Composite phase change materials were prepared using stearic acid, coffee grounds, and graphite. The coffee grounds were used as a supporting material for the stearic acid, and the graphite was added in an effort to enhance the thermal conductivity of the composite. The composites were characterized by SEM and FT-IR, the thermal conductivity was determined by the phase change temperature and latent heat were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. The ...
A composite phase change material (PCM) was formulated from commercial blended paraffin and a styrene-butadiene-styrene block. The thermo-physical properties of this composite PCM were then evaluated using the transient plane source method and differential scanning calorimetry. It was determined that there was a significant difference in the thermal conductivity of the PCM in the solid state when compared to that in the liquid state. The second part of this study ...
This study is to determine the thermal properties of a paraffin/red brick composite to determine its viability as a form-stable phase change material. Extended graphite was also added to the composite to improve its thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity for this material was measured using a transient plane source (TPS) method. By adding the paraffin, the thermal conductivity of the composite increase, also by adding extended graphite the thermal ...
The fatty acid stearic acid has been widely studied for its use in thermal energy storage applications as a phase change material (PCM). Stearic acid shows promise for this application because of its high volumetric storage density and its favorable thermal properties; however, two properties of stearic acid limit its use as a PCM: its low thermal conductivity and its propensity to leak liquid during the phase change process. This ...