization method prepares the
microcapsules in an oil-in-water emulsion. Fig. 2 illustrates the se-
quence of the synthesis process. At ambient temperature, 200 ml of
deionized water was mixed with 3 wt% aqueous solution of EMA co-
polymer in a beaker. The solution was agitated with a mixer and during
agitation, 5 g urea, 0.50 g ammonium chloride and 0.50 g resorcinol
were dissolved in the solution. To avoid precipitation and to raise the
pH of the solution from 2.60 to 3.50, sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric
acid were added dropwise until the solution remained unsettled. To
eliminate the bubble formation, one to two drops of 1-decanol were
added to the solution. Then 10 g of paraffin was added to the emulsion
and kept steady for 15 min and then heated up to 80 °C. After stabili-
zation, 37 wt% of aqueous formaldehyde was added to the solution to
obtain 1:2 M concentration of urea formaldehyde. The emulsion mix-
ture was further heated up to 55 °C at a heating rate of 1 °C/min. The
agitation was continued for the next four hours at the same temperature
B. Praveen and S. Suresh Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86

Fig.1. EDS spectrum of low melt alloy.

and then allowed to cool to RT. Then the microcapsules were separated
by vacuum filtration with a coarse-fritted filter, rinsed with deionized
water and air-dried for 48 hours.
The prepared micro-encapsulated PCM was then added into the
LMA at liquid state (at 120 °C) and kept on a hot plate. Since the ob-
jective of this study was to evaluate the effect of LMA compared with
plate fins of volume fraction of ∼16%, the LMA was added with the
same volume fraction. After adding a calculated quantity of ME PCM
and LMA, the mixture was stirred for a while until there was no set-
tlement of LMA at the bottom. Finally, the mixture was cooled down to
room temperature and the mixture became solid to conduct the char-
acterization and experimentation. In order to test the form-stability of

Fig. 2. Schematic representations of synthesis of micro-encapsulated PCM with LMA.

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B. Praveen and S. Suresh
Fig. 3. Form-stability test of PCM samples in a hot plate for a duration of time
T0-T3. A-pure paraffin, B- ME paraffin and C- LMA + ME paraffin.
the PCM, the samples were kept on a hot plate maintained at a tem-
perature of 150 °C, which is above the application temperature (80 °C).
As can see in the Fig. 3, the samples have a definite shape at the time -
T0. After time T1 the pure paraffin (sample-A) started to melt, while the
ME PCM (sample-B) and ME PCM/LMA (sample-C) were still main-
tained the shape. And after time-T3 the paraffin becomes complete li-
quid, but the ME PCM remained in a stable form without any leakage of
core PCM. Thus, visual photographs illustrated are ensuring the claim
of form stability and leak-proof encapsulation of PCM up to ∼150 °C.
2.2. Characterization
The surface morphology and dispersion of synthesized microcapsule
and the composite were analyzed through SEM imaging (TESCAN
VEGA3). TGA was used to study the thermal degradation of micro-
capsules up to 600 °C. DSC analysis was performed to obtain the tem-
perature and enthalpy of phase transition of encapsulated paraffin and
LMA composite. DSC and TGA were performed using NETZSCH STA
449 F3 Jupiter.
Latent heat, melting and solidification points were found using DSC
analyzer which can perform in the temperature range of −100 °C to
1500 °C having a resolution of ± 0.3 °C at room temperature and re-
producibility of ± 0.1 °C. All the measurements were performed under
Fig. 4a. An illustrative representation of the experimental setup.
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Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86
the inert nitrogen atmosphere with a flow rate of 20 ml/min and the
heating rate fixed to 5 °C/min. The weight measurements were accurate
up to 0.01 mg in a sealed aluminum cell with piercing. The instrument
was calibrated for heat flow and temperature analysis using indium and
zinc standards. The thermal degradation rate of the synthesized mi-
crocapsules was studied using thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA) which
works in the temperature range of ambient to 1500 °C in a nitrogen
atmosphere with a heating rate of 5 °C/min. The quantity of the sample
taken for the analysis was 50 mg. The sample was placed in the crucible
and ramped from room temperature to 600 °C. Sample characterization
using TGA involves the determination of the change in weight due to
the thermal degradation of the sample as a function of temperature
and/or time of heating.
2.3. Experimental setup
The experimental setup to study the transient heat transfer perfor-
mance in heat sink consists of an aluminum heat sink of dimension
80 × 60 × 40 mm3. To study and compare the effect of LMA and fins,
two heat sinks were machined, one without fin (named as heat sink-
#1) and another with plate fins (heat sink- #2) having uniform fin
thickness of 1.5 mm which is shown in Fig. 4(c). The fin TCE has a
volume fraction of ∼16%, where in this volume fraction, the plate
finned heat sink showed better performance which was proposed by
Baby and Balaji [21,22]. The schematic arrangement of the entire ex-
perimental set up is as shown in Fig. 4(a). At the bottom of the heat
sink, a polyimide film heater (Watlow) of size 40 × 50 × 1 mm thick-
ness was placed with insulation at the bottom as the heat source. The
heater was powered by a variable DC power source for applying the
heat load. At the bottom of the heat sink, three thermocouples (TCs, K
type, Watlow make) labeled as H1, H2 and H3 were placed to measure
the average heat sink bottom temperature and another three TCs were
located inside the heat sink to monitor the PCM temperature. The
spatial variation in temperature of PCM was monitored by TCs P1, P2
and P3 which were in the vertical locations and the TCs P4 and P5 at the
top horizontal locations. The TCs locations are detailed in the Fig. 4(b).
All the TCs were calibrated in the temperature range of 30–100 °C and
estimated an uncertainty value of ± 0.5 °C. A thermally conductive
silicon paste (Omegatherm 201, OT 201) was applied in the interfaces
of the heater and heat sink and in the thermocouple’s holes, to reduce
the contact resistance. All the thermocouples were connected to the
data logger (34972A Data Logger, KEYSIGHT Technologies) to obtain
the transient temperature values during experimentation. The heat sink
assembly was placed inside a substantial convective enclosure to avoid
external convective disturbance.
A transient experiment was conducted to evaluate the heat transfer
performance of ME PCM and ME PCM/LMA with TES based heat sink.
B. Praveen and S. Suresh Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86

