Sonocrystallization Technique to Optimizing the Crystallization Process of PCM CaCl<sub>2</sub>.6H<sub>2</sub>O

Abstract

Salt hydrate CaCl2.6H2O is one of inorganic Phase Change Material (PCM) that have melting temperature (Tm) of about 29 °C and latent heat of fusion (DH) of around 190 kJ/kg that can be used for latent thermal energy storage. This material can be used for conditioning the air-temperature of the room, in order to reduce the electrical energy consumption for air conditioning (AC) system. In order to reduce the subcooling and phase separation effects of CaCl2.6H2O to maintain its performance, we adopt sonocrystallization technique that uses ultrasound radiation for crystallization of CaCl2.6H2O. The data are taken qualitatively for the crystal growth observation and quantitatively based on real-time temperature recording. The results show that sonocrystallization can slightly reduce the phase separation effect and improving the quality of the crystal. Hence, the resulted crystals have large and long size, uniform distribution and dense arrangement.