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Super-fast discharge of phase change materials by using an intermediate boiling fluid

Zahrae Ramazani, H ; Sharif University of Technology | 2020

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2020.104597
  3. Publisher: Elsevier Ltd , 2020
  4. Abstract:
  5. The low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCM) results in the slowdown in the discharging process of PCM which limits the usability of these materials in the field of Thermal Energy Storage (TES). In this research, an innovative solution is proposed to significantly accelerate the solidification speed, up to two orders of magnitude greater than conventional methods. Using acetone as the intermediate boiling fluid (IBF), the paraffin discharge rate as a phase-change material is significantly improved which is known as super-fast discharge (SFD) in this article. In this method, liquid acetone takes the heat by boiling in liquid paraffin and causes it to solidify. As the liquid acetone boils, the acetone vapor reaches the condenser and condenses by losing heat, Condensed acetone droplets then fall into the molten paraffin. This process continues until the whole paraffin solidifies. It is shown that the paraffin solidification time is decreased from 2 h using conventional methods to 39 s by using IBF. In addition to the proof-of-concept and the achievement of super-fast discharging, this research, studies the effect of different ratios of paraffin mass to acetone volume on solidification rate experimentally, to determine the best ratio in terms of discharging time. The results show that for a given paraffin mass, there is an optimal volume for acetone, use of which minimizes the solidification time. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
  6. Keywords:
  7. Charge ; Discharge ; Intermediate boiling fluid ; Latent heat storage ; Phase change material ; Solidification ; Super-fast discharge ; Thermal energy storage ; Acetone ; Heat storage ; Liquids ; Paraffins ; Solidification ; Thermal conductivity ; Conventional methods ; Discharging process ; Innovative solutions ; Liquid paraffins ; Low thermal conductivity ; Orders of magnitude ; Solidification rate ; Solidification time ; Phase change materials
  8. Source: International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer ; Volume 115 , 2020
  9. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S073519332030124X