PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL (PCM) FOR ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

Introduction

Drastically of population growth and industrial revolution leading the increasing gap between the

global demand and supply of energy. The periodic feature of renewable energy such as solar has

become a major barrier in the wide spreading use of this energy. The solution to this barrier is

the usage of energy storage system, which store energy during the day and release energy at

night.

Basically, there are three methods of storing thermal energy: sensible, latent and thermo-

chemical heat and cold storage. Latent heat thermal energy storage system, which utilizes phase

change materials (PCMs) to absorb and release heat is widely used. When the energy source is

available, PCMs is heated and absorb the energy for phase transition (such as from solid phase to

liquid phase). When the energy is needed, liquid is changed back into solid by releasing heat. A

large amount of heat can be absorbed and released at constant temperature by using latent heat

thermal energy storage system and its size is smaller than sensible heat thermal energy storage.

Therefore, to overcome the potential shortage of energy one of the alternative solutions is to

develop energy storage devices by finding a suitable material to store energy.





Literature review

The energy storage leads to saving of premium fossil fuel. PCMs attract attention as one of

potential thermal energy storage system due their higher energy storage densities and isothermal

phase transition [1-4]. PCM has been used for many applications, which included thermal

comfort, electronic cooling, space craft, water heating, building, and etc [5-9].

Numerical Models are now established for most applications of PCM materials. In many cases,

simplified models or analytic expressions or correlation functions have been developed for

practical guidance in optimizing design of systems using PCMs. They could be used as

guidelines when adjusting the implementation of a numerical method to be used in the design of

systems [10].

Nano-heat transfer receives more attention these days. Nanocapsule containing solid/liquid

PCMs or nanoparticle enhanced PCMs (NEPCM) have been proposed to be used in the thermal

energy storage. The resulting nanoparticle-enhanced phase change materials (NEPCM) exhibit

enhanced thermal conductivity in comparison to the base material [11-13]. For experimental

purpose, two types of popular techniques are used for the measurement of fusion latent heat and

the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) [14-16]. However, experimental approach requires

the samples of NEPCM. The common technique is the physical gas-phase condensation or

chemical synthesis technique which involves the evaporation of a source material and the rapid

condensation of vapor into nanometer sized crystallites in a cool, inert, reduced-pressure

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