Encapsulated Nitrates Phase Change Material Selection for Use as Thermal Storage and Heat Transfer Materials at High Temperature in Concentrated Solar Power Plants

Gustavo Cáceres, Karina Fullenkamp, Macarena Montané, Krzysztof Naplocha and Anna Dmitruk
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Gustavo Cáceres: Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Avenida Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Peñalolén, Santiago 7941169, Chile
Karina Fullenkamp: Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Avenida Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Peñalolén, Santiago 7941169, Chile
Macarena Montané: Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Avenida Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Peñalolén, Santiago 7941169, Chile
Krzysztof Naplocha: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Lukasiewicza 5, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland
Anna Dmitruk: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Lukasiewicza 5, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: In the present paper, the finite element method is used to perform an exhaustive analysis of the thermal behavior of encapsulated phase change materials (EPCMs), which includes an assessment of several materials in order to identify the best combination of PCM and shell material in terms of thermal energy storage, heat transfer rate, cost of materials, limit of pressure that they can support and other criteria. It is possible to enhance the heat transfer rate without a considerable decrease of the thermal energy storage density, by increasing the thickness of the shell. In the first examination of thermomechanical coupling effects, the technical feasibility can be determined if the EPCM dimensions are designed considering the thermal expansion and the tensile strength limit of the materials. Moreover, when a proper EPCM shell material and PCM composition is used, and compared with the current storage methods of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, the use of EPCM allows one to enhance significantly the thermal storage, reaching more than 1.25 GJ/m 3 of energy density.

Keywords: EPCM; nitrates; thermal energy storage (TES); heat transfer materials; CSP (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 (1)

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