Fig.4b. The Schematics of thermocouples locations in the heat sink. The TCs H1, H2 and H3 are at the bottom of the heat sink. The TCs P1, P2 and P3 are along the
central vertical locations, P4 and P5 are in the top central horizontal locations in the PCM.

Fig. 4c. Isometric view of two types of heat sink used and the combinations of experiments with PCM.

The experiments were conducted for both the heating and cooling
process. The observations were noted in both the heat sinks with the
cases of without PCM, with ME PCM and with ME PCM/LMA which is
also depicted in Fig. 4(c). The experiments were conducted with heat
load of W1-1.57, W2- 2.54, W3- 3.61, W4- 4.49 and W5-5.51 kW/m2 by
using a DC power supply. These power levels were adequate to test the
heat transfer performance of a heat sink as reported [6]. The transient
analysis was carried out up to the set point temperature of 75 °C and
then the heater power was switched off to cool the heat sink to the room
temperature. The temperatures were recorded at a scan rate of 10 s of

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B. Praveen and S. Suresh Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86

Table 1 (PSD) analyzer as shown in Fig. 5(a–d). From the SEM image, it can be
Uncertainty measurement. observed that the encapsulated PCM are of micron-sized capsules with a
Equipment Uncertainty spherical shape. The SEM images confirm the spherical shape of en-
capsulation with a diameter of ∼60 µm. The diameter measurement by
Watlow type K thermocouple ± 0.5 °C [20 < T < 100 °C] SEM image is also matching with the statistical evaluation method by
34972A Keysight data logger ± 0.1 [°C]
the PSD analysis. Fig. 5(d) shows the PSD analysis results for the pre-
Fluke 15B Multimeter
Voltage ± 0.5% [V]
pared microencapsulation. The results ensure the homogeneity in the
Current ± 1.4% [A] shape of PCM and the average size of the microcapsules are in the range
LFA Equipment ± 5% [W/m K] of 60–65 µm. Micron-scale PCM particles provide a large surface area
NETZSCH STA 449 F3 Jupiter for better heat transfer. The surfaces of the capsule were found to be
Temperature ± 0.2 [°C]
approximately uniform without any deformities. The uniformity in
Enthalpy ± 2% [J/g]
shape of the samples was attributed to the ample amount of time given
for the shell formation during the process. The SEM images indicate the
interval by the data logger. The transient heat transfer performance of successful encapsulation of paraffin with a polymer shell. The geometry
each case was analyzed by observing the variations in the heat sink and of the microcapsule and the thermal response time have a substantial
PCM temperature with time, recorded by the thermocouples located. effect on the heat transfer properties of the PCM. The microcapsules
The uncertainty in the temperature, voltage, current, enthalpy, phase having spherical geometry have improved heat transfer rate as com-
transition and thermal conductivity depended on the device used. The pared to other geometries [35].
uncertainties associated with measurements are shown in Table 1. Fig. 5(c) shows the dispersion of LMA with the encapsulated PCM.
Most of the microcapsules are not visible due to the layer of LMA filler.
It can be observed that the LMA is well dispersed and the microcapsules
3. Result and discussion
were laminated by the LMA and are mostly intact. This reveals that all
the microcapsules were connected to each other by LMA medium which
3.1. Morphology and microstructure
makes a continuous path of thermally conductive percolation network
for the heat transfer which reduces internal thermal resistance in the
The morphology and microstructure were analyzed using Scanning
ME PCM. The SEM and PSD analysis reveal that, the synthesized
Electron Microscope (SEM) image and the Particle Size Distribution

