Abstract
The review contains information o; n the properties of phase-change materials (PCM) and the possibilities of their use as the basis of thermal energy storage. Special attention is given to PCMs with a phase transition temperature ranging between 20 and 80 °C since such materials can be effectively used to reduce temperature variations in residential and industrial rooms. Thus, the application of PCMs in the construction industry enables one to considerably reduce the power consumption and reduce the negative environmental impact of industrial facilities. Thermophysical characteristics of the main types of PCMs are presented. The heat balance for a room with walls made of PCM-added materials is estimated. The calculations demonstrate that such structures can stabilize the temperature in practical applications as a result of the usage of such materials. The construction of a thermal accumulator on the basis of PCM is proposed and analyzed. This facility uses water as a working fluid and paraffin as a PCM. The thermal accumulator has a modular structure so that the number of similar modules is determined by the quantity of energy to be stored. The potential of wide application of PCMs as a basis for thermal energy storage is rather limited due to a very low conductivity (less than 1 W/(m K)) inherent to these materials. This drawback can be overcome by adding carbon nanoparticles whose thermal conductivity is four to five orders of magnitude greater than that of the matrix material. The problem of fabrication of polymer composites with enhanced thermal conductivity due to nanocarbon particles doping is discussed in detail.
Highlights
An intense enhancement of energy production and consumption impacts the environment negatively and requires increased expenditures
The usage of phase-change materials (PCM) in the building trade permits one to limit the level of energy production and consumption, which offers a possibility to lower the negative impact of the industry on the environment and terrestrial climate
The wide spread of PCMs is hindered by a rather low thermal conductivity of these materials. This drawback can be overcome by doping PCMs with nanocarbon particles for which the thermal conductivity coefficient exceeds that for PCMs by 4–5 orders of magnitude
Summary
An intense enhancement of energy production and consumption impacts the environment negatively and requires increased expenditures. The time τ required for the heat propagation through a material layer of d = 0.1 m in thickness is estimated by the relation τ ~ d2 /a and accounts for several hours For this reason, PCM-based thermal accumulators respond with a large delay to a change in the ambient temperature which makes utilization of such storage hardly workable. The task relates to the determination of the dependence of the thermal conductivity of a PCM based material on the content of doped particles having various geometry and thermophysical properties as well as the heat propagation through a non-homogeneous media depending on the gradients of the doped particle content and phase transition latent heat All these issues have been discussed in the present article, which contains a review of investigations addressed to determining physicochemical characteristics of PCMs and their application in thermal energy storage systems.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
