Change Material Thermal Energy Storage Research Articles

Residential Micro-CHP system with integrated phase change material thermal energy storage

This paper presents an analysis and experimental investigation of the effect of integrating Phase Change Material (PCM) within a heat exchanger within a Micro Combined Heat and Power (Micro-CHP) system intended for residential applications. A commonly used Micro-CHP layout is replicated in a test rig to characterise the performance of two alternative heat exchanger arrangements. The first is a conventional arrangement where the exhaust gas produced by the prime mover is directed to an air-to-water heat exchanger to heat water and store it in a tank. In the second arrangement, PCM material is encapsulated within specially designed compartments in a heat exchanger to store part of the exhaust thermal energy from the prime mover while heating the water in the storage tank. The time needed to heat the water and discharge heat is compared for both cases, as well as the amount of thermal energy stored during the same operating period. The study also explored the potential to improve the designed unit by using different PCM materials. The test results show that adding 4.7 L capacity paraffin compartments within the heat exchanger extended the discharge time of the hot water by over 400 %, which reflects a marked improvement in the heat storage capacity of the system. This would result in a significant increase in the viable operating period of a CHP system. The one-dimensional analysis revealed that replacing the paraffin with ClimSel C58 PCM can reduce the charging time of the water tank by around 54 % improve the heat storage capacity by factor of 2.35 comparing to Paraffin. The proposed heat exchanger with encapsulated PCM has a potential in other applications such as storage of excess renewable energy or integration with heat pumps to improve matching of supply and demand and thus flexibility of an energy system with integrated intermittent renewables.

Thermal management of high-powered short-duration electronics aided by a phase change material thermal energy storage

Quantifying the performance of phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage in high-power short-duration electronics applications requires performing tests that push the material to its limit. This involves designing experiments to test solid-liquid PCMs in near real-world thermal load conditions to test its performance. Conventional cooling methods are sized to manage the maximum loading the cooling system will be subjected to in its operation, even if this loading occurs for a short period of time. This design ethos is inefficient and results in heavy and expensive equipment being used in an application where it will be underutilized most of its useful life. In this work, a PCM thermal energy storage (TES) device was built using a plate-and-frame heat exchanger and investigated to determine the suitability of this system to manage the temperature of high-power electronics with a low duty cycle. These experiments showed how a PCM-TES can be used in conjunction with conventional temperature management equipment to create a reliable cooling solution while allowing the conventional cooling components to be decreased in size and capacity. This work shows that, for a given application, a cooling system can be more efficiently designed with the use of a PCM-TES and opens the door to additional research on this topic.

Scale-Up Considerations of the Sundial Rotating Fresnel Solar Collector

In the frame of the ASTEP project two prototypes of the Sundial collector, together with a Phase Change Material Thermal Energy Storage, will be tested integrated with the industrial processes of two sites. However, the size of the pilot systems will not be optimized for commercialization. The present work considers the scale-up of the concept for one of the pilot industrial sites: a dairy industry located in Greece, and how will the thermal losses of the system must be considered with the increased aperture, thermal storage size and energy output. For the scaling up of the system, the capacities of the Sundial, demand and TES were doubled and multiplied by 10, and the thermal losses of both nominal conditions and annual performance were considered. The results showed that the ratio between the piping heat losses and the total available energy decreased when scaling-up the system both in the nominal and in the annual results. Hence, the heat losses lost importance when scaling up, when more energy was available. These facts should be considered when evaluating the performance of the pilots and feasibility of the concept.

