The authors are part of a European project known as DISTOR which seeks to investigate new systems for storage of thermal energy in phase change materials (PCMs). Reported in the article is a detailed model of heat transfer and fluid flow for the prediction of those values for promising PCMs. Some assumptions are made in order to prepare a simplified model. A machine is used to measure the thermal conductivity ...
Sebacic acid (SA) can be absorbed into the pores of expanded graphite (EG) to form a SA/EG composite phase change material (PCM). There is no chemical interaction between the SA and EG, they are merely integrated. The optimal amount of SA was found to be 85 wt.% of the total mixture. The 85 wt.% composite had a phase change temperature of ~ 128°C, with a latent heat of ~ 187 J/g. The thermal ...
The authors highlight different methods of studying the purity, composition, and structural changes of polymeric and glass materials. These methods include the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the transient plane source (TPS) technique. The quality of the TPS Technique is outlined and the authors praise the high quality of the machine. In addition to this, thermal analysis is carried out on some polymeric composites (cis-polyisoprene (CPI)/trans-polyisoprene (TPI) ...
Using Al2O3 nanoparticles, de-ionized water, and different volume fractions of two surfactants, Al2O3/water nanofluids were prepared by a two-step method. Thermal conductivities of the nanofluids were measured by the thermal constants analyzer. The choice of surfactant used (either sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)) had an influence on the thermal and mechanical properties of the nanofluids. PVP was found to be better at stabilizing the nanofluid, ...
The authors selected 5 types of softwood species and 5 types of hardwood species that are commonly grown and used for construction in China for thermal analysis. Not only was thermal conductivity measured, but its dependence on moisture content, density and temperature of the wood samples was also investigated. Thermal conductivity was found to increase with increasing density of the wood sample and increasing moisture content. Thermal conductivity was also found to ...