Development of palmitic acid-lauryl alcohol as binary eutectic for cold thermal energy storage in buildings indoor thermal comfort application - Thermophysical studies and discharging characteristics

Abstract

There has been a steep increase in cooling energy requirements in recent years owing to the growing demand for thermal comfort in buildings. Electric peak demand required to meet thermal comfort could be curtailed by integrating the Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) system with conventional systems, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and savings of precious fossil fuels. This paper focuses on the development of binary eutectic Phase Change Material (PCM) and property analysis to determine its compactness for indoor thermal comfort building applications. The investigated eutectic PCM comprises Palmitic acid (PA) –Lauryl alcohol (LA) in the composition 10:90 and the material is a viable system fitting the intended application. By DSC analysis, the phase transition temperature and latent heat of the eutectic PCM are discovered to be 20.25°C and 155.59 Jg−1, respectively. The present study involves various thermophysical studies including corrosion test, thermogravimetric test, thermal conductivity, FTIR analysis, and automated thermal cycling test to evaluate the long-term feasibility of the TES system. The study pays special attention to the corrosiveness of the developed PA-LA eutectic PCM confirming that stainless steel-316 and aluminium are recommended as ideal materials for the fabrication of heat exchangers with longer life. Further, the experimental discharging characteristic of the developed PCM carried out in a high-performance Vapour Absorption Refrigeration (VAR) chamber highlights the robustness of the developed material in terms of prolonged cooling retrieval duration. The developed system will elevate energy efficiency and curb the cooling energy demand when it is coupled with a conventional cooling system.