Development and experimental investigation of full-scale phase change material thermal energy storage prototype for domestic hot water applications

The paper presents an experimental analysis of the full-scale phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage (TES) prototype that is designed for use in domestic hot water preparation systems. The PCM-TES prototype is based on the external arrangement of organic PCM and a custom-made compact fin-and-tube type of heat exchanger. The prototype has been designed, constructed, and tested according to the Ecodesign Directive requirements for water heaters and hot water storage tanks. Several parameters have been analysed, including the heat transfer fluid (HTF) temperature and mass flow rate, heat transfer rate, accumulated and released energy, and quantity of domestic hot water (DHW) delivered. Additional attention was paid to the reliability and repeatability of the results. Experimental research allowed to determine the quantity and temperature of DHW at a constant mass flow rate of 0.1 kg/s. The prototype unit showed that it can deliver 99.1 l of hot water at 40 °C for up to 15 min and 39 s, while the use of lower temperature DHW (up to 37 °C) allows to increase the quantity of hot water delivered up to 156.2 l. Experimental results showed the viability of the prototype, areas for improvement and further possibilities for its optimization. Overall, the study results are relevant for developing latent heat thermal energy storage systems using fin-and-tube heat exchangers in tanks and the feasibility of integrating such systems into DHW systems.

Adaptive machine learning based control of multi-temperature, multi-module latent thermal storage ensembles

Phase change material thermal energy storage systems can be used to alleviate disparities in renewable energy supply and demand. Performance of such systems can be enhanced using a cascade of multiple phase change materials but efficiency benefits currently rely on precise optimization of design parameters. Therefore, there is motivation to develop storage technologies which provide greater flexibility for applications with dynamic operating conditions. In this study, a novel system is proposed called a multi-temperature, multi-module ensemble which consists of multiple phase change materials combined in series and parallel configurations. The system is optimized and controlled by an artificial neural network trained using a multi-objective optimization scheme. The performance for the novel system is compared to two baseline systems: a single phase change material system and a cascaded system. Across a wide range of fixed operating conditions, the results show that the ensemble reduces the rate of exergy destruction by 60% compared to the single module system and achieves a 10 °C improvement in performance for matching target outlet temperature compared to the cascaded system. Over a dynamically changing load profile, the results show that the multi-temperature, multi-module ensemble with artificial neural network controller is the preferable design as it achieves the excellent exergy efficiency of a cascaded system while maintaining the flexibility needed to respond to dynamically changing operating conditions. Furthermore, this novel approach widens the potential applications of latent thermal energy storage by providing a means to standardize manufacturing to drive down system cost and allowing the system to adapt to unforeseen design parameters.

Phase change material based thermal energy storage applications for air conditioning: Review

• Application of PCM TES for indoor environment control is presented. • From assessments made, 5% energy savings can be achieved by using PCM TES. • PCMs integration in AC unit enhance its coefficient of performance by ∼ 1.8% least. • Optimized PCM TES units can reduce CO 2 emissions by 30%. Phase change material thermal energy storage is a potent solution for energy savings in air conditioning applications. Wherefore thermal comfort is an essential aspect of the human life, air conditioning energy usages have soared significantly due to extreme climates, population growth and rising of living standards. Resultantly research efforts have shown increasing innovation towards the integration of phase change material based thermal energy storage technology with space heating/cooling systems to achieve significant savings. The review therefore focuses on the previous published experimental and theoretical works to organize these important milestones, analyze energy saving avenues as well as giving highlights on best practices and widely accepted techniques and recommendations for all reviewed studies to achieve cost cutting but accurate results. It also discusses the useful enhancements that can be implemented for optimum performance of the PCMs. The reviewed potential benefits of PCMs integration in air conditioning units include enhancements in the coefficient of performance by ∼1.8% at minimum, at least 5% energy savings and estimated reduction of CO 2 emissions by about 30%.

Phase change material thermal energy storage design of packed bed units

Heat transfer enhancement and optimization are found to be essential for the PCM (phase change material) thermal energy storage design. In this work, the performance advantage of the packed bed PCM storage unit design is analyzed in comparison, and the impacts of key geometric parameters of a packed bed unit were numerically investigated. The optimized shell-and-tube design, based on the hexagonal circle configuration, serves as the benchmark for the comparison. The thresholds of the bed and PCM-capsule diameter ratio,D/d, is found, above which the effective energy storage capacity of the packed bed would be higher than that of an optimal shell-and-tube unit. The threshold of D/d can be quantitatively correlated to the superficial velocity of the heat transfer fluid, providing a pathway for the tailored design of a packed bed PCM thermal storage system. In conclusion, it was found that packed bed units are advantageous due to their larger surface-to-volume ratio, in particular in large-scale applications. This work proposes a numerical analysis based framework to design packed bed PCM storage units in comparison with shell-and-tube units so that a proper type of PCM thermal storage design can be selected under a specific geometric and operational condition.

