Abstract
Phase change materials (PCMs) are significant in terms of applicability for the thermal energy storage (TES). Thanks to the high thermal storage density and wide range of phase transition temperature they are promising storage mediums for a large number of applications. PCMs can be used to support efficient use of waste or excess heat. Selection of adequate material as well as design of optimal TES magazine are crucial. It is important to choose material which is characterized by suitable temperature range of phase transition, possibly high latent heat of transition, specific heat and thermal conductivity. Also important features are: ability to work properly after many operation cycles, minimum volume change and gas generation during the phase transition. It is also advantageous when PCM is non-toxic and non-corrosive, non-flammable, non-explosive, environment friendly and easy to recycle. Even the best designed PCMs would not be able to store heat efficiently if the whole magazine and its construction were not good enough. This is the reason why a lot of effort is taken to design effective TES system. The aim of this work is to analyse examples of different configurations of PCM – based thermal energy storage systems. Authors compare selected TES systems and discuss their characteristics.
Highlights
Thermal energy storage is an important issue in number of areas, including: renewable energy, domestic and industrial uses of heat or thermal stabilisation of chemical and industrial processes
Latent heat storage consists of two parts: first one involve heating or cooling material to the specific temperature of phase transition, which is typical for particular Phase change materials (PCMs) and second - main part - uses change of phase of storage medium
There are numbers of scientists conducting their research in the area of phase change materials for thermal energy storage
Summary
Thermal energy storage is an important issue in number of areas, including: renewable energy, domestic and industrial uses of heat or thermal stabilisation of chemical and industrial processes. Latent heat storage consists of two parts: first one involve heating or cooling material to the specific temperature of phase transition, which is typical for particular PCM and second - main part - uses change of phase of storage medium. In this case factors determining amount of accumulated heat are: specific latent heat, amount of material and fraction of transformed material. Alternative solution is to use solid-solid PCMs, which are characterized by a lack of liquid or gaseous phase and the lack of volume change during the transition They are characterized by smaller storage capability.
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