Open AccessExperimental thermal performance comparison of pure and metal foam-loaded PCMs
Author(s) -
Maria Grazia Silvestrini,
Morena Falcone,
Francesco Salvi,
Claudia Naldi,
Matteo Dongellini,
Gian Luca Morini
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/2116/1/012058
Subject(s) - materials science , metal foam , thermal conductivity , paraffin wax , phase change material , composite material , porosity , thermal energy storage , latent heat , thermal conduction , heat transfer , melting point , thermal , heat flux , copper , aluminium , metal , wax , metallurgy , thermodynamics , physics
The thermal performance of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems considerably depends on thermal conductivity of adopted phase change materials (PCMs). To increase the low thermal conductivity of these materials, pure PCMs can be loaded with metal foams. In this study, the melting process of pure and metal-foam loaded phase change materials placed in a rectangular shape case is experimentally investigated by imposing a constant heat flux at the top. Two different paraffin waxes with melting point of about 35°C are tested. The results obtained with pure PCM are compared with those achieved from the use of PCM combined with two different porous metals: a 10 PPI aluminum foam with 96% porosity and a 20 PPI copper foam with 95% porosity. The results demonstrate how metal foams lead to a significant improvement of conduction heat transfer reducing significantly the melting time and the temperature difference between the heater and PCM.