Latent Thermal Energy Storage Application in a Residential Building at a Mediterranean Climate

An innovative thermal energy storage system (TESSe2b) was retrofitted in a residential building in Cyprus with a typical Mediterranean climate. The system comprises flat-plate solar collectors, thermal energy storage tanks filled with organic phase change material, a geothermal installation consisting of borehole heat exchangers with and without phase change material and a ground source heat pump, an advanced self-learning control system, backup devices and several other auxiliary components. The thermal energy storage tanks cover the building’s needs at certain temperature ranges (10–17 °C for cooling, 38–45 °C for heating and 50–60 °C for domestic hot water). A performance evaluation was conducted by comparing the TESSe2b system with the existing conventional heating and cooling system. The systems were simulated using commercial software, and the performance of the systems and the building’s energy needs were calculated. Based on the energy quantities, an economic analysis followed. The equivalent annual primary energy consumption with the conventional system resulted in being 43335 kWh, while for the storage system, it was only 8398 kWh. The payback period for the storage system was calculated to be equal to 9.76 years. The operation of the installed storage system provided data for calculations of the seasonal performance factor and storage performance. The seasonal performance factor values were very high during June, July and August, since the TESSe2b system works very efficiently in cooling mode due to the very high temperatures that dominate in Cyprus. The measured stored thermal energy for cooling, heating and domestic hot water resulted in being 14.5, 21.9 and 6.2 kWh, respectively. Moreover, the total volume of the phase change material thermal energy storage tanks for heating and domestic hot water was calculated to be roughly several times smaller than the volume of a tank with water as a storage medium.

Thermal energy storage using phase change material: Analysis of partial tank charging and discharging on system performance in a building cooling application

Thermal energy storage coupled with phase change materials is a technology that offers the potential to shift and in some case reduce building cooling loads and increase energy efficiency. This simulation study uses a TRNSYS building and HVAC system model to investigate whether partially charging and discharging a phase change material thermal energy storage tank can improve the operational characteristics required by a light-weight commercial building located in a Mediterranean climate. The results indicate that partial charging and discharging can lead to better energy performance of the phase change material thermal energy storage HVAC system. If the phase change material thermal energy storage tank is not required to operate at maximum capacity (i.e., maximum charge), energy savings are possible by only partially charging the tank. Further energy efficiency gains are also possible by control of the heat transfer fluid flow rates in the HVAC thermal energy storage system loops. Generally, higher charging loop flow rates and lower discharge loop flow rates produce better energy performance. Charging a phase change material thermal energy storage tank above 90% is not recommended, as at very high charge fractions, the energy performance decreases considerably, while the charging time increases significantly.

Development of a Fuzzy Logic Controller for Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle Cogeneration Plants

Solar energy is widely recognized as one of the most attractive renewable energy sources to support the transition toward a decarbonized society. Use of low- and medium-temperature concentrated solar technologies makes decentralized power production of combined heating and power (CHP) an alternative to conventional energy conversion systems. However, because of the changes in solar radiation and the inertia of the different subsystems, the operation control of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants is fundamental to increasing their overall conversion efficiency and improving reliability. Therefore, in this study, the operation control of a micro-scale CHP plant consisting of a linear Fresnel reflector solar field, an organic Rankine cycle unit, and a phase change material thermal energy storage tank, as designed and built under the EU-funded Innova Microsolar project by a consortium of universities and companies, is investigated. In particular, a fuzzy logic control is developed in MATLAB/Simulink by the authors in order to (i) initially recognize the type of user according to the related energy consumption profile by means of a neural network and (ii) optimize the thermal-load-following approach by introducing a set of fuzzy rules to switch among the different operation modes. Annual simulations are performed by combining the plant with different thermal load profiles. In general, the analysis shows that that the proposed fuzzy logic control increases the contribution of the TES unit in supplying the ORC unit, while reducing the number of switches between the different OMs. Furthermore, when connected with a residential user load profile, the overall electrical and thermal energy production of the plant increases. Hence, the developed control logic proves to have good potential in increasing the energy efficiency of low- and medium-temperature concentrated solar ORC systems when integrated into the built environment.

