Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

Yang Lizhonga, Uver Villalobosa, Akhmetov Bakytzhana, Antoni Gil Pujola, Wooi Leong Tanb, and Alessandro
Romagnolic, a Surbana Jurong – Nanyang Technological University Corporate Lab, Singapore, Singapore; b Oil & Gas
Department, Surbana Jurong, Singapore, Singapore and c School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Singapore,
Singapore
© 2020.

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Materials used in active TES for refrigeration applications

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PCMs: Classification and properties
Classification
Latent heat storage media (also known as phase change materials or PCMs) absorbs or releases energy during the phase change of the
material in a ratio of 5 to 14 times larger than sensible thermal energy storage materials (Sevault et al., 2017a). Initially, the PCM behaves
as a sensible heat storage as the temperature changes. At the transition point, the PCM absorbs or releases large amounts of heat at almost
constant temperature. Once the transition is over, it continues to behave as a sensible storage material (Goswami and Raj, 2018).

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Phase transitions of PCMs can be categorized into solid-solid, solid-liquid, liquid-gas, and solid-gas. Transitions to gas have higher
latent heat compared with the other transitions, but a significant volume change occurs during the process, which requires pressurized
storage vessels, unless the gas can be directly released to the atmosphere. The solid-solid transition refers to a change between polymorphic
phases, which releases a low latent heat compared to solid-liquid transition (Sharma et al., 2009). Solid-liquid is the most studied form
for PCMs. Its latent heat is higher than solid-solid, but the thermal expansion of the material may reach 10% of the original volume or less
(Sharma et al., 2009). Therefore, TES systems employs solid-liquid phase transitions should be able to handle the volume change.

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The latent heat Q [kJ] involved in a solid-liquid phase change process can be calculated according Eq. (1):

(1)
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where M is the total mass of storage material [kg], ∆ Hm is the storage material enthalpy of melting [kJ/kg], and xm is the fraction of material
melted. The total amount of energy stored includes the sensible heat before and after the phase transition plus the latent heat.
Regarding refrigeration applications, PCMs are classified into organic, inorganic, and eutectic mixtures, as shown in Fig. 1. Organic
includes paraffins (alkenes) and non-paraffins (ester, glycol, fatty acid, etc.). Inorganic PCMs are mostly salt hydrates. Eutectics are a
combination of two or more substances, either organic, inorganic, or both.
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For organic PCMs, the paraffins are formed by alkenes with the chemical structure of a chain of molecules with the general formula
CnH2n + 2. As the length of the chain increases, the melting point and the latent heat of the paraffin also increases (Sharma et al., 2009;
Aftab et al., 2017). Non-paraffin substances can be classified in alkanones, esters, fatty acids, alcohols, glycols, and polymers.
Inorganic PCMs are mainly salt hydrates. Salt hydrates are a combination of a salt (oxides, carbonates, sulfates, and nitrates) with
water molecules in a specific ratio. Water molecules are located inside the lattice of the salt, with a defined location and orientation. Their
chemical structure is AB(salt compound)∙ nH2O.
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A eutectic PCM is a combination of two or more components with specific ratios. It can be organic materials, inorganic materials, or
both. Through such a combination, the melting temperature will be lower than that of each substance which forms the mixture. This kind of
materials melt and freeze congruently without phase separation and have high thermal conductivities and densities (Sharma et al., 2009;
Sarbu and Sebarchievici, 2018; Ndanduleni et al., 2019; Veerakumar and Sreekumar, 2016).
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Properties
A PCM should have several desirable physical, chemical, thermal and kinetic properties as well as fulfill economical criteria for a good
performance, as shown in Table 1 (Goswami and Raj, 2018; Sharma et al., 2009; Aftab et al., 2017; Ndanduleni et al., 2019;
Veerakumar and Sreekumar, 2016; Rathod, 2018; Du et al., 2018; Nazir et al., 2019).
Organic PCM exhibit several properties to consider. Paraffins are made of a combination of alkanes. They exhibit high latent heat,
are available over a broad temperature range, inexpensive, reliable, stable, predictable, low vapor pressure, non-corrosive, non-toxic and
environmentally-friendly (Sevault et al., 2017a; Goswami and Raj, 2018; Sharma et al., 2009; Khan et al., 2016). However, they
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have some issues such as incompatibility with plastic containers and low thermal conductivity which limit its applications (Khan et al.,
2016). Non-paraffin materials are available from vegetable and animal oils, making them accessible and sustainable, even though they are
flammable. Since they are composed of one component, there is no phase separation, making them thermally stable after cycles (Goswami
and Raj, 2018; Rathod, 2018).
On the other hand, salt hydrates are the most studied PCM due to their thermal conductivity, safe operation and affordable cost
(Goswami and Raj, 2018). Their transition occurs due to the hydration and dehydration of the salt. They exhibit higher latent heat, reduced
thermal expansion, and higher thermal conductivities and densities than organics. However, since they are a mixture of salt and water, they
show a tendency to separate into different phases after several thermal cycles, making them chemically unstable (Rathod, 2018; Khan et
al., 2016).

Encyclopedia of Energy Storage, Volume ■ https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819723-3.00029-9 1

2 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

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Fig. 1 PCM classification .

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Table 1 Preferable properties for PCM.

