Category: Transient Plane Source
Author(s): Amy S. Fleischer, Rebecca M. Weigand, Ronald J. Warzoha
Keywords: Bulk Thermal Conductivity, density, differential scanning calorimeter, Fillers, graphite, Latent Heat of Fusion, Melt Temperature, nanocomposites, Nanofibers, Paraffin, paraffin (PA), pcms, phase change materials, SEM Imaging, Thermal Boundary Resistance, Thermal Diffusivity, TPS Technique, Transient Plane Source, Transient plane source (TPS) method, Volumetric Heat Capacity
Abstract: The authors outline a method of enhancing the thermal properties of a paraffin phase change material through the addition of herringbone-style graphite nanofibers (HGNFs). It was found that the solid-phase thermal conductivity increased exponentially with the presence of HGNFs; however, a significant increase in the liquid-phase thermal conductivity was not observed until the concentration of HGNFs in the composite PCM reached a point above the percolation threshold. The volumetric heat capacity was found to peak in the temperature range of solid-liquid phase transition. The latent heat of fusion of each of the nanocomposites was found to be approximately 90% of that of the pristine PCM, while the melt temperatures were all found to be within 1% of the melt temperature for the pristine PCM. For these reasons it was concluded that the use of HGNFs as filler in nanocomposite PCMs does not significantly alter their potential for use in various applications.
Reference: Applied Energy 137 (2015) 716-725
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.03.091