Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage

For a long time, researchers have been trying to reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources. One of the methods, which has been of growing popularity, is to make use of waste heat energy from human activities and the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) to store such energy. Hence, this experime...

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Main Author: Low, Jin Quan
Other Authors: Wong Teck Neng
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2019
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Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78488
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-784882023-03-04T19:12:05Z Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage Low, Jin Quan Wong Teck Neng School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering For a long time, researchers have been trying to reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources. One of the methods, which has been of growing popularity, is to make use of waste heat energy from human activities and the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) to store such energy. Hence, this experiment aims to characterize the melting of PCM in heat sinks with different pin fin structures. It is hoped that the results obtained from this investigation will be useful for design of thermal energy storage devices. This was done by exploring the performance of pin fin-based heat sinks with different configurations and determine the effects they had on melting characteristics of the PCM. PCM based heat sinks of similar base areas but with differing pin fin configurations were used in this study. All the pin fins also have a constant height of 20 mm but varied in diameter, fin number, longitudinal pitch and lateral pitch. The fins were kept at a constant volume ratio to enclosed area ratio. An empty heat sink without fins was also used and it serves as comparison against the pin fin heat sinks. The heat sinks were subjected to a constant wall temperature and the same initial conditions. The data collected from the experiments were compared to an empty heat sink. The results showed that the addition of pin fin structures significantly reduces the time required to initiate phase change and the melting time. The results also showed that the pin fin diameter (ϕ) of 3 mm was able to charge the PCM to its steady-state temperature faster and that the effects of natural convection would be negated with smaller fin pitch as it impedes the formation of convection current. The comparison between pin fins of ϕ = 3 mm and ϕ = 4 mm revealed that better performance of PCM heating under steady state conditions and this was mainly attributed to the enhancement of total effective surface area for heat transfer. The study concludes by stating the reasons for the respective heat transfer phenomena and recommends the addition of chiller systems for future studies to characterize the discharging process of PCM. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) 2019-06-20T08:11:45Z 2019-06-20T08:11:45Z 2019 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78488 en Nanyang Technological University 94 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
Low, Jin Quan
Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
description For a long time, researchers have been trying to reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources. One of the methods, which has been of growing popularity, is to make use of waste heat energy from human activities and the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) to store such energy. Hence, this experiment aims to characterize the melting of PCM in heat sinks with different pin fin structures. It is hoped that the results obtained from this investigation will be useful for design of thermal energy storage devices. This was done by exploring the performance of pin fin-based heat sinks with different configurations and determine the effects they had on melting characteristics of the PCM. PCM based heat sinks of similar base areas but with differing pin fin configurations were used in this study. All the pin fins also have a constant height of 20 mm but varied in diameter, fin number, longitudinal pitch and lateral pitch. The fins were kept at a constant volume ratio to enclosed area ratio. An empty heat sink without fins was also used and it serves as comparison against the pin fin heat sinks. The heat sinks were subjected to a constant wall temperature and the same initial conditions. The data collected from the experiments were compared to an empty heat sink. The results showed that the addition of pin fin structures significantly reduces the time required to initiate phase change and the melting time. The results also showed that the pin fin diameter (ϕ) of 3 mm was able to charge the PCM to its steady-state temperature faster and that the effects of natural convection would be negated with smaller fin pitch as it impedes the formation of convection current. The comparison between pin fins of ϕ = 3 mm and ϕ = 4 mm revealed that better performance of PCM heating under steady state conditions and this was mainly attributed to the enhancement of total effective surface area for heat transfer. The study concludes by stating the reasons for the respective heat transfer phenomena and recommends the addition of chiller systems for future studies to characterize the discharging process of PCM.
author2 Wong Teck Neng
author_facet Wong Teck Neng
Low, Jin Quan
format Final Year Project
author Low, Jin Quan
author_sort Low, Jin Quan
title Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
title_short Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
title_full Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
title_fullStr Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
title_sort characterization of phase change material (paraffin wax) for thermal energy storage
publishDate 2019
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/78488
_version_ 1759856467700088832