Physical properties High density

Small volume change during transitions
No phase separation (Complete melting)
Low vapor pressure
Chemical properties Corrosion resistance
Reversible transition (melting-freezing) cycle

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Chemical stability and no degradation during cycles
Not poisonous, toxic, flammable, polluting or explosive
Thermal properties An appropriate melting temperature depending on the application
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High thermal conductivity in both phases
High energy density (latent heat of fusion)
High specific heat capacity for sensible storage
Kinetic properties Low degree of subcooling
High rate of nucleation and crystal growth
Uniform heat transfer
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Economic criteria Low cost

Available in large quantities
Recyclable and easy to treat
Low environmental impact
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As a congruent mixture of two or more components, eutectic melt and crystallizes in a uniform way (Rathod, 2018). Eutectic solutions
exhibit low latent heat and specific heat capacity (Sharma et al., 2009; Sarbu and Sebarchievici, 2018; Ndanduleni et al., 2019;
Veerakumar and Sreekumar, 2016), and in some case subcooling effects may appear. On the contrary, they present no-phase segregation
after several cycles. It must be noted that there is limited data regarding eutectic PCM due to every composition to be studied is developed
by the researchers according to the specific application (Rathod, 2018). The advantages and disadvantages of organic, inorganic, and
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eutectic PCM are listed in Table 2.

Challenges
In general, the factors that limit the use of PCMs as storage media for refrigeration are phase separation, subcooling, unequal melting,
corrosion and volume change (Nazir et al., 2019). During decades researchers have been working on solving these issues that relates to
the long term stability of the whole system. Therefore, it is suggested that the PCMs should be exposed to at least 1000 thermal cycles to
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corroborate its stability (Khan et al., 2016). Most of these problems with PCMs can be mitigated with the introduction of additives like
nucleating agents for subcooling, thickening agents for phase segregation. Other common issues when using PCMs are corrosion effect
with the container material and toxicity, which could be dealt by encapsulation of the PCM, avoiding the contact of it with the container or
any other environment.
One of the most important challenges to address is the low heat transfer ratio from the PCM materials. This issue has been improved
by using fins, plates and different metal structures in the heat exchanger, as well as using additives inside the PCM to improve the thermal
conductivity of the material (Dincer and Ezan, 2018).
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Table 2 Comparison between organic, inorganic and eutectic PCM (Sharma et al., 2009; Aftab et al., 2017; Sarbu and Sebarchievici, 2018;
Veerakumar and Sreekumar, 2016; Rathod, 2018; Nazir et al., 2019).

Advantages Disadvantages

Organic PCM
Non-corrosive Lower latent heat than inorganic PCM
Low or no subcooling Low thermal conductivity

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Low vapor pressure Some are insoluble in water
Self-nucleating Flammable
Recyclable Volume change

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Chemical and thermal stability Low density
Low cost Possible incompatibility with plastic containers
Congruent melting
Inorganic PCM
Higher latent heat than organic PCM Subcooling
Lower volume change Corrosion
Low vapor pressure in liquid state Phase separation

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High thermal conductivity Low thermal stability
Non-flammable Chemical instability
Recyclable Requires container and support
Incongruent melting
Expensive
Eutectics
High volumetric thermal storage density Low latent heat

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Minimal phase separation Strong odor
Expensive
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Containment methods and materials
The containment or encapsulation of PCM is necessary in active systems to avoid the reaction (and potential contamination) between the
storage material and the HTF. There are three main encapsulation methods (Sevault et al., 2017a):
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• Bulk storage: the PCM is contained inside a tank, like a heat exchanger. The material of the tank depends on the application and must
be compatible with the PCM material in terms of corrosion. In general, bulk storage needs a large heat transfer area in order to obtain
a uniform temperature profile during the charging and discharging cycles. Therefore, the use of fins, plates, metal structures, and other
methods is very common to increase the heat transfer.
• Macroencapsulation: the PCM is contained in small containers of different shapes and size, usually from few millimeters to few
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centimeters in diameter. They are easy to manufacture in different materials and able to provide a much better temperature profile in
the exchanger tank than bulk storage.
• Microencapsulation: the PCM is contained in small polymeric spheres with a diameter between 1 mm and 1 μm. The
microencapsulation of PCM improves the thermal performance since it increases the surface area for heat transfer to occur and gives
thermal stability due to the phase separation created.
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The proper selection of materials for encapsulation is a key task during the design to warrant a long term stability of the set
PCM-capsule. Thus, the containment compatibility with the PCM must be evaluated. Oró et al. (2013) evaluated the corrosion resistance
of several metals and polymers interacting with a series of PCM. The authors evaluated the corrosion/degradation rate as well as reactions
such as precipitates, bubbles, pitting, pH changes, among others. More corrosion evaluations have been made between PCM and container
materials. The trend shows that paraffins have a poor behavior in contact with polymers, except High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and
inorganic PCM have poor compatibility with metals (Khan et al., 2016). Such evaluation must be done before selecting the containment
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material in contact with the PCM. A proper selection is crucial for the long term stability of the storage materials.

