Experimental investigation of low-temperature latent heat thermal energy storage system using PCM and NEPCM

Abstract

The current experimental work is used to investigate the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system for the low-temperature using phase change material (PCM) and nano-enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) during charging and discharging process. The water is used as the heat extraction liquid media during the charging and discharging process. The temperature curves of the PCM and NEPCM in the LHTES tank with various flow rates of the water are studied. The evaluation of the behavior of the LHTES system has been investigated using the charging and discharging rate, and total heat energy stored during the charging and discharging process of PCM and NEPCM and charging rate of water during discharging process. It was found that the temperature of the water rises nearly 54 °C during the discharging process of LHTES tank. The maximum charging and discharging rate of PCM and NEPCM based LHTES tank are available at the flow rate of 6 lpm. The charging and discharging rate in the LHTES tank using NEPCM is 33.33% and 23.51% more than discharging rate in the LHTES tank using PCM at the flow rate of 6 lpm due to adding copper oxide nanoparticles with PCM for enhancing the thermal conductivity of NEPCM.