Heating and cooling capacity of phase change material coupled with screen mesh wick heat pipe for thermal energy storage applications

Abstract

The thermal performance of a phase change material (PCM) heat pipe system is experimentally analysed using acetone as heat pipe fluid in a heat load range of 10-50 W at different flow rates of the condenser coolant. The evaporator of the heat pipe is enclosed in a chamber which filled with a PCM or water. Heat inputs are applied at the evaporator of the heat pipe through the PCM or water. In this study, the heat retention as well as cooling time of the PCM-water are estimated at different heat loads and flow rates of condenser coolant. Similarly, the thermal resistance, evaporator and condenser heat transfer coefficients are also estimated at different heat loads. It is observed that the PCM takes more time during heating and cooling cycles to reach the steady-state temperatures and the temperature values reached during heating are also higher for PCM compared to water. The use of PCM enhances the thermal storage capacity and shows a maximum enhancement of 200% in heat retention time compared to water at 50 W. Moreover, a maximum enhancement of 63.6% is observed in the steady-state temperature of the PCM compared to water. Similarly thermal resistance, evaporator wall temperature and heat transfer coefficients of the heat pipe also vary for PCM and water. The experimental results indicate that PCM or water can be used in this combined system depending upon requirement of thermal storage or electronics cooling.