Integrating paraffin phase change material in the storage tank of a solar water heater to maintain a consistent hot water output temperature

The temperature of the hot water withdrawn for a solar water heater varies throughout a day. However, for process heat applications, constant temperature water can be required from a solar water heater. This is usually achieved by providing additional auxiliary heat input. Disadvantageously, such extra water heating incurs additional cost and, if met from fossil fuels, produces greenhouse gas emissions. An alternative approach of using a phase change material to moderate variations in the outlet temperature of hot water from the store is examined in this paper using an experimentally-validated CFD model of a solar water heater with a phase change material thermal energy storage in the hot water tank. The CFD model was solved by COMSOL Multiphysics. For a particular solar water heating system, incorporating an encapsulated paraffin wax phase change material has been shown to able to deliver up to 1200 L of hot water at a temperature of 60 °C ± 2 °C for more than 8 h.

Performance investigation and sensitivity analysis of shell-and-tube phase change material thermal energy storage

This paper presents the development, experimental testing, and numerical investigation of water-based phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage (TES) using the shell-and-tube design with different tube layouts including single serpentine, double serpentine, and spiral. Sodium acetate trihydrate (SAT) with a melting temperature of 58 °C was used as the storage medium. The major contribution of this study is the sensitivity analysis and performance comparison of the shell-and-tube PCM TES units with different tube layouts. A quasi-three-dimensional dynamic model of the PCM TES unit was developed and used to predict the performance of the TES unit under different design and operating conditions, which was validated against the experimental data. A global sensitivity analysis was implemented to quantify the influence of the design parameters on the performance of the PCM TES unit. The results showed that the inlet water temperature was the most influential parameter, followed by the tube length, water flow rate, tube layout, and PCM thermal conductivity. The PCM TES module with the spiral tube layout and the double serpentine tube layout generally outperformed that with the single serpentine tube layout. The time required to charge the PCM to a liquid fraction of 0.95 was reduced by 16.0% if changing the tube layout from single serpentine to spiral and when the tube length was 4,055 mm. The findings obtained from this study could be potentially used to guide and facilitate the design of the shell-and-tube PCM TES units.

Experimental investigation and two-level model-based optimisation of a solar photovoltaic thermal collector coupled with phase change material thermal energy storage

This paper presents an experimental investigation of an air-based solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) collector coupled with a centralised phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage (TES) system, and the development of a model-based strategy to facilitate optimisation of the PVT-PCM systems. The originality of this study includes using statistical analysis to reveal the practical deficiencies of PVT-PCM systems, and orientating the system optimisation using a two-level model-based strategy. A set of experiments were designed and performed based on a lab-scale experimental facility to examine both electrical and thermal performance of the PVT-PCM system with various air flow rates, and different slopes and orientations of the PVT collector. The optimisation strategy was developed to identify the optimal design and at the same time to generate a performance map that can be used for control optimisation. The experimental results showed that there existed an optimal air flow rate for the PVT-PCM system under a given solar radiation for maximal overall system efficiency. To better utilise the PCM latent heat storage capacity, both the useful thermal energy generated from the PVT collector and the heat transfer within the TES unit need to be optimised. Compared to a baseline case without optimisation, the average overall system efficiency increased from 37.6% to 40.2%, and the average daily utilisation ratio of the latent TES capacity improved from 13.3% to 79.5%.

