Thermo-physical investigation and experimental discharge characteristics of lauryl alcohol as a potential phase change material for thermal management in buildings

Abstract

This article focuses on the investigation of thermo-physical properties of lauryl alcohol, an organic fatty alcohol as a potential phase change material for thermal management in buildings. The thermal properties of lauryl alcohol over repeated accelerated thermal cycles were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry. The chemical stability was studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The commonly used heat exchanger construction materials such as copper, aluminium and stainless steel 316 were subjected to corrosion analysis and the results were presented. Further, the experimental discharge characteristics of lauryl alcohol as phase change material in a prototype test chamber with internal and external load were performed. In case of internal load condition, the internal chamber air temperature is a key factor for the temperature drop in the chamber and in case of external load condition, better results are obtained in experiments conducted with high inlet temperature and low inlet air velocity.