Thermal Performance of a Vertical U-Shaped Thermosyphon Containing a Phase-Change Material Suspension Fluid

Ching Jenq Ho, Heng-I Hsu, Tai-Ann Ho and Chi-Ming Lai
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Ching Jenq Ho: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
Heng-I Hsu: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
Tai-Ann Ho: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
Chi-Ming Lai: Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: This study investigated the thermal performance of a vertical U-shaped thermosyphon containing a phase-change material (PCM) suspension fluid via experimentation. The heating and cooling sections were located at the top and bottom of the loop, respectively. The lengths of the heating and cooling sections each accounted for one fifth of the height of the loop. Pure water and a PCM (octadecane) suspension fluid were used to fill the loop to compare the thermal performance of the thermosyphon under different heating power, cooling temperature, and PCM suspension concentration conditions. The results showed that, when the PCM suspension concentration was higher than a critical value, the addition of the PCM suspension had no positive effect on reducing the highest temperature of the fluid in the loop but instead resulted in an increase in fluid temperature. More detailed experiments are needed to observe the phenomena and decide critical values under different experimental parameters.

Keywords: phase-change material suspension; thermal performance natural circulation loop; thermosiphon; octadecane (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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