Assessment of energy and cost analysis of packed bed and phase change material thermal energy storage systems for the solar energy-assisted drying process

In this study, an evaluation of energy and economic analysis of two different energy storage systems for the drying process was presented. These systems were the packed bed (PBTES) and phase change material (PCM) thermal energy storage systems, respectively. Pebble stones were utilized as energy storage material in PBTES, while paraffin wax with a melting temperature of 55–60 °C was used in PCM. The main objective of this study was to compare two energy storage materials whose physical and chemical properties were completely different, in terms of performance and costs and to determine the ideal energy storage medium for the solar energy-assisted drying process. For this purpose, two different energy storage mediums of similar capacity were developed and examined experimentally. When the systems were investigated in terms of energy analysis, it was determined that the maximum thermal energy stored during the charging period was 52.59 MJ and 49.52 MJ for PBTES and PCM, respectively. With this energy stored during the discharge period, average 5 mm thick lemon slices were dried and the drying process lasted an average of 6.27 h in PBTES and 6.23 h in the PCM. During the drying process, the moisture content of the lemon slices was reduced from 94.8% to 10% on wet basis. As a result of the experimental studies, the average energy efficiencies were detected as 68.2% and 68.55% for PBTES and PCM, respectively. When the systems were considered economically, it was observed that PBTES had a 10.47% lower initial investment cost compared to PCM.

Phase change material thermal energy storage systems for cooling applications in buildings: A review

Sharing of renewable energy and reduction of conventional energy consumption as an attempt to ameliorate environmental issues such as global warming has become the main concern for current developing scientific engineering research. Moreover, with the drastic increase in cooling and heating requirements in the building sector worldwide, the need for suitable technology that enables improvement in thermal performance of buildings is addressed. Utilizing phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage strategies in buildings can meet the potential thermal comfort requirements when selected properly. The current research article presents an overview of different PCM cooling applications in buildings. The reviewed applications are classified into active and passive systems. A summary of the used PCMs and their respective properties are presented as well. Primary results of the studied systems are demonstrated to be efficient in reducing indoor temperature fluctuations and energy demand during cold seasons along with the capability of triggering load reduction or shifting.

Using fuzzy clustering and weighted cumulative probability distribution techniques for optimal design of phase change material thermal energy storage

Abstract: This paper presents the development and application of a bi-objective optimisation strategy to optimise the design of thermal energy storage (TES) systems using phase change materials (PCMs). The overall objective is to maximise the average heat transfer effectiveness of the PCM TES system, while minimising the effective PCM charging time. The proposed strategy featured with the utilisation of a fuzzy clustering algorithm and a weighted cumulative probability distribution (FC-WCPD) technique to identify optimal designs of the PCM TES systems. The fuzzy clustering algorithm was first time introduced in a bi-objective optimisation algorithm and was used to evaluate and select the potential optimal solutions in each generation by taking into account the trade-off between the two conflicting optimisation objectives. The weighted cumulative probability distribution technique was used to transfer the optimal characteristics through iterations and facilitate the convergence of the optimisation process. The optimal design identified for the case studied was the inlet air temperature of 42 °C, the air flow rate of 74.91 l/s, the number of the PCM bricks in the air flow direction of 5, and the number of air channels of 4 when the weight factors were 0.5 for both optimisation objectives. By using this optimal design, the average heat transfer effectiveness of the PCM TES system and the effective PCM charging time were 61.87% and 6.61 h, respectively. Further comparison showed that the optimal design was consistent with the optimal solutions identified using a controlled elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA) and a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process.

