Thermal energy recovery of air conditioning system––heat recovery system calculation and phase change materials development

Latent heat thermal energy storage systems can be used to recover the rejected heat from air conditioning systems, which can be used to generate low-temperature hot water. It decreases not only the consumption of primary energy for heating domestic hot water but also the calefaction to the surroundings due to the rejection of heat from air conditioning systems. A recovery system using phase change materials (PCMs) to store the rejected (sensible and condensation) heat from air conditioning system has been developed and studied, making up the shortage of other sensible heat storage system. Also, PCMs compliant for heat recovery of air conditioning system should be developed. Technical grade paraffin wax has been discussed in this paper in order to develop a paraffin wax based PCM for the recovery of rejected heat from air conditioning systems. The thermal properties of technical grade paraffin wax and the mixtures of paraffin wax with lauric acid and with liquid paraffin (paraffin oil) are investigated and discussed, including volume expansion during the phase change process, the freezing point and the heat of fusion.     

Review on heat transfer analysis in thermal energy storage using latent heat storage systems and phase change materials

Thermal energy storage (TES) is a technology that stocks thermal energy by heating or cooling a storage medium so that the stored energy can be used later for heating and cooling applications and for power generation. TES has recently attracted increasing interest to thermal applications such as space and water heating, waste heat utilisation, cooling, and air conditioning. Phase change materials (PCMs) used for the storage of thermal energy as latent heat are special types of advanced materials that substantially contribute to the efficient use and conservation of waste heat and solar energy. This paper provides a comprehensive review on the development of latent heat storage (LHS) systems focused on heat transfer and enhancement techniques employed in PCMs to effectively charge and discharge latent heat energy, and the formulation of the phase change problem. The main categories of PCMs are classified and briefly described, and heat transfer enhancement technologies, namely dispersion of low‐density materials, use of porous materials, metal matrices and encapsulation, incorporation of extended surfaces and fins, utilisation of heat pipes, cascaded storage, and direct heat transfer techniques, are also discussed in detail. Additionally, a two‐dimensional heat transfer simulation model of an LHS system is developed using the control volume technique to solve the phase change problem. Furthermore, a three‐dimensional numerical simulation model of an LHS is built to investigate the quasi‐steady state and transient heat transfer in PCMs. Finally, several future research directions are provided.     

Improving the performance of air conditioning systems by using phase change materials: A review

This paper reviews the application of phase change materials (PCMs) for improving the performance of air conditioning systems. The different methods of integrating PCMs into air conditioning systems are presented. Moreover, the effects of PCM geometry, flow, and heat transfer characteristics on the performance of air conditioning systems and the potential use of PCMs in increasing the energy savings and coefficient of performance of air conditioning systems are also discussed. Recent studies on the thermodynamic (energy and exergy), economic, and environmental benefits of integrating PCMs into air conditioning systems are reviewed. Several methods for the preparation and optimal selection of PCMs are proposed to improve the performance of air conditioning systems, and then the challenges relating to PCM properties, optimal thickness, and PCM containers are highlighted. The economic aspects, humidity effect, life cycle assessment, and use of solid‐solid PCMs are cited as potentially important topics for future research.     

Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications

The use of a latent heat storage system using phase change materials (PCMs) is an effective way of storing thermal energy and has the advantages of high-energy storage density and the isothermal nature of the storage process. PCMs have been widely used in latent heat thermal-storage systems for heat pumps, solar engineering, and spacecraft thermal control applications. The uses of PCMs for heating and cooling applications for buildings have been investigated within the past decade. There are large numbers of PCMs that melt and solidify at a wide range of temperatures, making them attractive in a number of applications. This paper also summarizes the investigation and analysis of the available thermal energy storage systems incorporating PCMs for use in different applications.     

