Experimental study of natural convection heat transfer in a microencapsulated phase change material slurry

• Published in: Energy (Oxford) Vol. 35; no. 6; pp. 2688 - 2693
• Main Authors: Diaconu, Bogdan M., Varga, Szabolcs, Oliveira, Armando C.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Heat storage; Heat transfer; Microencapsulated phase change material; Natural convection heat transfer; Slurry; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering; Transport and storage of energy; Natural convection heat transfer; Heat storage; Slurry; Microencapsulated phase change material; Thermal energy storage; Natural convection; PCM material; Experimental study; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0360-5442
• DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2009.06.028

A new microencapsulated PCM (Phase Change Material) slurry (MEPCS) at high concentration (45% w/w) was developed based on microencapsulated Rubitherm RT6. Its heat storage and heat transfer characteristics have been experimentally investigated in order to assess its suitability for integration into a low temperature heat storage system for solar air conditioning applications. Differential scanning calorimetry tests have been conducted to evaluate the cold storage capacity and phase change temperature range. An experimental setup was built in order to quantify the natural convection heat transfer occurring from a vertical helically coiled tube immersed in the MEPCS. First, tests were carried out using water in order to obtain natural convection heat transfer correlations and then a comparison was made with the results obtained for the MEPCS. It was found that inside the phase change interval the values of the heat transfer coefficient for the MEPCS were significantly higher than for water, under identical temperature conditions.