The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the ability of a transient plane source (TPS) method to measure thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and volumetric heat capacity. Four samples were tested standard steel, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), LLDPE with 5 wt% graphite composite, and LLDPE with 15 wt% graphite composite. Steel had the highest thermal conductivity because steel has more free electrons then the other materials. LLDPE had a lower thermal conductivity ...
Nitrate materials play an important role in the development of latent thermal energy storage (LTES) systems. This paper examined the thermo-physical properties of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate and their mixtures with expanded graphite (EG) additives for their applications in solar energy storage. The transient hot-wire method measured the apparent thermal conductivities of the nitrates and nitrates/EG mixtures. Results showed that nitrates/EG mixture PCMs with the highest concentrations of ...