Phase Changing

Material in Solar
Thermal Energy
Storage

Tiffany Wu
Energy Technology and Policy
University of Texas at Austin

(www.powerfromthesun.net/chapter1/Chapter1.htm )
 Contents
 Introduction
 Benefits and Drawbacks of PCM
 PCM Options
 Encapsulation
 Increasing Thermal Conductivity
 Conclusion
 Introduction
 Most systems have a disconnect
between supply and demand

 Intermittent solar energy supply

can be maximized with a heat
storage system

 Thermal energy can be

stored both as sensible
and latent heat

 Continued efforts to find a phase changing material is currently

underway
(Fath, 1998; Kousksou, 2007; Pasupathy, 2008)
 Benefits and Drawbacks of PCM
Benefits:
 Higher storage density than sensible heat
 Smaller volume
 Smaller temperature change between storing and releasing energy

Drawbacks:
 High cost
 Corrosiveness
 Density change
 Low thermal conductivity
 Phase separation
 Incongruent melting
 Supercooling

(Pasupathy, 2008)
 PCM Options

(Pasupathy, 2008)
 PCM Options
Inorganic
Glauber’s salt, calcium chloride hexahydrate, sodium thiosulfate
penthydrate, sodium carbonate decahydrate

Benefits:
 Low cost and readily available
 High volumetric storage density
 Relatively high thermal conductivity

Drawbacks:
 Corrosive
 Decomposition
 Incongruent melting
 Supercooling

(Pasupathy, 2008; Farid, 2004)

 PCM Options
Organic
Paraffin waxes and fatty acids

Benefits:
 Melts congruently
 Chemically and physically stable
 High heat of fusion

Drawbacks:
 More expensive and flammable
 Low thermal conductivity in solid state
 Lower heat storage capacity per volume

(Pasupathy, 2008; Farid, 2004)

PCM Options
 Encapsulation
 Prevents reactivity towards environment
 Compatible with stainless steel, polypropylene,
and polyolefin
 Controls volume as phases change
 Prevents large drops in heat transfer rates

(Farid, 2004)
(Kenisarin, 2007)
 Increasing Thermal Conductivity
 Metallic fillers
 Metal matrix structures
 Finned tubes

Aluminum filling with VSP 25 and VSP 50

Finned Tubes
PCM-Graphite Matrix
(Farid, 2004; Kenisarin, 2007)
 Total solidification time of PCM is shorter
with fins and lessing rings, but the total
quantity of stored heat is slightly smaller

The VSP25 filling provided the highest thermal

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

(Kenisarin, 2007)
 Conclusion
 Thermal energy storage is imperative to make
solar energy more reliable and competitive

 Further research in phase changing material can

improve the efficiency of energy storage

 Design of the system is also important in

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

(Kenisarin, 2007)