Carbonate-salt-based composite materials for medium- and high-temperature thermal energy storage

This paper discusses composite materials based on inorganic salts for medium- and high-temperature thermal energy storage application. The composites consist of a phase change material （PCM）, a ceramic material, and a high thermal conductivity material. The ceramic material forms a microstructural skeleton for encapsulation of the PCM and structural stability of the composites; the high thermal conductivity material enhances the overall thermal conductivity of the composites. Using a eutectic salt of lithium and sodium carbonates as the PCM, magnesium oxide as the ceramic skeleton, and either graphite flakes or carbon nanotubes as the thermal conductivity enhancer, we produced composites with good physical and chemical stability and high thermal conductivity. We found that the wettability of the molten salt on the ceramic and carbon materials significantly affects the microstructure of the composites.     

Analytical approximation for solidification processes in PCM storage with internal fins: imposed heat flux

Uses of thermal energy storage systems have expanded notably in recent decades. In thermal energy systems, internal heat transfer enhancement techniques such as fins are often used because of the low thermal conductivity of the phase change materials (PCMs). In this paper, solidification of a PCM is studied in a rectangular storage with horizontal internal plate fins and an imposed constant heat flux on the vertical walls. A simplified analytical solution is presented and its results are compared to those for a numerical approach based on an enthalpy method. The fraction of solidified PCM in storage is calculated with the derived analytical model which determines how much of the storage is solidified after a certain time. The results show that the analytical model satisfactorily estimates the solid–liquid interface and the temperature distribution for the fin, which are useful in the design of PCM-based thermal energy storage or cooling systems.     

Role of interfacial layer and clustering on the effective thermal conductivity of CuO-gear oil nanofluids

Copper oxide nanoparticles (∼40 nm) are dispersed in gear oil (IBP Haulic-68) at different volume fractions (0.005-0.025) with oleic acid added as a surfactant to stabilize the system. Prepared nanofluids are characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. DLS data confirmed the presence of agglomerated nanoparticles in the prepared nanofluids. Thermal conductivity measurements are performed both as a function of CuO volume fraction and temperature between 5 and 80 °C. An enhancement in thermal conductivity at 30 °C of 10.4% with 0.025 volume fraction of CuO nanoparticle loading is observed. Measured volume fraction dependence of the thermal conductivity enhancement at room temperature is predicted fairly well considering contributions from both nanolayer at the solid-liquid interface and particle agglomeration in the suspension, as visualized by Feng et al.     

Effects of the heat transfer fluid velocity on the storage characteristics of a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system: a numerical study

A numerical study of the effects of the thermal fluid velocity on the storage characteristics of a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system (LHESS) was conducted. Due to the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) used in LHESS, fins were added to the system to increase the rate of heat transfer and charging. Finite elements were used to implement the developed numerical method needed to study and solve for the phase change heat transfer (melting of PCM) encountered in a LHESS during charging. The effective heat capacity method was applied in order to account for the large amount of latent energy stored during melting of the PCM and the moving interface between the solid and liquid phases. The effects of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) velocity on the melting rate of the PCM were studied for configurations having between 0 and 18 fins. Results show that the overall heat transfer rate to the PCM increases with an increase in the HTF velocity. However, the effect of the HTF velocity was observed to be small in configurations having very few fins, owing to the large residual thermal resistance offered by the PCM. However, the effect of the HTF velocity becomes more pronounced with addition of fins; since the thermal resistance on the PCM side of the LHESS is significantly reduce by the large number of fins in the system.     

Laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics of nanoparticle colloidal dispersions in water

Numerical analysis is performed to examine axisymmetric laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics of colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles in water (nanofluids). Effect of volume fraction on flow and heat transfer characteristics is investigated. Eight different materials, alumina, copper, copper oxide, diamond, gold, graphite, silver, and zirconia are considered. Heat transfer and property measurements were conducted previously for Alumina nanofluid and the results have shown that nanofluids behave as homogeneous mixtures. It is found that oxide-based nanofluids offer the least heat transfer enhancement compared to elements-based nanofluids. For a given volume flow rate, all nanofluids exhibited linear increase in heat transfer enhancement with increasing colloids volume fraction, up to 0.05. Furthermore, it is found that in the thermal entrance region, a hydrodynamically developing flow exhibits significantly higher heat transfer enhancement than fully-developed conditions.     

