Enhanced thermal conductivity and thermal performance of form-stable composite phase change materials by using β-Aluminum nitride

• Published in: Applied energy Vol. 86; no. 7; pp. 1196 - 1200
• Main Authors: Wang, Weilong, Yang, Xiaoxi, Fang, Yutang, Ding, Jing, Yan, Jinyue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; beta-Aluminum nitride; Blending; blends; Composite materials; conductivity; energi- och miljöteknik; Energy; energy storage material; Energy- and Environmental Engineering; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Heat storage; Heat transfer; Melting; Nitrides; paraffin; paraffin/expanded graphite composite; Phase change materials; Polyethylene glycol; Silica gel; Thermal; Thermal conductivity; Transport and storage of energy; β-Aluminum nitride; Thermal conductivity; Silica gel; β-Aluminum nitride; Polyethylene glycol; Latent heat; Ethylene glycol; Polyethylene; Temperature; Melting; Composite material; Nitrides; Additive; Storage; Efficiency; PCM material; Performance; Glycol
• ISSN: 0306-2619; 1872-9118; 1872-9118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2008.10.020

β-Aluminum nitride powder is a promising additive due to its great conductivity value, which can enhance the thermal conductivity of organic phase change materials. In this paper, a high conductivity form-stable phase change material was prepared by blending polyethylene glycol, silica gel, and β-Aluminum nitride powder. The conductivity value of the composite PCMs was determined using the Hotdisk thermal analyzer, which is based on the transient plane source technique. Experiment of heat storage and release performance was carried out to investigate heat efficiencies of TES system. The results showed that thermal conductivity of composite PCMs increased with an increase in β-Aluminum nitride content, but the value of latent heat decreased correspondingly. There was no change on the melting temperature while different ratios of composites. The value of thermal conductivity changed from 0.3847 W m −1 K −1 to 0.7661 W m −1 K −1 with the increase of mass ratio of β-Aluminum nitride from 5% to 30%. The heat storage and release rate of the composite PCMs was higher than that of pure polyethylene glycol.