Fig. 5. (a, b, c and d). (a,b) SEM image of ME PCM(c) SEM image of ME PCM/LMA (d)Particle size distribution of ME PCM.

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B. Praveen and S. Suresh
Fig. 6. DSC curve for ME PCM and ME PCM/LMA.
encapsulated PCM is in spherical shape with micron level size and the
capsules were covered with LMA.
3.2. Enthalpy of melting, phase transition temperature and thermal stability
Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) was used to estimate the
melting point and latent heat of the ME PCM. The melting point and
latent heat were obtained from the second heating cycle and the
average value of three DSC experiment were taken as the final data and
are shown in Fig. 6.
The DSC curves for both the ME paraffin and ME paraffin with LMA
samples show a main sharp curve and a small secondary curve. The
small primary curve represents the solid-solid transition and the sharp
secondary curve represents the solid-liquid (melting) transition of the
PCM. The shoulders of both curves lie in the same temperature region
but with shifted peaks. The DSC curve of the ME PCM shows a melting
peak at 59.3 °C. A minute variation in melting point of encapsulated
samples was already reported and the impurities captured during the
encapsulation process were the reason explained for this fact [36]. The
latent heat of melting was found to be 116.7 J/g for encapsulated
sample and 211.93 J/g for the paraffin sample. The melting tempera-
ture and latent heat value of the synthesized microcapsules make them
suitable for latent heat storage based heat sink applications.
The encapsulation ratio (wt.% of PCM in the capsule) is a parameter
used to characterize the phase change performance of micro-
encapsulated PCM which in turn can be calculated from the DSC data.
The PCM percentage inside the encapsulation is one of the key factors of
the encapsulation process outcome which determines the percentage of
PCM encapsulated in the microcapsule based on melting enthalpy value
and can be calculated as follows,
ΔHencap
Paraffin (wt . %) in the encapsulation = × 100
ΔHParaffin
where ΔHencap, ΔHParaffin are the melting enthalpy of encapsulated
sample and paraffin respectively. The calculated encapsulation ratio
was 55.06%, which reveals that encapsulated microspheres contain
55.06 wt% of paraffin. The trend of decrease in the value of ΔHencap
after the encapsulation process was reported by the researchers [35]
which ensures the validity of the results obtained in this study. In the
DSC curve, the melting of LMA occurred at 122.2 °C with an onset and
end temperature of 108.2 °C and 132.5 °C respectively.
The TGA curves for paraffin, ME PCM and ME PCM/LMA are shown
in Fig. 7.The paraffin decomposes in a single step between the tem-
perature range of 200–350 °C. However, for the ME PCM, the
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Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86
Fig. 7. TGA curve of paraffin, ME PCM and ME PCM/LMA.
decomposition takes place in two steps. A mass degradation of 3.6%
happened in the early stage of heating up to 100 °C. The degradation
percentage and the temperature range shows that this is due to the
evaporation of moisture content left and the unremoved residual par-
ticles (low molecular) during the encapsulation process. From 100 °C to
300 °C represents the evaporation of paraffin in the encapsulation core.
At the end of this zone, 54.6% of mass was decomposed. After that, the
decomposition of shell material occurs at the temperature range of
above 300 °C. The TGA results give the following information. The mass
degradation of encapsulated PCM occurs only after 200 °C, which is
within and a distant temperature range of application. The degradation
temperature remains unchanged after encapsulation of the PCM. The
first step of major mass loss was 54.6% for paraffin, which is almost
matching with the encapsulation ratio of 55.06% by DSC analysis. Since
the LMA has high degradation temperature, the mass reduction is less
up to the observed temperature of 600 °C. The PCM was degraded at the
temperature range of ∼450 °C and the remaining LMA were on the
track to degradation.
3.3. Transient heat transfer performance with TES based heat sink
3.3.1. Effect of ME PCM/LMA on heat sink base temperature
In this section, the transient heat transfer performance of synthe-
sized PCM with the TES based heat sink was analyzed based on the heat
sink base temperature variation recorded by the TCs H1, H2 and H3
located at the base of two heat sinks with power levels of 1.57, 2.54,
3.61, 4.49 and 5.51 kW/m2. The temperature plots are shown in Fig. 8.
The plots show that the base temperature rises very fast in the case of
without PCM for both the heat sink compared with the case of with
PCM. The inhibited temperature rise rate with PCM is due to the heat
absorption by the PCM while the phase transfer occurs inside the mi-
crocapsules. Moreover, due to the encapsulation, the PCM in the core
became a liquid and there is no chance of spilling out from the heat
sink. After completion of solid to liquid phase change of PCM in the
core, the heat sink temperature rises fast due to the superheating of
PCM.
Table 2 comprises the time for the heat sink base (#1 and #2) with
and without ME PCM to reach set point temperatures (SPT) of 55 and
65 °C for the power levels range 1.57–5.51 kW/m2. The results reveal a
wide variation in time to reach the SPT from the base line observation
(#1 and #2 without PCM) and heat sink with ME PCM. In the case of
power equal to 1.57 kW/m2 and heat sink #1, time to reach the SPTs of
55 and 65 °C varies from 10.25 to 19.5 min and 25.33 to 55.6 min with
ME PCM respectively. The ME PCM maintained the heat sink at a lower
B. Praveen and S. Suresh Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86