Bulk storage
The storage of PCM as a bulk usually involves the use of a container tank, which can be used as well as a heat exchanger for the TES
system. Some steel alloys and metals lose their ductility and become brittle at low temperatures, while metals like copper, aluminum and
austenitic steels may remain ductile. Then, the selection of the container material steel alloys for low temperature applications have to be
carefully selected according to the type of stresses at which it will be working, welding and hardening process during fabrication, among
other aspects (Key to Metals AG, 2001b). For applications up to − 75 °C is possible to use low alloy, quenched and tempered steels, or
ferritic steels. Low carbon martensitic steels (with a carbon content between 0.20% and 0.35%) can be used for this case.
4 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

Special metal alloys can be used for different applications regarding its range of temperature. In particular, almost all aluminum alloys
can be used up to − 45 °C, except 7075-T6 and 7178-T6 series. Nickel alloys could withstand temperatures up to − 270 °C and are common
in the cryogenics industry.
Titanium alloys are suitable for a wide range of temperatures. For applications up to − 25 °C it is recommended to use 13V-11Cr-3Al
or 8Mn alloys. For lower temperatures up to − 45 °C it’s possible to use 6Al-6V-2Sn alloys. More metals and alloys can be used for even
lower temperatures. A sample of these options are shown in Fig. 2.
A favorable thermal conductivity is preferred for the heat exchanger material, since it will interact directly with the PCM. The rest of

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the vessel should be designed according to the structural loads, temperature range of operation and possible corrosion. As a guideline, the
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code should be consulted for a proper design (Boardman LLC, 2020).

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Macroencapsulation
Macroencapsulation refers to confining PCMs in modular containments of few centimeters. Every capsule includes an air cushion to
compensate material volume change, especially for the case of rigid ones, to preserve the mechanical stability of the storage system
(thermoTab active, n.d.; Mehling and Cabeza, 2008). Materials for the macroencapsulation containment could be metallic or plastic,
with spherical, rectangular, cylindrical, pouches, flat-plate shapes, and others made to fit specific uses (Mehling and Cabeza, 2008;
Thamaraikannn et al., 2017; Dhaidan and Khodadadi, 2015; Oró et al., 2012) (Fig. 3). Table 3 shows a list of materials used for

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macroencapsulation, with their advantages and disadvantages.

Microencapsulation
Microencapsulation refers to containing the PCM in capsules at micro-scale (few millimeters or less), to hold the material inside and
protect it from the environment (Mehling and Cabeza, 2008). The shell is usually made from a polymer such as polyamide, polyester,
polyethylene, among others. Microencapsulation creates a large surface area, improving the heat transfer and mechanical stability of the
material, reduces agglomeration (Zhang and Ma, 2012) phase separation, and improves cycling stability (Mohamed et al., 2017). The

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method needs improvements to avoid the possible destruction of the capsules due to concentration of thermal stresses after thermal cycles
(Youssef et al., 2013) and decrease its cost of production (Zhang and Ma, 2012).
Microencapsulation PCM can be used as a PCM slurry, which is a stable suspension of PCM particles in a carrier fluid. This system
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offers promising opportunities for CTES applications due to it helps to avoid the dispersion of PCM on the HTF and protect it from the
environment. The encapsulation of n-dodecane and n-tetradecane paraffins as PCM suspended in brine as carrier fluid has been investigated
as a PCM slurry (Oró et al., 2012). The samples of a few micrometers in diameter showed to be mechanically stable after thousands of
cycles, and the problems studied (high viscosity and subcooling effect) were solved thanks to the inclusion of additives (Yamagishi et al.,
1996).
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However, slurries have relatively low thermal conductivity due to the container material, and at long term tend to deteriorate. Some
examples of container materials for encapsulation are the melamine resin, which could help to disperse capsules into water (Zhang and
Ma, 2012; Youssef et al., 2013; Ma and Zhang, 2013; Zhang et al., 2020).
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Fig. 2 Materials resistant to low temperatures (Gasparini Industries S.r.l, 2019).

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Fig. 3 Shapes of PCM macroencapsulation containment: (A) spherical; (B) rectangular; (C) cylindrical; (D) flexible; (E) flat-plate; (F) arched
bottle (Global-E-Systems, n.d.; Welter, 2016; RGEES LLC, n.d.; PCM Products Ltd, n.d.; Oro et al., 2012; Kozak et al., 2017).
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Table 4 shows a list of characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of materials used as shell for microencapsulated PCM.

Storage types and applications

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The application of active TES using PCM is becoming common in refrigeration systems and its type may vary depending on the
requirements of each application. It is known that the complexity for latent storage media is higher than for sensible media (Goswami
and Raj, 2018; Sarbu and Sebarchievici, 2018). During the phase transition, the density change of the PCM leads to its thermal and
mechanical interaction with the structure of the vessel. For larger differences between charging and discharging temperatures, challenges
on selecting right active TES design could be significant and requires detailed understanding of the PCM thermo-mechanical properties
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together with the TES structure. In fact, PCM based TES for cold energy has been researched for space cooling applications, pharmaceutical
and biomedical products, food preservation, industrial refrigeration, cryogenics, liquid air industry, and liquefied natural gas (Sevault et
al., 2017b; Hüttermann et al., 2019; Ross, 1995). Some of these applications have significantly lower temperature values compared to
refrigeration systems; therefore, could be easily applicable for the latter. Below, different types of active TES are considered and their
distinctive features are discussed.

Storage types
Packed-bed
Packed bed type TES is probably one of the most studied storage systems. It is considered applicable for both high and low temperature
systems. The structure of the storage is relatively simple: PCM is encapsulated at macro scale and layered in a cylindrical tank (Fig. 4).
6 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

Table 3 Macroencapsulation PCM enhancements.

