Development of phase change materials (PCMs) for low temperature energy storage applications

Abstract

The fatty acids are generally used as phase change materials (PCMs) in thermal energy storage (TES) applications, but the high cost of these PCMs is a big drawback which limits their applications. So, there is a need for low cost PCMs development with thermal stability, by using these PCMs the system cost may also reduce. Therefore, this paper deals with the development of binary mixtures based on commercial grade fatty acids such as lauric acid (LA), myristic acid (MA), stearic acid (SA) and palmitic acid (PA). In this regard, a series of binary mixtures i.e., LA–MA, LA–SA, LA–PA, MA–SA, MA–PA and PA–SA with varying weight percentages were developed and tested through the Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The DSC results showed that melting temperatures of LA–MA (30–80wt.%), LA–SA (60–90wt.%), LA–PA (40–90wt.%), MA–SA and MA–PA (30–80wt.%), and PA–SA (20–70wt.%) are in the preferred temperature range 36–39, 34–38, 37–42, 45–50 and 56–58°C respectively with high latent heat of fusion and these PCMs can be recommended for the buildings, solar water heating/drying/foot warmers applications.