Experimental studies on the enhancement in discharging characteristics of phase change material with steatite nanoparticles

Abstract

Phase change materials are latent heat energy storage systems that can store huge quantities of thermal energy in a small volume. Latent heat energy storage systems are complicated to design due to the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials for discharging to enhance the heat capacity and latent heat storage. The objective of the study is to examine the discharging of phase change material in a latent heat energy storage system for maintaining the temperature of the water. Paraffin wax utilized as the phase change material due to its higher latent heat capacity. The experiments were performed with the flow of the hot water through a phase change material container by using a copper tube to enhance the discharging of phase change material during solidification to maintain the temperature of the water. Furthermore, the steatite nanoparticle has been dispersed with phase change material to enhance the discharging of characteristics. The steatite nanoparticle has been selected due to its low thermal conductivity, and the weight percentages nanoparticles were varied viz. 10 %, 20 %, 30 %, and 40 %. The increase in water temperature from 0.1 °C to 1 °C has been taken 7 h by enhancing the discharging of phase change material with various concentrations of the steatite nanoparticle. The work shows the significant discharging characteristics of phase change material with steatite nanoparticles. The nano-phase change material has the potential to maintain the temperature of water without any external energy for a particular duration, which shows cost-effectiveness.