Experimental investigation of heat conduction in polyester-Al2O3 and polyester-CuO nanocomposites

This paper presents an experimental analysis of the thermal conductivity of nanocomposite systems composed of unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) as matrices and two different metal-oxides nanoparticles as fillers: alumina (aluminum oxide) and tenorite (copper oxide). The nanoparticles used were alpha-Al₂O₃ (30-40 nm) and CuO (30-50 nm). Samples were fabricated using simple molding and homogenization using magnetic stirring. Thermal conductivities were measured using a device that complies with ASTM norms C518-04 and E1530-06. Measurements were taken at three different temperatures (0 °C, 25 °C and 50 °C), for different sets of samples, varying the nanoparticle fraction used in composite systems. Finally, the experimental data are compared with traditional models for predicting the thermal conductivity of composite materials, showing that the traditional models underestimate the measured values.     

The effect of carbon nanotubes in enhancing the thermal transport properties of PCM during solidification

This study is aimed to prepare a novel class of nanofluid phase change material (NFPCM) by dispersing a small amount of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in liquid paraffin, to enhance the heat transfer properties and examine the characteristics of the NFPCM during the solidification process. The stable NFPCMs are prepared by dispersing the MWCNT in liquid paraffin at 30°C with volume fractions of 0.15, 0.3, 0.45 and 0.6% without any dispersing agents. The rheology measurement illustrates the Newtonian fluid behavior in the shear stress range of 1–10?Pa. The differential scanning calorimetric results showed that there is no observable variation in the freezing/melting temperature of the NFPCM, and only a small observable change in the latent heat values. The thermal conductivity of various NFPCM is measured. The enhancement in thermal conductivity increases with the increased volume fraction of the MWCNT, and shows a weak dependence on the temperature. Further, for the NFPCM with a volume fraction of 0.6%, there is an appreciable increase in heat transfer with a reduction in the solidification time of 33.64%. The enhancement in the heat transfer performance would alleviate the major problems that have been encountered in the conventional phase change materials since several years.     

Effects of the number and distribution of fins on the storage characteristics of a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system: a numerical study

A numerical study of the effects of the number and distribution of fins on the storage characteristics of a cylindrical latent heat energy storage system (LHESS) was conducted. Due to the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) used in LHESS, fins were added to the system to increase the rate of heat transfer and charging. Finite elements were used to implement the developed numerical method needed to study and solve for the phase change heat transfer (melting of PCM) encountered in a LHESS during charging. The effective heat capacity method was applied in order to account for the large amount of latent energy stored during melting of the PCM and the moving interface between the solid and liquid phases. The effects of increasing the number and distribution of fins on the melting rate of the PCM were studied for configurations having between 0 and 27 fins for heat transfer fluid (HTF) velocities of 0.05 and 0.5?m/s. Results show that the overall heat transfer rate to the PCM increases with an increase in the number of fins irrespective of the HTF velocity. It was also observed that the total amount of energy stored after 12?h increases nearly linearly with the addition of fins up to 12 fins; further addition of fins increasing the total energy stored by ever smaller amounts.     

The effect of real viscosity on the heat transfer of water based Al2O3 nanofluids in a two-sided lid-driven differentially heated rectangular cavity

The heat transfer and fluid flow behavior of water based Al₂O₃ nanofluids are numerically investigated inside a two-sided lid-driven differentially heated rectangular cavity. Physical properties which have major effects on the heat transfer of nanofluids such as viscosity and thermal conductivity are experimentally investigated and correlated and subsequently used as input data in the numerical simulation. Transport equations are numerically solved with finite volume approach using SIMPLEC algorithm. It was found that not only the thermal conductivity but also the viscosity of nanofluids has a key role in the heat transfer of nanofluids. The results show that at low Reynolds number, increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases the viscosity and has a deteriorating effect on the heat transfer of nanofluids. At high Reynolds number, the increase in the viscosity is compensated by force convection and the increase in the volume fraction of nanoparticles which results in an increase in heat transfer is in coincidence with experimental results.     

Laminar convective heat transfer of non-Newtonian nanofluids with constant wall temperature

Nanofluids are obtained by dispersing homogeneously nanoparticles into a base fluid. Nanofluids often exhibit higher heat transfer rate in comparison with the base fluid. In the present study, forced convection heat transfer under laminar flow conditions was investigated experimentally for three types of non-Newtonian nanofluids in a circular tube with constant wall temperature. CMC solution was used as the base fluid and γ-Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and CuO nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed to create nanodispersions of different concentrations. Nanofluids as well as the base fluid show shear thinning (pseudoplastic) rheological behavior. Results show that the presence of nanoparticles increases the convective heat transfer of the nanodispersions in comparison with the base fluid. The convective heat transfer enhancement is more significant when both the Peclet number and the nanoparticle concentration are increased. The increase in convective heat transfer is higher than the increase caused by the augmentation of the effective thermal conductivity.     

