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Experimental Study of an Enhanced Phase Change Material of Paraffin/Expanded Graphite/Nano-Metal Particles for a Personal Cooling System.

ABSTRACT: A composite phase change material (PCM) was prepared by incorporating paraffin (PA) with expanded graphite (EG) and nano-metal particles to improve the thermal conductivity and reduce the leakage performance of PA once it melts and, consequently, develop a more efficient PCM for a personal phase change cooling system. A series of experiments was carried out by a scanning electron microscope, a differential scanning calorimeter, a hot-disk thermal analyzer, and leakage tests on the composite PCM with various mass fractions of EG and metals (i.e., Cu, Al, Ni, and Fe). Through comprehensive consideration of the thermal conductivity, leakage, and homogeneity, a composite PCM with the optimal proportion (PA-EG11%-Cu1.9%) was screened out. Its thermal conductivity was significantly improved nine times, while the phase change enthalpy showed a minimal decrease. In addition, the relationships of the composite PCM with its temperature and density were systematically investigated. The experimental results are important for determining the proper package density of PCM for application into a personal cooling system because its weight is crucial for the system design and benefits the performance comparison of various PCMs prepared under various conditions. Lastly, the heat storage efficiency of the PA-EG-Cu material was investigated using heat storage tests. Cooling performance clearly improved compared to the PCM without nano-particles added.

SUBMITTER: Ma C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7078843 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Experimental Study of an Enhanced Phase Change Material of Paraffin/Expanded Graphite/Nano-Metal Particles for a Personal Cooling System.

Ma Chuyuan C Zhang Ying Y Chen Xianfeng X Song Xiande X Tang Kaixuan K

Materials (Basel, Switzerland) 20200222 4

A composite phase change material (PCM) was prepared by incorporating paraffin (PA) with expanded graphite (EG) and nano-metal particles to improve the thermal conductivity and reduce the leakage performance of PA once it melts and, consequently, develop a more efficient PCM for a personal phase change cooling system. A series of experiments was carried out by a scanning electron microscope, a differential scanning calorimeter, a hot-disk thermal analyzer, and leakage tests on the composite PCM ...[more]

PMID: 32098301

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Project description:This article introduces an innovative approach to the investigation of the conductive-radiative heat transfer mechanism in expanded polystyrene (EPS) thermal insulation at negligible convection. Closed-cell EPS foam (bulk density 14-17 kg·m-3) in the form of panels (of thickness 0.02-0.18 m) was tested with 1-15 µm graphite microparticles (GMP) at two different industrial concentrations (up to 4.3% of the EPS mass). A heat flow meter (HFM) was found to be precise enough to observe all thermal effects under study: the dependence of the total thermal conductivity on thickness, density, and GMP content, as well as the thermal resistance relative gain. An alternative explanation of the total thermal conductivity "thickness effect" is proposed. The conductive-radiative components of the total thermal conductivity were separated, by comparing measured (with and without Al-foil) and simulated (i.e., calculated based on data reported in the literature) results. This helps to elucidate why a small addition of GMP (below 4.3%) forces such an evident drop in total thermal conductivity, down to 0.03 W·m-1·K-1. As proposed, a physical cause is related to the change in mechanism of the heat transfer by conduction and radiation. The main accomplishment is discovering that the change forced by GMP in the polymer matrix thermal conduction may dominate the radiation change. Hence, the matrix conduction component change is considered to be the major cause of the observed drop in total thermal conductivity of EPS insulation. At the microscopic level of the molecules or chains (e.g., in polymers), significant differences observed in the intensity of Raman spectra and in the glass transition temperature increase on differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) thermograms, when comparing EPS foam with and without GMP, complementarily support the above statement. An additional practical achievement is finding the maximum thickness at which one may reduce the "grey" EPS insulating layer, with respect to "dotted" EPS at a required level of thermal resistance. In the case of the thickest (0.30 m) panels for a passive building, above 18% of thickness reduction is found to be possible.

Dataset Information

Experimental Study of an Enhanced Phase Change Material of Paraffin/Expanded Graphite/Nano-Metal Particles for a Personal Cooling System.

Publications

Experimental Study of an Enhanced Phase Change Material of Paraffin/Expanded Graphite/Nano-Metal Particles for a Personal Cooling System.

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