Type of
Method Material Advantage Disadvantage References
enhancement

Macroencapsulation Aluminum Minimize Large surface Possibility of Oró et al. (2013),

Copper phase area improves corrosion Mehling and
Stainless Steel Separation heat transfer between PCM Cabeza (2008), Li et

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316L Improves characteristics and container. al. (2018), Calvet et
Stainless Steel heat Prevents Size of capsule al. (2013), Salunkhe

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304 transfer leakage generates a and Shembekar
Carbon steel rate problems temperature (2012), Höhlein et
Polypropylene Avoidance of gradient al. (2018)
Polystyrene contamination between the
Polyolefins and change in core and shell,
Rubber properties which prevents
High-Density Moldable into an effective heat
Polyethylene different transfer

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Polyethylene shapes on Could be
Terephthalate flexible or leakage through
rigid the seal
materials
(mechanical
stability)

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Macrocapsules are usually spheres aiming to maximize the contact area and minimize the void fraction and pressure drop and, most of
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all, achieve an optimum distribution of the HTF flow in the tank. In fact, type of encapsulation can also be flat containers, tubes, beams,
pouches, cells, etc., and they can all be piled up in the storage tank. The drawbacks of packed bed TES are poor heat transfer in case of large
dimensions of encapsulation, high void fraction, less compact and significant pressure drop. But this is the simplest and reliable concept for
active TES.
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Shell-and-tube
Another TES technology in the industry is the shell-and-tube type storage, consisting on a bundle of tubes enclosed in a shell. In this
system, PCM is placed between tank (shell) and tubes bundle. The operation principle of this type of TES systems is same as typical
shell-and-tube type heat exchange, considering the shell side as a static fluid or solid, depending on the phase of the material, while HTF
in the tubes are convective. Many studies were conducted to experimentally characterize the behavior of the system using many different
configurations and materials (Aljehani et al., 2018; Ruan et al., 2016; Torregrosa-Jaime et al., 2013). It has to be remarked that one of
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the main drawbacks of PCM materials is the low thermal conductivity, which is usually overcome by adding fins to the tube bundle in order
to increase the heat transfer rate between the PCM and the HTF (Fig. 5). Otherwise, significant increase of the tube length (to increase the
exchange area) leads to an undesired increase in the void fraction.

Plate
Plate based TES is another type of storage where PCM is encapsulated in a rectangular plate shape, and installed longitudinally along the
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flow direction of HTF. The distance between plates must preferably be the same as the plate thickness to allow optimal heat transfer rates
between the HTF and the PCM through the side walls of the plates. The section of tank also uses to be rectangular to optimize its volume
(Fig. 6). The HTF inlet and outlet tubes are usually connected to rectangular pyramid-shaped diffusor and confusor respectively integrated
to the lower and upper sections of the TES shell. Such design of TES allows to apply gaseous HTFs due to its large heat transfer surface
area. Although, the volume fraction of plate type TES is notably large due to the distribution of the plates in the TES shell.
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Slurry
Slurry consists of a carrier fluid, usually water, and a dispersed phase represented by the PCM. Due to its physical properties, the slurry
remains always liquid and it can be easily pumped with low pressure drop, stored in tanks and passed through a heat exchanger. Therefore,
it may be used as storage material and heat transfer fluid at the same time.
Until date, only PCM has been used in the form of slurry for thermal energy storage, being commonly known as Phase Change Slurry
(PCS). The mixture has a better heat transfer coefficient, heat capacity and power than the pure PCM, but keeping the advantages of a
liquid, even when the PCM is in solid state. For a good performance of the slurry, the PCM has to be immiscible within the liquid phase
and remain stable along the process.
PCS may be homogeneous dispersions, like ice slurries, or heterogeneous dispersions like microencapsulated or emulsified PCMs.
Water-ice based PCS are the most common type for cooling applications, and additives such as salts or alcohol can be used to avoid the
water freezing. That warrants that only a fraction of the water becomes ice and the mixture may still be pumpable.
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Table 4 Microencapsulation PCM enhancement.

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Type of
Method Material Advantage Disadvantage References
enhancement

Microencapsulation Polyamide, Gelatin, Subcooling In the slurry phase, the High Aftab et al. (2017), Oró et al. (2012), Zhang and
(Shell Polyurethane, Chitosan, reduction specific heat capacity of production Ma (2012), Mohamed et al. (2017), Youssef et
encapsulation) Acrylate, Methylcellulose, Improves the fluid is increased cost al. (2013), Zhang et al. (2020), Xie et al. (2017),
Polyester, Locust bean thermal Microcapsules become There is the Li et al. (2013)

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Polyethylene, gum, conductivity durable and impact- possibility
Polyvinyl Pectin, Minimizes resistant, giving that the
acetate, Xanthan gum, phase mechanical stability capsule be
Polystyrene, n-Butyl separation Large surface area destroyed
Toluene-2, Methacrylate, Improves improves heat transfer
Styrene, Melamine, heat transfer characteristics

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Amino plastic, rate Prevents leakage
problems
Agglomeration of PCM

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particles is avoided
Avoidance of
contamination and
change in properties
Slurries have the energy
density of PCM latent

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the carrier fluid
Slurries have a good
fluidity suitable for
pumping
Poly (methyl methacrylate),
Poly (ethyl methacrylate),
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Polytrimethylene carbonate,
4-Diisocyanate
(TDI) + Diethylenetriamine (DETA)
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8 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

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Fig. 4 (A) Scheme of a packed-bed TES system with macroencapsulated PCM spheres; (B) view of a transversal cut of a packed bed TES system
for cold energy storage applications.

