Development of a low-medium temperature T-history setup for the thermal storage characterization of non-homogeneous mixtures containing PCMs

• Published in: Journal of energy storage Vol. 74; p. 109412
• Main Authors: Ayora-Fernández, Marina, Isaza-Ruiz, Marllory, Burgos, Jorge, Nithiyanantham, Udayashankar, Hernández, Leonor, Mondragón, Rosa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25-12-2023
• Subjects: Emulsions; Nanoparticles; Paraffin; Phase change enthalpy; Specific heat capacity; T-history; Nanoparticles; T-history; Emulsions; Paraffin; Specific heat capacity; Phase change enthalpy
• ISSN: 2352-152X; 2352-1538
• DOI: 10.1016/j.est.2023.109412

More attention has been paid to thermal energy storage in recent years for its advantages in heating and cooling applications to foster the use of renewable energies. As part of the design of new thermal energy storage materials, the characterization of specific heat capacity and phase change enthalpy is required. One of the most widespread methods for evaluating specific heat capacity and phase change enthalpy is differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). However, the small amount of required material means that DSC is not the most suitable method for non-homogeneous materials. This paper presents the development and validation of a low-medium temperature (<100 °C) T-history system for measuring specific heat capacity and phase change enthalpy as an economical alternative. Validation was carried out with paraffins used as phase change material and two data processing methods were applied. Only one of the methods was able to measure the specific heat capacity in the liquid and solid phases, and the phase change enthalpy. Acceptable deviations calculated as the relative error in relation to DSC and manufacturer values were obtained with values lower than 18.50 % and 14.58 % respectively. The new system was used to evaluate the thermal properties of a pure paraffin/water emulsion and a hybrid carbon-paraffin/water emulsion by corroborating its suitability for measuring non-homogeneous samples.
•Development of a new T-history experimental set-up for low-medium temperature•Validation of data processing methods for specific heat and enthalpy calculation•Thermal characterization of non-homogeneous carbon-paraffin/water emulsions