Study on improving the heat storage property of Ba(OH)2·8H2O with paraffin

Abstract

Barium hydroxide octahydrate is the crystalline hydration salt with the highest latent heat density within the phase change temperature interval of 0–120 °C and it has a broad application prospect as a phase-change material (PCM). Firstly, red copper test tube was used for the melting—solidification heat cycle experiment in this paper, which was verified by the corrosion experiment of barium hydroxide solution. After the thermogravimetric analysis, it is found that paraffin can effectively reduce the evaporation escape of barium hydroxide octahydrate crystal water within 100 °C. Repeated heat cycle experiments indicated that the paraffin with larger coverage mass fraction can reduce the inhibiting effect of barium hydroxide octahydrate crystal water more obviously. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the phase composition of the barium hydroxide octahydrate sample covered with 50 wt% paraffin nearly had no change, while the sample not covered with paraffin has the weight loss ratio of 34.67% and reacted with CO2 in the air, generating BaCO3. In summary, paraffin can not only inhibit the evaporation of crystal water, but also effectively isolate the air to prevent barium hydroxide octahydrate from denaturation. This greatly improved the practicability of barium hydroxide octahydrate as a PCM, laying a good foundation for the further application of barium hydroxide octahydrate.