Influence of temperature dependent conductivity of a nanofluid in a vertical rectangular duct

Natural convective heat transfer and fluid flow in a vertical rectangular duct filled with a nanofluid is studied numerically assuming the thermal conductivity to be dependent on the fluid temperature. The transport equations for mass, momentum and energy formulated in dimensionless form are solved numerically using finite difference method. Particular efforts have been focused on the effects of the thermal conductivity variation parameter, Grashof number, Brinkman number, nanoparticles volume fraction, aspect ratio and type of nanoparticles on the fluid flow and heat transfer inside the cavity. It is found that the flow was enhanced for the increase in Grashof number, Brinkman number and aspect ratio for any values of conductivity variation parameter and for regular fluid and nanofluid. The heat transfer rate for regular fluid is less than that for the nanofluid for all governing parameters.     

Thermal analysis of a finned-tube LHTS module for a solar dynamic power system

 This paper investigates the transient behaviour of a finned tube latent heat thermal storage (LHTS) module that is put into use in space based power systems, or such similar energy storage applications. The shell side of the module is loaded with phase change material (PCM) while the tubes carry the heat transfer fluid (HTF). Thin circumferential fins are added externally onto the tube surface at equal spacings. The LHTS module is mathematically modeled with an enthalpy based method and the resulting system of conjugate governing equations is numerically solved for charging mode. The influence of various parameters viz. geometrical, thermophysical and various non-dimensional numbers on the performance of the unit is studied. Numerical results indicate an appreciable enhancement in the energy storage process with the addition of fins in the module for an effective utilisation of the available solar energy during the active phase of the orbit orcharging cycle. Received on 1 September 2000 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Experimental studies on heat transfer and friction factor characteristics of CuO/water nanofluid under turbulent flow in a helically dimpled tube

An experimental investigation on the convective heat transfer and friction factor characteristics in the plain and helically dimpled tube under turbulent flow with constant heat flux is presented in this work using CuO/water nanofluid as working fluid. The effects of the dimples and nanofluid on the Nusselt number and the friction factor are determined in a circular tube with a fully developed turbulent flow for the Reynolds number in the range between 2500 and 6000. The height of the dimple/protrusion was 0.6 mm. The effect of the inclusion of nanoparticles on heat transfer enhancement, thermal conductivity, viscosity, and pressure loss in the turbulent flow region were investigated. The experiments were performed using helically dimpled tube with CuO/water nanofluid having 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% volume concentrations of nanoparticles as working fluid. The experimental results reveal that the use of nanofluids in a helically dimpled tube increases the heat transfer rate with negligible increase in friction factor compared to plain tube. The experimental results showed that the Nusselt number with dimpled tube and nanofluids under turbulent flow is about 19%, 27% and 39% (for 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% volume concentrations respectively) higher than the Nusselt number obtained with plain tube and water. The experimental results of isothermal pressure drop for turbulent flow showed that the dimpled tube friction factors were about 2-10% higher than the plain tube. The empirical correlations developed for Nusselt number and friction factor in terms of Reynolds number, pitch ratio and volume concentration fits with the experimental data within ±15%.     

Numerical simulation of heat transfer in a micro channel heat sinks using nanofluids

In this study, a numerical simulation of copper microchannel heatsink (MCHS) using nanofluids as coolants is presented. The nanofluid is a mixture of pure water and nanoscale metallic or nonmetallic particles with various volume fractions. Also, the effects of various volume fractions, volumetric flow rate and various materials of nanoparticles on the performance of MCHS have been developed. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model was developed using the commercial software package FLUENT, to investigate the conjugate fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena in micro channel heatsinks. The results show that the cooling performance of a microchannel heat sink with water based nanofluid containing Al₂O₃ (vol 8%) is enhanced by about 4.5% compared with micro channel heatsink with pure water. Nanofluids reduce both the thermal resistance and the temperature difference between the top (heated) surface of the MCHS and inlet nanofluid compared with that pure water. The cooling performance of a micro channel heat sink with metal nanofluids improves compared with that of a micro channel heat sink with oxide metal nanofluids because the thermal conductivity of metal nanofluid is higher than oxide metal nanofluids. Micro channel heat sinks with nanofluids are expected to be good candidates as the next generation cooling devices for removing ultra high heat flux.     

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes added to Na2CO3/MgO composites for thermal energy storage

Na2CO3/MgO composites with added multi-walled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） were prepared and tested as phase change materials （PCMs） for thermal energy storage. Na2CO3/MgO composite PCMs were prepared and their chemical compatibility and thermal stability were studied. MWCNTs introduced with Na2CO3/MgO composite PCMs were also investigated and scanning electron microscopy （SEM） characterization was used to demonstrate the uniform dispersion of MWCNTs in Na2CO3/MgO composite PCMs. The composites with added MWCNTs still display good thermal stability with mass losses lower than 5%. Introducing MWCNTs into composite Na2CO3/MgO PCMs by material formation/calcination signifi.cantly enhances the thermal conductivity of the composite PCMs. The thermal conductivity of the composite PCMs was found to increase with an increase in the weight fraction of the added MWCNTs and an increase in the testing temperature. This study may present a promising way to prepare high temperature phase change materials with superior properties such as improved thermal stability.     