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Fig. 5 Scheme of a shell-and-tubes TES system: tubes without and with fins to increase the heat exchange area.
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Fig. 6 Scheme of a plate type TES system, with detail of the plates inside the rectangular tank.
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Microencapsulated slurries consist of shaped-stabilized PCM contained inside a protective layer (usually a polymer droplets, like
High-Density Polyethylene -HDPE-, styrene-butadiene-styrene -SBS copolymer or silica) to prevent leakages, and dispersed in the fluid.
PCS based on emulsion slurries combines water with PCM not soluble in water, such as paraffin. However, this kind of mixtures are not
stable, presenting phase separation eventually, which can be avoided by the use of an emulsifier to stabilize the mixture.As a summary of
this part, Table 5 aims to remark the different advantages and disadvantages related with each type of technology analyzed as well as their
respective Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to facilitate the evaluation of their suitability in future refrigeration applications. (Table 5).

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Applications of PCMs for thermal comfort in buildings

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Thermal comfort is important for buildings, especially in tropical climate region where intensive cooling capacity is needed. PCMs are
commonly investigated in passive cooling in buildings to provide thermal comfort, being added into construction materials or integrated
onto building structures. On the other hand, most buildings, especially office buildings require higher cooling capacity during daytime
when both ambient temperature and occupancy are higher compared to night time. Such requirement results in chillers working under full
load during daytime and part load during night time, which reduces the system overall efficiency. Active TES systems based on PCMs
can be integrated into chillers of a building to achieve peak-shaving and cooling load-levelling purpose, improving their performances on

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achieving the required thermal comfort, or even couple the TES system with some intermittent but free cooling methods, replacing the
chillers to achieve similar level of comfort.
An example of active PCM-based TES system integrated into a chiller was demonstrated by Aljehani (Aljehani et al., 2018) (Fig. 7),
where during off-peak hours cold energy is continued to be generated in the chiller and stored in the TES system. During peak hours, the
cooling energy stored is discharged and provides additional cooling power. With such integration, chillers are able to work at all time-span
of a day with similar output, reducing the time when chillers run under part-load operations. Besides, due to the load-levelling, smaller
scaled chillers can be designed while meeting the cooling requirement of the same building.

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Cooled water between 4 and 10 °C is used as heat transfer fluid for distributed cooling energy in buildings, and thus PCMs with phase
change temperature below 10 °C are generally selected for this purpose, like ice (Ruan et al., 2016), Rubitherm RT8 (Torregrosa-Jaime
et al., 2013), Rubitherm RT3HC (Hoseini Rahdar et al., 2016), PCM Products S10 (Moreno et al., 2014), as well as binary mixture of
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hexadecane and tetradecane (Bo et al., 1999). PCS can also be used for building applications. Commonly investigated phase change slurries
include tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) (Douzet et al., 2013), while other slurries investigated include tetrahydrofuran (THF)
hydrate (Li et al., 2010), as well as their binary hydrate solution (Mahmoudi et al., 2016). However, for a system using PCM slurry as
TES component, an extra hydrate generator is required, as shown in Fig. 8.
Alongside buildings, a district cooling system can also adopt PCM based TES system to achieve peak-shaving purpose, as Argonne
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National Laboratory (Lemont – Illinois, USA) has demonstrated using ice-slurry storage for cold TES prior to distribution to buildings of
surroundings with different cooling loads (Kasza and Hayashi, 1999).
Alongside integration into chillers to achieve load-levelling, chillers can also be used to couple cooling systems with intermittency
issues such as solar-driven ejector-based cooling systems (Chen et al., 2014) or solar-based adsorption cooling system (Li et al., 2017).
Regarding solar-driven ejector cooling systems (Fig. 9), when the sun irradiance is high, extra cold energy can be generated by the ejector
cycle and stored in the PCMs. Then, when cold energy is required during night time or cloudy periods, cold energy can be recovered by
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discharging the PCMs, resulting in undisrupted cold energy supply. PCMs reported in this application have slightly higher phase change
temperature at 15 °C, including S15 (Chen et al., 2014) and RT15 (Allouche et al., 2017).

Table 5 Evaluation of TRL and pros and cons of the technologies more suitable to be used as active TES.
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Technology TRL Pros Cons

Shell-and-tubes 6–7 Able to work with more than one heat transfer Need of fins on the tube bundle to increase the
fluid, heat transfer coefficient
Easy to handle thermal stress
Less corrosion problem
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Packed bed 5–6 Easy to design and simple to manufacture and, Need of macrocapsules
(using macro- most widely used Thermal stress on capsule shells,
encapsulated Less efficient heat transfer,
PCM) Lower energy and exergy density (due to larger
void volume)
Plate 5–6 Able to work with gaseous and liquid HTFs. Thermal stress on plates due to the volume change
Manufacturing is relatively easy. Less corrosion of PCM. Large void fraction. Long term
problem due to encapsulated PCM. operation has not been evaluated yet.
Slurry 4–5 Same material may be used as storage and HTF Segregation issues at mid/long term
Able to be pumped with low pressure drop Need of additives or microencapsulation that
Better heat capacity and heat transfer increases the cost
coefficient
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Fig. 7

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Air-conditioning unit integrated with PCM based TES for peak-shaving (Aljehani et al., 2018).
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Fig. 8 TBAB slurry for storage tank for air conditioning system (Douzet et al., 2013).

Almost “free” cooling energy may also be obtained using cooling systems with minimal work input such as evaporative cooling systems.
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In such system, cooling water with temperature as low as 15 °C can be generated, where the extra cold generated and not required by the
room can be stored in PCMs and recovered when needed. In this case, hexadecane (Wang and Niu, 2009) is used as PCM.