Tetradecane and hexadecane binary mixtures as phase change materials (PCMs) for cool storage in district cooling systems

As the demand for refrigeration and air-conditioning has increased during the last decade, district cooling systems have been introduced in some major European cities. In a district cooling system, the combination of central cooling facilities and cool storage systems provides economic advantages over older conventional cooling plants. A cool storage system can meet the same total cooling load as a non-storage system over a given period of time with a smaller chiller. Cool storage systems using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) have a low temperature range and high energy density in the melting solidification of PCMs compared to sensible heat storage. Thus they are advantageous in reducing the storage volume, heat loss, and size of the chilling equipment. In this paper we describe some paraffin waxes and their binary mixtures. We discuss the thermal properties of laboratory-grade tetradecane, hexadecane and their binary mixtures, and we demonstrate their potential for use as PCMs for cool storage. The thermal properties include freezing point, the heat of fusion, thermal stability and volume expansion during the phase change process. In the study, a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) was used to determine the heat of fusion of these materials and to generate thermal data for study and analysis. The results show that these materials are attractive candidates as potential PCMs for cool storage in district cooling systems. However, because of the high cost of laboratory-grade materials, technical-grade materials must be used for cool storage.     

Review on solar air heating system with and without thermal energy storage system

In order to produce process heat for drying of agricultural, textile, marine products, heating of buildings and re-generating dehumidify agent, solar energy is one of the promising heat sources for meeting energy demand without putting adverse impact of environment. Hence it plays a key role for sustainable development. Solar energy is intermittent in nature and time dependent energy source. Owing to this nature, PCMs based thermal energy storage system can achieve the more popularity for solar energy based heating systems. The recent researches focused on the phase change materials (PCMs), as latent heat storage is more efficient than sensible heat storage. In this paper an attempt has been made to present holistic view of available solar air heater for different applications and their performance.     

Analysis of collector-storage building walls using phase-change materials

The use of thermal storage walls that serve both as solar collector and thermal storage is well known. The wall is usually composed of masonry or containers filled with water to provide sensible heat storage, i.e., storage resulting from the specific heat capacity of a material as it increases in temperature. An interesting alternative to the standard materials are phase-change materials (PCMs) which employ latent heat storage. Latent heat storage utilizes the energy associated with a change of state of a material such as the transition from a solid-to-liquid, or liquid-to-gas. The solid-to-liquid phase change is preferred for many applications because of the much smaller volume change resulting in this transition for a given amount of energy storage. This paper summarizes the results of a simulation study of the use of PCMs as a collector-storage wall.     

Review of latent thermal energy storage systems for solar air-conditioning systems

Solar air conditioning is an important approach to satisfy the high demand for cooling given the global energy situation. The application of phase-change materials (PCMs) in a thermal storage system is a way to address temporary power problems of solar air-conditioning systems. This paper reviews the selection, strengthening, and application of PCMs and containers in latent thermal storage system for solar air-conditioning systems. The optimization of PCM container geometry is summarized and analyzed. The hybrid enhancement methods for PCMs and containers and the cost assessment of latent thermal storage system are discussed. The more effective heat transfer enhancement using PCMs was found to mainly involve micro-nano additives. Combinations of fins and nanoadditives, nanoparticles, and metal foam are the main hybrid strengthening method. However, the thermal storage effect of hybrid strengthening is not necessarily better than single strengthening. At the same time, the latent thermal storage unit has less application in the field of solar air-conditioning systems, especially regarding heat recovery, because of its cost and thermal storage time. The integration of latent thermal storage units and solar air-conditioning components, economic analysis of improvement technology, and quantitative studies on hybrid improvement are potential research directions in the future.     

Emerging applications of phase change materials: A concise review of recent advances

Phase change materials (PCMs) are used as latent heat thermal energy storage materials. The fields of application for PCMs are broad and diverse. Among these areas are thermal control of electronic components and thermal building regulations. These areas are used as heat and cold storage materials. The low thermal conductivity of PCMs is one of the significant and severe technological problems of PCMs. This paper presents a review of the latest works using PCMs in the thermal management of electronic components, buildings, and heat exchangers. Besides, it provides concise pieces of information on the classification of PCMs, their advantages, disadvantages, and thermal storage systems.     

A review of research and development work on solar dryers with heat storage

Drying of agricultural food products is one of the most attractive and cost-effective applications of solar energy. The solar dryer is less reliable due to the intermittent nature of solar energy. This shortcoming can be overcome to some extent by storing solar energy. Information on sensible and latent heat storage materials and systems is spread widely in the literature. In this paper, we try to gather information about the previous and current research works in the field of thermal energy storage technology for solar air heater and dryer. The relative studies are classified on the basis of the type of storage material used in solar dryers, i.e. phase change material (PCM), rock, water, etc. Several designs of solar dryers with different heat storage materials were proposed by researchers. Recent studies focused on PCMs such as Paraffin and salt hydrate, due to their high heat storage capacity per unit volume.     

