A review on phase-change materials: Mathematical modeling and simulations

• Published in: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 112 - 130
• Main Authors: Dutil, Yvan, Rousse, Daniel R., Salah, Nizar Ben, Lassue, Stéphane, Zalewski, Laurent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2011; Elsevier
• Series: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Component; Component Thermal energy storage Phase-change materials Latent heat Power system economics Power demand Mathematical modeling Numerical simulations; Computational efficiency; Computer simulation; Density; Energy; energy efficiency; Energy storage; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Latent heat; Law; Mathematical modeling; Mathematical models; Numerical analysis; Numerical simulations; phase transition; Phase-change materials; Power demand; Power system economics; prediction; simulation models; Supply and demand; supply balance; temperature; Thermal energy storage; thermal properties; Transport and storage of energy; Latent heat; Power demand; Numerical simulations; Power system economics; Thermal energy storage; Mathematical modeling; Component; Phase-change materials
• ISSN: 1364-0321; 1879-0690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2010.06.011

Energy storage components improve the energy efficiency of systems by reducing the mismatch between supply and demand. For this purpose, phase-change materials are particularly attractive since they provide a high-energy storage density at a constant temperature which corresponds to the phase transition temperature of the material. Nevertheless, the incorporation of phase-change materials (PCMs) in a particular application calls for an analysis that will enable the researcher to optimize performances of systems. Due to the non-linear nature of the problem, numerical analysis is generally required to obtain appropriate solutions for the thermal behavior of systems. Therefore, a large amount of research has been carried out on PCMs behavior predictions. The review will present models based on the first law and on the second law of thermodynamics. It shows selected results for several configurations, from numerous authors so as to enable one to start his/her research with an exhaustive overview of the subject. This overview stresses the need to match experimental investigations with recent numerical analyses since in recent years, models mostly rely on other models in their validation stages.