Applications of PCMs for food preservation

TES systems based on PCMs may be found also in food industries, where intensive energy is needed to keep the food below ambient
temperature to prolong their preservation time. PCMs are used to improve performances of a refrigerator or freezer in the evaporator
section, where food is stored (Fig. 10). Using PCM as TES on a refrigerator is for two purposes: temperature stabilization in the refrigerator
as well as maintaining freezer temperature when opening doors or in case of electricity disruption.
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Fig. 9 Solar ejector cooling system integrated with PCM based cold TES (Chen et al., 2014).
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Fig. 10 Locations where PCM are commonly used as TES in a refrigerator (Gin and Farid, 2010).
12 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

A freezer can maintain the temperature below 0 °C for up to 6.5 h and 8 h when Climsel C-18 and Cristopia E-21 is used (Oró et
al., 2012). For a refrigerator using eutectic water mixture (with phase change temperature − 3 °C), up to 9 h of continuous operations can
be achieved during event of electricity disruption (Azzouz et al., 2009). In the case of refrigerators, ammonium chloride-water eutectic
solution can also be used as PCM (Gin and Farid, 2010).
In the same range of application, display cabinets in supermarkets and shops are subjected to continuous heating from the ambient
environment. Macro-encapsulated PCMs are a solution for both minimization of environmental heating and ensure continuous operations
under electricity disruption. To keep the display section plain, PCM panels are generally located at the back of display cabinet, where

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recycled air is collected and cooled before being released again. The schematic of the integration is shown in Fig. 11. In this case, PCMs
with phase change temperature between 0 °C and − 5 °C are used, such as Rubitherm RT-2 and RT-4 (Lu and Tassou, 2013), Borax-water
eutectic solution (Lu et al., 2010) and a water gel PCM composed of silver iodide, guar and sodium tetraborate (Alzuwaid et al., 2015).

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Usage of PCMs on refrigerated trucks for perishable food products transportation has also been investigated, replacing conventional
refrigeration systems. The PCM can be pre-charged with electricity-generated cold energy while slowly discharge the cold energy during
transportation. A self-developed PCM with phase change temperature of − 26.7 °C (Liu et al., 2012) has been used, and achieved up to
86.4% operation cost saving with off-peak electricity tariff. For refrigerated trucks with higher operating temperature, Rubitherm RT5 has
also been used (Ahmed et al., 2010).

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Other applications of PCMs for cold TES
Applications on thermoelectric devices
PCMs can also be applied on the cold junction of a thermoelectric refrigerator to provide temperature stabilization. PCM Climsel C7 has
been tested, and improves the performance of such refrigerator as well as increases the COP and smooths thermal load fluctuations (Riffat
et al., 2001). Integration of PCM on thermoelectric refrigerator is shown in Fig. 12.

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Applications on inlet air of gas turbines
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Cold energy is also used to pre-cool inlet air for gas turbine engine to reduce the compression work in the compressor. Ice has been used
as PCM for storage of cold energy generated by an air-conditioning system. With integration of this TES system on a power plant with
25–100 MW output, power output can be increased by between 3.9% and 25.7% while efficiency can be increased by between 2.1% and
5.2% (Sanaye et al., 2011).
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Fig. 11 Incorporation of PCM panel on display cabinet (Ben-Abdallah et al., 2019).

 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications 13

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Fig. 12 Using PCM to improve performance of a thermoelectric refrigeration device (Riffat et al., 2001).

Selection and design of an active TES with PCM

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Design of a proper TES system requires few previous steps in order to properly match it with the selected application. The first step of the
design consists on identifying the requirements and constraints of the application. The second step is the selection the most suitable storage
material. And the last step is the design and optimization of the storage system.
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A general design method was proposed by Whiffen and Riffat (2013), starting with two initial requirements:
• range of operational temperatures;
• cold/heat load required to maintain a given temperature.

The method establishes a series of design stages in which the design requirements and available technology should match. If either one
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of them does not, there is the option of either vary the specification or develop an innovation. Once there is a compatibility, it is possible to
proceed to the next stage. Fig. 13 is shown a more detailed flowchart of the design process of the whole TES system.
Sevault et al. (2017a) and Xu et al. (2017) explained the indicators needed to evaluate several PCM options from the energy
performance point of view. Sevault et al. consider a one-dimension approach and only conductive heat transfer as main indicators. The
convective heat transfer is not considered due to the inclusion of heat transfer enhancement (HTE), such as fins or plates on the heat
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exchanger, which also includes much more complexity to the model. Besides, further simulation and modeling can be done to confirm the
possible performance of the PCM selected and the whole TES layout.
Xu et al. (2017) consider additional performance indicators with the objective of minimizing cost, maximizing energy density,
decreasing storage volume and decreasing thermal inertia. For each objective, a performance function was created, which are
complementary to the indicators mentioned.
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Identification of the application requirements and constraints

The development of a TES with suitable refrigeration system requires detailed understanding of initial design parameters and constraints.
Here, initial design parameters could be qualitative and quantitative aspects of physical and functional properties of the system, like hourly
energy consumption profile or cooling load, type of refrigerant and its flow conditions.
Constraints are certain limitations imposed on the design solution, for example the duration of on-peak and off-pick hours, available
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space (footprint) for installation of a TES, operating temperature and pressure ranges of the system, limited capital and operational expenses
(Etoumi, 2017; Dincer et al., 2017).
Below, such initial parameters and constraints are introduced in more detail.
• Energy consumption profile/cooling load – Energy consumption profile (ECP) of refrigeration system varies across applications.
It might depend on loading and unloading schedule for warehouses (Sarabia Escriva et al., 2020), while in supermarkets customer
density during the opening time defines the shape of the profile (Mylona et al., 2017). When TES is considered for retrofitting existing
refrigeration systems, ECP might be available or evaluated from the operation of the system. On the contrary, to develop a new
refrigeration system with an active TES, ECP should be forecasted in advance.
14 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