Fig. 8. Temperature- time profile of heat sink base for power level 1.57, 2.54, 3.61, 4.49 and 5.51 kW/m2.

temperature by absorbing the latent heat for the phase transition. conduction and convection heat transfer which affect the heat sink
Moreover, with the same heat sink and power level, the time is delayed performance. The LMA creates a thermal percolation layer with in-
to 36.4 and 114.6 min for the SPTs by the ME PCM/LMA. The heat creased thermal conductive path within the micro-capsule PCM which
transfer with PCM has the interplay of different mechanisms of reduces the thermal resistance within the ME PCM. The delayed time to

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Table 2 Table 3
Time to reach SPT of 55 and 65 °C and time for full melting of PCM. Enhancement ration baed on time to reach the SPTs.
Time to reach SPT, Enhancement Ratio based on time to reach SPTs
min
55 °C 65 °C
Case Heat flux, 55 °C 65 °C Time to melt the
kW/m2− full PCM Heat flux, kW/ W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W1 W2 W3 W4 W5
m2
#1 without PCM W1 10.25 25.33 –
#1 with ME PCM W1 19.5 55.6 not reached, Φfin 1.52 1.76 2.31 2.10 1.82 1.52 1.66 2.63 2.37 2.31
operation aborted ΦLMA 1.87 1.95 2.93 2.74 2.57 2.06 2.04 3.52 3.46 3.58
#1 with ME PCM/ W1 36.4 114.6 48.3
LMA
sink for the power level of 1.57 to 5.51 kW/m2. This inferred that, the
#2 without PCM W1 19 46.7 –
#2 with ME PCM W1 29.75 84.6 59.6
fins enhance the efficiency of the heat sink by keeping it in a lower
temperature. The fins act as a TCE within the PCM, hence absorbing
#1 without PCM W1 05.6 09.9 – more heat quickly.
#1 with ME PCM W2 08.2 19.2 43.5 Table 3 shows the enhancement in operating time by the LMA ad-
#1 with ME PCM/ 16.0 39.3 26.5
dition in the ME PCM. The enhancement ratio φLMA for a power level
LMA
from 1.5 to 5.5 kW/m2, varies from 1.87 to 2.57 and 2.06 to 3.58 with
#2 without PCM W2 9.8 18.7 – two SPTs 55 and 65 °C respectively. In another way, with equal volume
#2 with ME PCM W2 14.5 32.0 29.3 fraction of LMA in the ME PCM has more enhancement ratio from 1.52
to 1.87 (for W1) and 1.82 to 2.57 (for W5) for SPT of 55 °C and 1.52 to
#1 without PCM W3 3.6 6.0 –
#1 with ME PCM W3 4.8 9.1 29.1
2.37 (for W1) and 2.31 to 3.58 (forW5) for SPT of 65 °C respectively.
#1 with ME PCM/ W3 14.1 10.9 18.3 The anomalous increase in enhancement ratio with LMA of same vo-
LMA lume fraction as fins was due to the distribution of TCE LMA in between
the micro capsules.
#2 without PCM W3 6.6 24.0 –
The mechanics of enhanced heat transfer is depicted in Fig. 9. The
#2 with ME PCM W3 11.1 4.6 19.5
effective thermal diffusion with filler addition is related to the physical
#1 without PCM W4 3.1 6.2 – connection intensity of the filler. The more and continuous in the
#1 with ME PCM W4 3.5 21.5 not reached, connection between the filler through the PCM, more the thermal dif-
operation aborted fusivity. A percolation network represents a continuous path
#1 with ME PCM/ W4 9.6 13.5
LMA
throughout the material. Due to the spherical shape of ME PCM, the
voids between the adjacent micro capsules are filled with LMA. This
#2 without PCM W4 4.3 7.1 –
#2 with ME PCM W4 7.36 14.7 17.6