Carbon nanotube glycol nanofluids: Photo-thermal properties,thermal conductivities and rheological behavior

The efficiency and effectiveness of solar energy capture and storage are to a large extent functions of the heat transfer and storage capacity of the medium used. This paper investigates the potential of using carbon nanotube (CNT)-glycol nanosuspension as such a medium, prepared by freeze drying-ultrasonic dispersing after oxidation treatment with HNO₃. The influences of the mass fraction of CNTs glycol nanofluids and temperatures on photo-thermal properties, thermal conductivities and rheological behavior were investigated. The results show that CNTs with oxidation treatment exhibited good dispersing performance. Strong optical absorption of the CNTs glycol nanofluids was detected in the range of 200–2500 nm. At room temperature, 18% enhancement was found in the photo-thermal conversion efficiency of the 0.5% mass fraction CNTs glycol nanofluids in comparison to the basic fluids, without significant increase in viscosity. At 55 °C, CNTs glycol nanofluids with 4.0% mass fraction exhibited much lower viscosity and 25.4% higher thermal conductivity in comparison to that of pure glycol at room temperature.     

Experimental study on the application of paraffin slurry to high density electronic package cooling

Experiments were performed by using water and paraffin slurry to investigate thermal characteristics from a test multichip module. The parameters were the mass fraction of paraffin slurry (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5%), heat flux (10, 20, 30, 40 W/cm²) and channel Reynolds numbers. The size of paraffin slurry particles was within 10–40 μm. The local heat transfer coefficients for the paraffin slurry were larger than those for water. Thermally fully developed conditions were observed after the third or fourth row. The paraffin slurry with a mass fraction of 5% showed the most efficient cooling performance when the heat transfer and the pressure drop in the test section were considered simultaneously. A new correlation for the water and the paraffin slurry with a mass fraction of 5% was obtained for a channel Reynolds number over 5300. Received on 25 January 1999     

Experimental studies on heat transfer and friction factor characteristics of CuO/water nanofluid under laminar flow in a helically dimpled tube

An experimental investigation on the convective heat transfer and friction factor characteristics in the plain and dimpled tube under laminar flow with constant heat flux is carried out with distilled water and CuO/water nanofluids. For this, CuO nanoparticles with an average size of 15.3 nm were synthesized by sol–gel method. The nanoparticles are then dispersed in distilled water to form stable suspension of CuO/water nanofluid containing 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% volume concentration of nanoparticles. It is found that the experimental Nusselt numbers for 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% volume concentration of CuO nanoparticles are about 6, 9.9 and 12.6%, respectively higher than those obtained with distilled water in plain tube. However, the experimental Nusselt numbers for 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% volume concentration of CuO nanoparticles are about 3.4, 6.8 and 12%, respectively higher than those obtained with distilled water in dimpled tube. The friction factor of CuO/water nanofluid is also increased due to the inclusion of nanoparticles and found to increase with nanoparticle volume concentration. The experimental results show that there exists a difference in the enhancement levels of Nusselt numbers obtained with nanofluids in plain tube and dimpled tube. Hence it is proposed that the mechanism of heat transfer enhancement obtained with nanofluids is due to particle migration from the core of fluid flow to tube wall.     

Experimental investigation on thermal conductivity and viscosity of aluminum nitride nanofluid

Aluminum nitride nanoparticles (AlNs) have been found to be a good additive for enhancing the thermal conductivity of traditional heat exchange fluids.At a volume fraction of 0.1,the thermal conductivity enhancement ratios are 38.71% and 40.2%,respectively,for ethylene glycol and propylene glycol as the base fluids.Temperature does not have much influence on the enhanced thermal conductivity ratios of the nanofluids,though a volume fraction of 5.0% appears to signify a critical concentration for rheology:fo...     

Evaluation of thermophysical characteristics on shape-stabilized paraffin as a solid-liquid phase change material

This report deals with thermophysical properties and measuring methods of shape-stabilized paraffin as a new type of latent heat storage material, which keeps the same shape in a solid state when the paraffin melts. Therefore, this type paraffin can be used in a latent heat storage system without encapsulation. A transient hot wire method, a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), a water calorimeter and a volume expansion meter, which were developed in the present study, were used to measure effective thermal conductivity, latent heat, specific heat and density of the shape-stabilized paraffin, respectively. From the obtained data, useful correlation equations of the above-mentioned thermophysical properties of the shape-stabilized paraffin were expressed as functions of physical property and mass fraction of each constituent of the shape-stabilized paraffin.