Numerical study on performance enhancement of solid–solid phase change materials by using multi-nanoparticles mixtures

Abstract

Innovative methods for enhancing storage performance of phase change materials (PCMs) have become the main concern of many scientists. In this numerical study, heat transfer characteristics and thermal storage performance of enhanced neopentyl-glycol (NPG) in a cylindrical container are investigated. Enhancement of phase change material has been done by using a mixture of multi-nanoparticles (Cu, Al, TiO2 and SiO2). Binary and triple mixtures of nanoparticles have been employed to assess the improvement in storage capacity of phase change material. The effect of nanoparticles volume fraction on the thermal behavior of NPG composites has been presented and discussed. It has been found that NPG composite containing (6% SiO2+6% Al) is more effective in heat storage than the composition containing (6% Al+6% Cu). Also, the best performance in heat storage is achieved by the composition (6% Al+3% SiO2+3% TiO2), within the NPG, compared to the other compositions.