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Fig. 13 Design flow of a TES system with PCM (Whiffen and Riffat, 2013).
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• On-peak and off-peak hours – Durations of on-peak and off-peak hours allow to estimate time-dependent availability of cold
energy amount for storing it – charging stage, and the rate of cold release from TES to the refrigeration system – discharging stage
(Arias, 2005). They together with cooling load are applied to estimate the TES size and peak shaving or load shifting strategies.
Thus, in case of the full-storage control, the cooling load throughout on-peak hours is completely offset by TES as shown in Fig.
14. Consequently, the refrigeration system is switched off during this period. On the contrary, partial storage strategy is designed
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to combine both TES and refrigeration system co-operate during on-peak hours. The partial storage control is subdivided into peak
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Fig. 14 Cooling load, on-peak duration and load shaving strategies (Sun et al., 2013).
 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications 15

demand limiting control and load levelling control. In the case of peak demand limiting control, the refrigeration system operates
in a reduced capacity during on-peak hours. Such strategy requires complicated control systems to effectively combine TES and
refrigeration co-operation. On the other hand, the load levelling control strategy usually operates with refrigerating system operating
at a full capacity for 24 h as shown in Fig. 14C, but TES meets the overloaded portion of the demand (Hasnain, 1998).
• Refrigerant properties and flow conditions – Thermal and transport properties of the refrigerant are important as initial design
parameters, especially its heat exchangers located in the storage vessel and the required power for refrigerant pumping (Brignoli
et al., 2017). Availability of temperature dependency of the refrigerant properties over operating temperature range permits to

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better approximate the energy performance of TES and the refrigeration system, otherwise, averaged values can be considered
(Mota-Babiloni et al., 2020).

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• Temperature range – During the selection of PCM, the suitable phase change temperature is directly restricted by maximum and
minimum operating temperature limits of the application (Altwies and Reindl, 2002). Moreover, operating temperature range is also
important in evaluating thermo-mechanical stability or how TES and its heat exchanger could deform (contract or expand) under given
thermal stress.
• Pressure range – Operating pressure constraints are directly related with the safety requirements of the TES system during the
operation, and help to determine the thickness and type of material (including welded joints) of the heat exchanger tubes or PCM
capsules (Kottke, 1998; Gong et al., 2020).

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• Available space – In many cases, the space limitations might be another constraint for the integration of TES systems to specific and/
or existing facilities. Then, TES should be developed with compact dimensions with scalability option to meet the required storage
capacity across different applications (Dincer et al., 2017).
• Cost limitations/economic viability – integration of TES into refrigeration technologies is a new approach in increasing the overall
energy efficiency of the system. In order to successfully take the share of the refrigeration market, such approach must be economically
viable. In most of the cases, the TES integration might lower operating costs of the existing refrigeration system. In this case, the

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operating cost and payback period of the TES integration could define the cost limits within which the optimized TES design must be
developed (She et al., 2018; Mitsopoulos et al., 2019; Choi et al., 2018).
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Selection of the materials
Selection of the PCMs
The selection of a proper PCM relies on the available information of its thermo-physical properties, such as energy density, specific heat
capacity, latent heat of fusion and thermal conductivity, together with other physical properties such as density, volume change, toxicity,
among others, should be required for the selection of the PCM. Regarding the economic criteria, it mainly include the life span, cost
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and thermal stability of the PCM under enough thermal cycles (Rathod, 2018). The impact on the environment linked to the production,
operation, maintenance, and disposal of the material may also be evaluated by using tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), for an optimal
selection of the PCM.
Energy density of the PCM must be determined considering the range of temperature of the application. Then, the overall amount
of energy available per mass [kJ/kg] during the energy storage process, including latent and sensible heat storage before and after the
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transition, may be calculated according to Eq. (2):

(2)
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where Q is the energy stored [kJ], m is the mass of the storage media [kg], H [kJ/kg] is the latent heat of fusion, cp,s [kJ/kg °C] is the solid
specific heat capacity, cp,l [kJ/kg °C] is the liquid specific heat capacity, Ti and Tf [°C] are the initial and final temperatures according to
the application, and Tm [°C] is the melting temperature of the PCM.
In order to determine the space required by a TES system, the thermal energy storage per unit of volume QV [kJ/m3], given by Eq. (3),
is a key indicator to take into account.
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(3)

where ρ is the average density of the PCM between solid and liquid phases.
An optimal heat transfer ratio inside the material needs a high thermal diffusivity. This property is described with Eq. (4), and depends
on the density (ρ), specific heat and thermal conductivity of the material (k).

(4)

For the selection of the PCM, the main objective is to maximize each one of the parameters described above. At this point, a first
assessment regarding few possible choices needs to be done previous the final selection. The set of materials selected is then going to be
16 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

analyzed considering the physical properties described like thermal expansion, toxicity, etc., and some of them may be discarded as valid
candidates.
The PCM is only a part of the TES system design, which includes the design of the heat exchanger and its contribution to the
performance of the whole system, as well as the amount of energy available to store. Therefore, the energy capacity of the storage should
be similar to the amount of incoming energy, shown as Eq. (1):

(5)

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where L is the storage capacity of the system per unit of area of heat exchanger (Wh/m2), Δtcycle [h] is the duration of the thermal cycle and
[W/m2] is the energy flux.

