Thermal Storage Process Research Articles

STUDY OF THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF NODULES CONTAINING A PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL FOR COOL THERMAL STORAGE

Air conditioning and refrigeration have an increasing technological importance and the use of storage process is economically a good solution. The presented cool thermal storage process consists in the use of the solid-liquid transformation of Phase Change Materials (PCM) encapsulated in spherical nodules. These nodules fill a tank placed in the refrigeration loop. Laboratory experiments allow to know exactly the crystallization process of one nodule or of a small number of nodules and to specify the nature and the importance of the undercooling phenomenon (delay of crystallization). The erratic character of the crystallizations is particularly in evidence. A model, based on a combination of the energy equation and nucleation theories, is validated by the experiments and gives information on the kinetics of phase transformations. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Effect of diffusion on concentration profiles in a solar pond

This chapter introduces the fundamentals of solar pond technology as a thermal storage process. It includes a brief description of solar pond technology in the context of energy storage, history, fundamentals; a classification of the different ponds used for capture and storage of solar energy; the fundamentals of salinity gradient solar pond, describing the research efforts over recent decades; the design, construction, including the establishment of the salinity gradient, operation and control, and finally the heat extraction systems. A discussion of investment, construction, and operational cost is also presented together with a review of the different applications in which solar ponds have the potential to supply low-grade thermal energy, especially focused on industrial processes heating.