Modelling system integration of a micro solar Organic Rankine Cycle plant into a residential building

In the present energy scenario and considering the high share on global energy demand of buildings, small and micro-scale combined heat and power units powered by solar energy are considered a suitable solution for many industrial and civil applications, such as residential buildings. In this work a micro solar Organic Rankine Cycle plant is analysed. The system consists of a concentrated Linear Fresnel Reflectors solar field coupled with a phase change material thermal energy storage tank and a 2 kWe/18 kWth Organic Rankine Cycle system. In this work the integration of such system with a building is investigated in detail by means of a dynamic simulation model. In particular their interaction is analysed to assess its impact on the Organic Rankine Cycle electric and thermal performance. Furthermore, the building heating system optimization is evaluated aiming at minimizing the energy operational costs of the building. Results show the convenience of the proposed micro solar combined heat and power system when it works in trigeneration configuration. They highlight also that the operational strategy and the dynamic energy demand of the building affect the Organic Rankine Cycle performance and 26% higher electricity production is obtained with the integrated plant-building model compared to the plant without building integration. Regarding the building parameters design, they affect the energy cost only if they are varied simultaneously and their optimal set-up can allow up to 9% energy cost savings, thanks to a better exploitation of the available energy produced by the micro solar plant.

Multi-Country Analysis on Energy Savings in Buildings by Means of a Micro-Solar Organic Rankine Cycle System: A Simulation Study

In this paper, the smart management of buildings energy use by means of an innovative renewable micro-cogeneration system is investigated. The system consists of a concentrated linear Fresnel reflectors solar field coupled with a phase change material thermal energy storage tank and a 2 kWe/18 kWth organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system. The microsolar ORC was designed to supply both electricity and thermal energy demand to residential dwellings to reduce their primary energy use. In this analysis, the achievable energy and operational cost savings through the proposed plant with respect to traditional technologies (i.e., condensing boilers and electricity grid) were assessed by means of simulations. The influence of the climate and latitude of the installation was taken into account to assess the performance and the potential of such system across Europe and specifically in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, U.K., and Sweden. Results show that the proposed plant can satisfy about 80% of the overall energy demand of a 100 m2 dwelling in southern Europe, while the energy demand coverage drops to 34% in the worst scenario in northern Europe. The corresponding operational cost savings amount to 87% for a dwelling in the south and at 33% for one in the north.

Optimization of an encapsulated phase change material thermal energy storage system

Thermal energy storage enables uninterrupted operation of a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant during periods of cloudy or intermittent solar availability. This paper presents a transient computational analysis of an encapsulated phase change material (EPCM) thermal energy storage (TES) system for repeated charging and discharging cycles to investigate its dynamic response. The influence of the design and operating parameters on the dynamic charge and discharge performance of the system is analyzed to identify operating windows that satisfy technoeconomic targets of storage cost less than $15/kWht, round-trip exergetic efficiency greater than 95%, charge time less than 6h and a minimum discharge period of 6h. Overall, this study illustrates a methodology for design and optimization of encapsulated PCM thermal energy storage system (EPCM-TES) for a CSP plant operation.

Cost and performance analysis of concentrating solar power systems with integrated latent thermal energy storage

Integrating TES (thermal energy storage) in a CSP (concentrating solar power) plant allows for continuous operation even during times when solar irradiation is not available, thus providing a reliable output to the grid. In the present study, the cost and performance models of an EPCM-TES (encapsulated phase change material thermal energy storage) system and HP-TES (latent thermal storage system with embedded heat pipes) are integrated with a CSP power tower system model utilizing Rankine and s-CO2 (supercritical carbon-dioxide) power conversion cycles, to investigate the dynamic TES-integrated plant performance. The influence of design parameters of the storage system on the performance of a 200 MWe capacity power tower CSP plant is studied to establish design envelopes that satisfy the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative requirements, which include a round-trip annualized exergetic efficiency greater than 95%, storage cost less than $15/kWht and LCE (levelized cost of electricity) less than 6 ¢/kWh. From the design windows, optimum designs of the storage system based on minimum LCE, maximum exergetic efficiency, and maximum capacity factor are reported and compared with the results of two-tank molten salt storage system. Overall, the study presents the first effort to construct and analyze LTES (latent thermal energy storage) integrated CSP plant performance that can help assess the impact, cost and performance of LTES systems on power generation from molten salt power tower CSP plant.