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The heat conductivity of the overall TES system usually differs from the one of the PCM due to the design of the heat exchanger. In
this case, Fourier’s law of heat conduction is modified with an effective conductivity (keff) which takes into account the performance of
the HTE system (which may include fins or any other device to increase the heat exchange area). The effective conductivity may then be
defined as in Eq. (6):

(6)

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where ε is the ratio of PCM volume to the total volume, and kPCM and kHTE are the thermal conductivities of the PCM and the one linked to
the HTE device.
The final aspect to consider is the temperature degradation of the PCM, which should always be under the maximum temperature
operation of the TES system. In case that this temperature was overpassed, there is a risk to degrade of the PCM and damage the whole
TES system.
The indicators mentioned are used to describe the performance of the TES system.

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Selection of the containment materials
The final objective of the containment method is to deliver an optimum design according to the PCM that could be used with conventional
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refrigeration systems (Khan, 2016). The containment material should have the following functions:
• Protect the PCM from the environment
• Have sufficient surface for heat transfer
• Be structurally stable and easy to handle
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Therefore, the containment material or encapsulation should fulfill the strength, flexibility, corrosion, resistance and thermal stability
requirements needed for the application.
The foremost factors of selecting the containment are the permeability and solubility of the PCM with the encapsulation materials to
avoid mid or long term leakage issues (Formato, n.d.).
It is more difficult to obtain a proper seal on the thermal packaging for organic PCMs due to its properties. Small defects on the
packaging that are acceptable for water based PCM, are not for organic PCMs. Besides, these defects could appear time after the
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manufacturing process was done. Therefore, a reinforced sealing is done with a strict quality control to avoid any inconvenience and leakage
(Formato, n.d.).

Design and optimization of the storage system

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Simulation model
The first step for the storage system design is to establish a validated simulation model. It can be done by using computational fluid
dynamics (CFD), empirical and semi-empirical models, parametric maps, and machine learning tools. The inputs of the model should be
design parameters, such as the geometry, power, and capacity of the storage, and the outputs of the model should be the performance that
can be used to calculate the desired parameters, such as temperature and pressure profile, as well as power output.
The models can be divided into static models and dynamic models. Static models describes the performance of the storage system during
nominal operations. Dynamic models considers the performance of the CTES system in daily, monthly, seasonally, and yearly operations.
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Current and future predicted prices of energy products, especially fuels and electricity, should also be considered.

Evaluation criteria
The designed TES system can be evaluated using the various criteria (Brown et al., 1987; Cole et al., 2012) which may be categorized into
four types: energetic, technical, economical and environmental.
Energetic criteria are related to the performance of the storage system, for example, the efficiency of the storage, the storage capacity
and power.
Technical criteria refers to the geometry of the storage system, availability of the technology, and performance change during the
lifetime.
Economic criteria focus on the financial performance of the storage system, which should be evaluated together with the application of
the storage system.
 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications 17

The last but not least are the environmental criteria. The environmental impacts of the storage, including greenhouse gas and pollutant
emission, should be analyzed quantitatively.
Examples of these criteria are listed in Table 6.

Objective function
The optimization of a TES system design is a multi-objective optimization problem. An objective function can be defined concerning all or
a portion of the above criteria.

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In the ideal case, all of the objectives can be converted into annual cash flows for comparison. However, not every factor can be easily
converted into economic parameters, such the land use, and environmental impacts. A widely adopted alternative to the annual cash flows
can be Levelized Cost Of Storage (LCOS). An example of a typical LCOS is given by Eq. (7) (Schmidt et al., 2019):

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(7)

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In other cases, a user-weighted objective function should be generated. More factors, including the power density and environmental
impact, which can hardly be represented by cash flow, can also be covered.
A typical form of objective function is (Cole et al., 2012):

(8)

where Renergetic, Reconomic and Renvironmental are the ratios of energy/economic/environmental savings to a conventional system, and ω is the

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weighting factor of each saving, which stablish under user’s criteria.
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Table 6 List of evaluation criteria for TES design.

Energetic criteria Economic criteria

• Storage capacity • Annual cash flows for capital, operations and maintenance
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• Energy density (O&M), taxes, and revenues for each year

o Mass density o Initial capital
o Volumetric density o Interim capital (equipment and material replacement)
• Power input and output o Depreciation
o Maximum charge rate o O&M cost
o Maximum discharge rate o Revenue (energy savings, sales of the primary process
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• Power density product or byproducts)

• Efficiencies (charge, idle, discharge, round-trip)
o First law efficiencies
o Second law efficiencies
• Useful storage factor (how much of the theoretical
storage capacity can actually be utilized in a real
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o Taxes (income and property taxes)
o Salvage (cost or credit associated with removing the
TES system after its useful life and selling the parts for
scrap or for other uses)
o Interest

installation) • Net present value (NPV)

• Profitability Ratio
• Internal rate of return (IRR)
• Payback period
• Discounted payback period
• Annualized Production Cost (levelized, life-cycle production
cost in both nominal and real terms)
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Technical criteria Environmental criteria

• Size • CO2 emission reduction
• Weight • Toxicity
• Utilization rate • Pollution control
• Performance degradation • Other impacts on human and environmental health
• Cycling limit and lifetime
• Response time and discharge duration
• Stability
• Black start capability
18 Active TES With PCM for Refrigeration Applications

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