低温相变储能材料及其应用研究

利用相变储能材料（PCMs）潜热的热能存储（TES）是一种有效的热量利用方式。目前研究较多的储能材料包括无机体系（盐和水合盐）及有机化合物（石蜡、脂肪酸等）。本文对PCMs进行了归类并介绍了各类PCMs的基本特征;针对单纯的PCMs易泄漏的特点,介绍了多孔材料吸附PCMs形成复合PCMs及微胶囊封装技术;概括了PCMs在温度调控、热量储存等方面的应用;对目前PCMs的发展情况进行了总结,并对其未来的发展趋势进行了展望。     

储热材料的研究进展及其应用

综述了储热材料的研究进展和实际应用.介绍了储热材料的分类以及各类材料的性能、储能机理和优缺点;介绍了一些新型的相变材料,并结合实例探讨了储热材料在太阳能利用、建筑节能等领域的应用;指出了储热材料的研究方向和未来的发展趋势.     

Study on phase change temperature distributions of composite PCMs in thermal energy storage systems

A one‐dimensional (1D) physical model is developed for latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) systems using composite phase change materials (PCMs) with different phase change temperature (PCT) distributions. By theoretical investigation under the assumption of neglecting the sensible heat, the optimum linear PCT distributions which are corresponding to minimum phase change time are derived. To verify the theoretical results of the optimum linear PCT distributions, the finite difference method is adopted to simulate the cyclical freezing and melting processes of composite PCMs. The numerical results in which the sensible heat is taken into account show that: (1) the optimum linear PCT distributions obtained from the theoretical analyses seem to be the optimum ones of composite PCMs in practical latent heat TES systems; (2) the phase change time of composite PCMs with the optimum linear PCT distributions used in practical latent heat TES systems can be decreased by as much as 25–40% by properly selecting the segmented numbers of composite PCMs as compared with that of PCMs of a single PCT. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal energy storage of phase change materials in the solidification process inside the quasi-square heat exchanger: CFD simulation

The high latent heat of phase change materials (PCMs) makes them one of the most important sources of heat energy storage systems. However, due to the slow rate of heat transfer in these materials, using conductive materials such as fins and nanoparticles could improve the thermal efficiency of these energy storage systems. So in this article, cross-shaped fins and Copper(II) oxide nanoparticles with different synthesized forms and various volume fractions have been employed to increase the thermal efficiency of paraffin PCMs. In this simulation, three fin models based on the installed size, the shape of the synthesized nanoparticles in brick, cylindrical, and platelet forms, and the nanoparticle volume fraction of the Copper(II) oxide is 1%–4% are studied. Increasing the volumetric ratio of nanoparticle and shape coefficient decrease the time of solidification, while increasing the length of the cross-shaped fins raises the solidification rate and improves heat transfer. Finally, it was found that when the inner and outer walls play a role in the solidification process at the same time, the solidification rate will increase by more than 66% as more zone of the surface is exposed to cold.     

固液相变蓄热技术的研究进展

综述了相变蓄热材料、相变传热问题求解方法、典型相变传热过程以及相变潜热蓄热系统(LHTES)优化设计及强化传热等诸多固液相变蓄热技术相关问题的研究进展情况     

金属基相变材料的研究进展及应用

金属基相变材料由于具有储能密度高、热稳定性好、热导率高等优点,在潜热热能储存系统中具有极大的优势。本文回顾了金属基相变材料的发展历程,归纳了金属基相变材料的性能参数,总结了各种热物性的测量方法,探讨了金属基相变材料与容器材料的相容性问题,分析了金属基相变材料在太阳能热发电、工业余热回收和电力削峰填谷中的应用前景。金属基相变材料的高温腐蚀性是目前限制其在热控制中应用的主要因素。为了实现金属基相变材料的广泛应用,需要重点解决金属基相变材料的封装问题。     

