Abstract
Thermal energy storage based on phase change materials (PCMs) can improve the efficiency of energy utilization by eliminating the mismatch between energy supply and demand. It has become a hot research topic in recent years, especially for cold thermal energy storage (CTES), such as free cooling of buildings, food transportation, electronic cooling, telecommunications cooling, etc. This paper summarizes the latest research progress of the PCMs-based CTES. Firstly, the classification of PCMs for low temperature storage is introduced; the thermal physical properties (e.g., phase change temperature (PCT) and latent heat) of suitable PCM candidates (−97 to 30 °C) for CTES are summarized as well. Secondly, the techniques proposed to enhance the thermal properties of PCMs are presented, including the addition of nanomaterials, the microencapsulation and the shape stabilization. Finally, several representative applications (−97 to 65 °C) of PCMs in different CTES systems are discussed. The present review provides a comprehensive summary, systematical analysis, and comparison for the PCMs-based CTES systems, which can be helpful for the future development in this field.
Highlights
Cold energy has a great demand in air conditioning of built environment, refrigeration, cold chain transportation, thermal management of electronic equipment, etc
With the extensive research activities on the material aspect of phase change materials (PCMs) in recent years, great technological progress has been achieved in the application of PCMs in cold thermal energy storage (CTES)
The commercialized PCMs further promote the application of PCM–CTES in different fields
Summary
Cold energy has a great demand in air conditioning of built environment, refrigeration, cold chain transportation, thermal management of electronic equipment, etc. Ali [19] introduced systems that integrated heat pipe (HP) to improve the thermal performance of PCMs, and the applications of a hybrid system (based on HP–PCM) in energy storage and cooling systems. Yang et al [26] comprehensively reviewed the research activities about CTES at subzero temperatures (from around −270 to below 0 ◦ C) covering sensible, latent, and thermochemical technologies Compared with these previous reviews, this paper covers a wide temperature range: materials from −100 to 30 ◦ C and applications from −100 to 65 ◦ C. The PCMs suitable for different cold storage usages are classified based on their temperature ranges Thermophysical properties such as phase change temperature (PCT), latent heat, and thermal conductivity, etc., which should be taken into account when selecting a suitable PCM, are provided.
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