A study on energy transport performance of Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials (MPCM) slurry

Abstract

Microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM) slurry as a Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) has been investigated due to the enhanced thermal energy storage capacity associated with the Phase Change Material (PCM). A numerical study employing the Eulerian-Eulerian flow model has been carried out to investigate the energy transport performance of MPCM slurry and water. Validation of the numerical model with the experimental work is first performed and further extended to identify the effects of temperature variations between the pipe inlet to outlet and volume concentrations of MPCM particles under a constant wall heat flux. Accordingly, it is found that water exhibits the highest pumping power demand over PCM-based HTFs to transport the corresponding thermal energy. The increase in temperature variation improves the energy capacity of both water and MPCM slurry; however, it affects the influence of the latent heat of the PCM. Pipe size and the latent heat of the phase change material significantly alter the ratio of energy transport by pumping power (Q/Wp) for MPCM slurry flow. Furthermore, it is observed that a flow of MPCM slurry with a low Reynolds number achieves a better value of Q/Wp under turbulent flow conditions.