The micro‐/nano‐PCMs for thermal energy storage systems: A state of art review

With advancement in technology—nanotechnology, various thermal energy storage (TES) materials have been invented and modified with promising thermal transport properties. Solid‐liquid phase change materials (PCMs) have been extensively used as TES materials for various energy applications due to their highly favourable thermal properties. The class of PCMs, organic phase change materials (OPCMs), has more potential and advantages over inorganic phase change materials (IPCMs), having high phase change enthalpy. However, OPCMs possess low thermal conductivity as well as density and suffer leakage during the melting phase. The encapsulation technologies (ie, micro and nano) of PCMs, with organic and inorganic materials, have a tendency to enhance the thermal conductivity, effective heat transfer, and leakage issues as TES materials. The encapsulation of PCMs involves several technologies to develop at both micro and nano levels, called micro‐encapsulated PCMs (micro‐PCM) and nano‐encapsulated PCMs (nano‐PCM), respectively. This study covers a wide range of preparation methods, thermal and morphological characteristics, stability, applications, and future perspective of micro‐/nano‐PCMs as TES materials. The potential applications, such as solar‐to‐thermal and electrical‐to‐thermal conversions, thermal management, building, textile, foam, medical industry of micro‐ and nano‐PCMs, are reviewed critically. Finally, this review paper highlights the emerging future research paths of micro‐/nano‐PCMs for thermal energy storage.     

Heat transfer enhancement of high temperature thermal energy storage using metal foams and expanded graphite

Latent heat storage (LHS) can theoretically provide large heat storage density and significantly reduce the storage material volume by using the material’s fusion heat, Δh_m. Phase change materials (PCMs) commonly suffer from low thermal conductivities, being around 0.4 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ for inorganic salts, which prolong the charging and discharging period. The problem of low thermal conductivity is a major issue that needs to be addressed for high temperature thermal energy storage systems. Since porous materials have high thermal conductivities and high surface areas, they can be used to form composites with PCMs to significantly enhance heat transfer. In this paper, the feasibility of using metal foams and expanded graphite to enhance the heat transfer capability of PCMs in high temperature thermal energy storage systems is investigated. The results show that heat transfer can be significantly enhanced by both metal foams and expanded graphite, thereby reducing the charging and discharging period. Furthermore, the overall performance of metal foams is superior to that of expanded graphite.     

组合式相变材料组分配比与储热性能研究

采用焓法对组合式相变材料(PCM)储热系统的相变过程进行了数值计算,分析了组合式相变材料中各个PCM组分质量分数的变化对系统储热性能的影响。结果表明,对于组合式相变材料储热系统,存在着最优组分配比,使得系统的储热性能达到最佳。     

Experimental study of the phase change and energy characteristics inside a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system: Part 2 simultaneous charging and discharging

The time mismatch between energy availability and energy demand with solar domestic hot water (SDHW) systems is often solved using energy storage. Energy storage systems typically employ water for thermal energy storage, however, water storage takes up considerable space and weight due to the large volumes required under certain conditions. A latent heat energy storage system (LHESS) may provide a valuable solution to the space and weight issue, while also correcting the energy mismatch by storing energy in phase change materials (PCMs) when it is available, dispensing energy when it is in demand, and acting as a heat exchanger when there is supply and demand simultaneously. PCMs are advantageous as energy storage materials due to their high energy density which reduces the space requirements for energy storage. However, heat transfer problems arise due to the inherently low thermal conductivity of PCMs. Simultaneous charging and discharging has not been addressed in literature making questionable the ability of a LHESS to operate as a heat exchanger during the mode of operation. The main objective of this research is to study the heat transfer processes and phase change behavior of a PCM during simultaneous charging and discharging of a LHESS.In Part 2 of this paper, experiments are performed using a vertical cylindrical LHESS which is charged and discharged simultaneously to replicate latent heat energy storage paired with a SDHW system with simultaneous energy supply and demand. Dodecanoic acid is used as the PCM. Experimental results for simultaneous operations are presented, under various scenarios and flow rates for both the hot and cold heat transfer fluids. The ability of the system to directly transfer heat between the hot and cold heat transfer fluids is studied, and the results found during consecutive, or separate, charging and discharging, presented in Part 1 of this paper, are compared to the results found during simultaneous charging and discharging. It was found that natural convection in the melted PCM clearly provides an advantage towards direct heat exchange between the hot and cold heat transfer fluid; while the low thermal conductivity of solid PCM provides a barrier to this direct energy exchange.