#1 without PCM W5 2.2 3.4 –

#1 with ME PCM W5 2.8 4.7 not reached,
operation aborted
#1 with ME PCM/ W5 7.2 14.7 12.3
LMA

#2 without PCM W5 3.4 5.3 –

#2 with ME PCM W5 5.1 9.5 15.4

reach the critical SPTs indicate that the device can operate at a lower
temperature for a long duration of time. And this trend of enhanced
operating time can see for higher power levels, 2.54, 3.61, 4.49 and
5.51 kW/m2 form the Fig. 8 and Table 1.

3.3.2. Effect of LMA in ME PCM on heat sink temperature compared with

finned heat sink
The enhanced heat transfer by LMA was compared with the alu-
minum fin of same volume fraction of ~16%, was done based on the
time to reach SPTs for different power levels which are shown in Fig. 8
and Table 2. The comparison was based on the enhancement ratio in
time to reach the SPTs at different power levels. This discussion is for
study and quantifies the effect of LMA of volume fraction of ∼ 16%
which is same as the fin volume fraction in the heat sink # 2. For that,
enhancement ratio φfin and φLMA were calculated. The enhancement
ratio φfin, is defined as, the time taken to reach the SPTs from the heat
sink with fins (heat sink # 2) to that of the un-finned heat sink (heat
sink # 1) with ME PCM. And the enhancement ratio φLMA is defined the
ratio of time taken to reach the SPTs by the heat sink with ME PCM/
LMA to that of un-finned heat sink with ME PCM. The calculated data
show that the enhancement ratio, φfin varies from 1.52 to 1.82 for the
SPT of 55 °C and 1.52 to 2.31 for the SPT of 65 °C with fins in the heat Fig. 9. Schematic of the mechanism of heat transfer.

