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 ...
Paraffin is an excellent phase change material (PCM) for latent heat storage, but it does not efficiently use stored energy because of its low thermal conductivity. In this study, nickel and copper foams were added to paraffin to enhance heat transfer. A Thermal Constants Analyzer measured the thermal conductivity of the paraffin composites using the transient plane source (TPS) method. The addition of copper foam enhanced the thermal conductivity of ...
Expanded graphite (EG)/paraffin composite materials were prepared with the weight % of EG varying from 0 to 10%. It was found that the addition of EG to paraffin greatly improved the thermal conductivity of the material. The melting and freezing points of the PCM were compared to those of the pure paraffin. Also the heat storage/retrieval rates were studied and demonstrated improved properties....
In this article, the transient plane source technique was used to determine the effect of iron, a flame retardant shape-stabilized phase change material (FSPCM), on the thermal conductivity of a sample of paraffin/high-density polyethylene (HDPE). With the results, it was determined that iron could be dispersed within the HDPE and paraffin samples, so as to improve the flame retardant efficiency. The results also concluded that the thermal conductivity of ...
This research proposed a new, flame retardant, shape-stabilized phase change material (PCM), for use in thermal energy storage. Typical paraffin and high-density polyethylene has great shape retention, however is highly flammable and has a low thermal conductivity. Researchers introduced expanded graphite and an intumescent flame retardant to the mix to improve the thermal properties and flammability, respectively. After several tests, including a thermal conductivity evaluation, on multiple variations of the ...