83
B. Praveen and S. Suresh
Fig. 10. The temperature of top layer PCM when the heat sink base at 70 °C.
acts as a thermal percolation layer which increases the heat transfer
within the micro capsules. The fins can only facilitate the heat transfer
in an orthogonal direction from the heat sink base. But the percolated
LMA was distributed through the ME PCM and hence it can facilitate
heat transfer in all directions which leads to enhanced heat transfer in
the ME PCM.
The ME PCM in heat sink#1 has less heat transfer due to voids. The
fins in heat sink#2 increase heat diffusion in orthogonal direction. But
the LMA facilitates all directional heat flow in heat sink #1.
3.3.3. Effect of LMA on time to full melt
The maximum utilization of PCM can be assured only once the
whole PCM has melted inside the heat sink within the operating tem-
perature. In other ways, the PCM is of limited benefit if there is an
incomplete phase change of occupied heat sink volume. The melting of
the top layer PCM within the operating temperature indicates max-
imum utilization of latent heat available in the heat sink. In Fig. 10
Fig. 11. Spatial variation of temperature in vertical direction for different heat flux.
84
Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86
showed the condition of PCM (Temperature) at the top portion of the
heat sink when the base reached to 70 °C. The average reading of TC P3,
P4 and P5 were used to ensure full melting of PCM inside the heat sink
volume. In the last column of Table 2 showed the time required to reach
the melting point of PCM at the top part of the heat sink for each power
level observed. The ME PCM in heat sink #1 with power W1, W4 and W5
were not reached up to its melting point which indicate incomplete
melting of PCM in the heat sink. This happened due to the low thermal
conductivity of ME PCM. In the case of power level W1, the applied heat
flux was not enough to melt the top layer PCM. But with the heat flux
value of W2 and W3, the top layer PCM reached the melting point.
Certainly, the ME PCM with LMA has a shorter time to reach the
melting point due to the enhanced thermal diffusion to the top portion
of heat sink through the ME PCM. Moreover, the onset of phase change
of PCM occurred at several points in the bulk PCM. In the case of higher
heat flux value of W4 and W5, the PCM at top layer could not melt since
the heating rate was at a faster rate, the heat sink base reached the
critical temperature of 75 °C. Meanwhile, the presence of fins and LMA
made the PCM reach its melting point for all the power level by en-
hancing heat diffusion through the bulk PCM. In Table 2, it shows that
the LMA in the ME PCM decreased the time to reach the melting tem-
perature for PCM at the top of heat sink.
Fig. 10 depicts the state of top layer PCM when the heat sink base is
at 70 °C. This again shows the effect of LMA in enhanced thermal dif-
fusion within the ME PCM. In case of heat sink #1with ME PCM, the top
layer PCM has never reached the melting before the heat sink base at
70 °C. And the PCM in heat sink #2 attained the melting temperature
except for heat flux value W4 and W5. Even the fins can increase the
heat transfer in the orthogonal direction, but it could not assure in the
ME PCM in between the fins. But LMA added ME PCM can attain the
melting temperature before the heat sink base at 70 °C. This is due to
the fact that LMA was dispersed throughout all the direction around the
micro-capsules and hence increased thermal diffusivity in all direction
in the bulk PCM.
3.3.4. Effect on spatial variation of PCM temperature
The spatial variation of PCM temperature in the heat sink was
monitored by the TC reading P1, P2 and P3 which were located 10 mm,
20 mm and 30 mm in a vertical position. Fig. 11 showed the
B. Praveen and S. Suresh Energy Conversion and Management 185 (2019) 75–86

temperature at the location of TCs at half of the time period after the
experiment started for each power levels. This means that the graph
shows the spatial variation of temperature at 5000, 2000, 1500, 1000
and 7000 s. The temperature distribution in the vertical axis indicates
how uniform is heat diffusion through the bulk PCM. Fig. 11 shows that
there is variation in temperature in vertical position as the PCM has less
thermal conductivity. However, the presence of fins and LMA reduces
the difference in temperature within the ME PCM. Since the pure PCM
has less thermal conductivity, the PCM near to the hot surface melts
first. Certainly, the heat will accumulate at the bottom and side walls
which cause reduced heat capacity of the heat sink. The internal fins
and LMA increase the heat conducting surface area and the melting
becomes more uniform inside the heat sink. Moreover, as compared to
fins, LMA in the ME PCM is more dispersed in the bulk PCM thus it can
fill the voids in between the micro-capsules. Hence, the temperature
distribution is more uniform compared with fins which can see in
Fig. 11. In the case of heat sink #1 with ME PCM at power level
1.57 kW/m2, the temperature at P1, P2 and P3 were 60.1, 56.2 and
50.5 °C. Whereas, with heat sink #2, the temperatures are 60.1, 57.5
and 54.3 °C and in the case of heat sink #1 with ME PCM/LMA as 60.1,
58.3 and 56.2. This temperature distribution shows that with LMA, the
heat is distributed more uniformly in vertical location compared with
no fin and finned case. Moreover, at higher power levels the tempera-
ture gradient is more in the case of heat sink #1 with ME PCM due to
the fast heating rate at the bottom. But, the trend of temperature uni-
formity is more in case of #1 with LMA, due to fast heat diffusion by the
LMA percolation layer.
Another observation to evaluate the effect of LMA was done by
calculating the temperature difference at the top surface (average
reading of TC at P3, P4 and P4). Fig. 12 shows the temperature differ-
ence at top PCM and heat sink bottom for heat flux W1- 1.57 kW/m2
and W5- 5.51 kW/m2. Larger difference indicates less heat diffusion
through the ME PCM to the top surface. In the case of heat sink #1 with
ME PCM, the top and bottom heat sink temperature have a large dif-
ference due to low thermal conductivity of ME PCM which leads to heat
accumulation at the bottom. The presence of fins and LMA reduces this
difference in temperature by increasing the heat diffusion through the
bulk PCM towards the top surface. Compared with fins, LMA is more
Fig. 12. The temperature difference (△T) between the heat sink base and top
effective to reduce the temperature gradient which is one of the desired layer PCM for heat flux W1- 1.57 and W5- 5.51 kW/m2.
qualities of a heat sink. On the other hand, the LMA percolation reduces
the response time and hence creates a reduced thermal gradient within
the PCM.

3.3.5. Effect of LMA during off-duty time

The restoring time of a TES based heat sink by releasing charged
heat energy to the external boundary is also important for its cyclic
operation. The heat rejecting rate of heat sink #1 and #2 is presented in
Fig. 13. Since all the cases of observation during heating was conducted
up to 75 °C, the cooling curve was started from the same temperature
for every case. Both the sinks without PCM get cooled down to room
temperature rapidly since they have no heat energy stored. For the
cases of heat sink #1 and #2 with ME PCM initially, the temperature
drops very fast up to solidification point, due to the release of sensible
heat in the superheated liquid PCM inside the shell. The cooling curve
reveals that the PCM releases heat at a fast rate with fins and LMA
because of TCE. Compared with fins, LMA added ME PCM cools down
more smoothly, attributed to the increased conductive path through
micro-capsules. The LMA percolation acts as an easy way to flow the
heat from the voids in between the micro-capsules, which causes a
faster rate of heat release.

Fig. 13. Temperature evolution of heat sink during off-duty.

4. Conclusion

An experimental investigation was performed with micro-en- polymerization method. The TGA results showed good stability up to a
capsulated paraffin with polymer shell (ME PCM) in TES based heat temperature 250 °C. In order to reduce the apparent voids in between
sink. The ME PCM capsules were synthesized by an in-situ the micro-capsules LMA was used which acts as a thermal percolation

85
B. Praveen and S. Suresh
network. The effect of LMA in the ME PCM was observed by comparing
the heat transfer performance with fins of optimum volume fraction of
16% in a TES base heat sink with power levels of 1.57, 2.54, 3.61, 4.49
and 5.51 kW/m2.
With help of preceding experiments and discussion the following
conclusions can be drawn. The SEM and PSD analysis show that the
synthesized ME PCM has uniform spherical morphology with average
particles of size 64 µm. The LMA formed a thermal percolation between
the micro-capsules which enhances the heat diffusion within the bulk
ME PCM. Incorporation of LMA showed an enhancement ratio of 1.87
to 2.57 and 2.06 to 3.58 in terms of time to reach SPT of 55 and 65 °C
with heat load of 1.57 to 5.51 kW/m2. This reveals that the LMA ad-
dition in ME PCM has enhanced heat diffusion characteristics.
Moreover, the complete melting of PCM occurred before the critical SPT
of the heat sink for all the power levels which reveals the maximum
utilization of bulk PCM.
Compared with fins, another evidence of improved heat diffusion
with LMA in the ME PCM was the observed uniformity in spatial var-
iation of PCM temperature inside the heat sink. Moreover, the recovery
time of heat sink was significantly dragged down by the LMA which
make the heat sink suitable for cyclic operations. To put it concisely, the
LMA thermal percolation layer shows superior thermal performance
with ME PCM in a TES based heat sink application. Furthermore, it is
interesting to carry out an extension assessment with improved thermal
conductive micro-encapsulated PCM to improve the performance, even
though the thermal percolation layer has its own contribution to the
scenario.
Acknowledgements
This publication is an outcome of the R&D work undertaken project
under the Visvesvaraya Ph.D. Scheme of Ministry of Electronics &
Information Technology, Government of India, being implemented by
Digital India Corporation (Grand no- PhD-MLA-4(16)/2015-16).
Conflict of interest
There are no apparent conflicts of interest for the authors with re-
gards to the topic of this paper.
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