Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Study of effect of Al and Cu microparticles dispersed in D-Mannitol PCM for effective solar thermal energy storage

  • Published:
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A practical use of phase change material (PCM)-based thermal energy storage (TES) system is effectively employed for mitigating the imbalance between energy demand and energy supply. Technological development of TES is essential to overcome the drawback of the poor thermo-physical property of many PCM’s. Otherwise, the PCM-based TES system would exhibit poor thermal management. In this work, D-Mannitol (DM) sugar alcohol is considered as PCM and experimental attempts were made to accelerate the phase change behaviour of the chosen PCM by adding 1 and 2% mass fraction of micron-sized copper and aluminium metal powders. The phase change temperature and enthalpy of fusion of the plain DM and composite DM were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, and the thermal stability of composite PCM was analysed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Further, charging and discharging processes were conducted for plain DM and composite DM using Therminol 55 heat transfer fluid (HTF) to study their thermal energy storage performance. The DSC results indicated superior enthalpy of fusion and phase transition temperature and TGA results depicted extended decomposition temperature with an increase of about 2 °C to 32 °C for composite DM, respectively, over plain DM. Further, from charge–discharge studies, it was identified that the total time taken for a complete phase change process for the case of DM-Cu 2% during charging process was 22% and 11% lesser compared to plain DM and DM-Al 2%, respectively. Similarly during discharging process, the total time taken for a complete phase change process of DM-Cu 2% was 16% and 10% lesser compared to plain DM and DM-Al 2%, respectively, indicating superior phase change behaviour of composite DM compared to the plain DM. Thus, when compared to plain DM and Al microparticle in DM, Cu microparticle added DM was found to be more suitable to store thermal energy at a medium temperature range.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Alva G, Lin Y, Fang G. An overview of thermal energy storage systems. Energy. 2017;144:341–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Hariharan K, Kumar GS, Kumaresan G, Velraj R. Investigation on phase change behavior of paraffin phase change material in a spherical capsule for solar thermal storage units. Heat Transf Eng. 2018;39:775–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Devaux P, Farid MM. Benefits of PCM underfloor heating with PCM wallboards for space heating in winter. Appl Energy. 2017;191:593–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Li Y, Huang G, Wu H, Xu T. Feasibility study of a PCM storage tank integrated heating system for outdoor swimming pools during the winter season. Appl Therm Eng. 2018;134:490–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sudhakar P, Kumaresan G, Velraj R. Experimental analysis of solar photovoltaic unit integrated with free cool thermal energy storage system. Sol Energy. 2017;158:837–44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Panchabikesan K, Vincent AA, Ding Y, Ramalingam V. Enhancement in free cooling potential through PCM based storage system integrated with direct evaporative cooling (DEC) unit. Energy. 2018;144:443–55.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. del Barrio EP, Godin A, Duquesne M, Daranlot J, Jolly J, Alshaer W, Kouadio T, Sommier A. Characterization of different sugar alcohols as phase change materials for thermal energy storage applications. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2017;159:560–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kumaresan G, Velraj R, Iniyan S. Thermal analysis of d-mannitol for use as phase change material for latent heat storage. J Appl Sci. 2011;11:3044–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Leng G, Qiao G, Xu G, Vidal T, Ding Y. Erythritol-Vermiculite form-stable phase change materials for thermal energy storage. Energy Procedia. 2017;142:3363–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Mojiri A, Grbac N, Bourke B, Rosengarten G. D-mannitol for medium temperature thermal energy storage. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2018;176:150–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Beemkumar N, Yuvarajan D, Karthikeyan A, Ganesan S. Comparative experimental study on parabolic trough collector integrated with thermal energy storage system by using different reflective materials. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-07989-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Biçer A, Sarı A. Synthesis and thermal energy storage properties of xylitol pentastearate and xylitol pentapalmitate as novel solid–liquid PCMs. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2012;102:125–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Gombás Á, Szabó-Révész P, Regdon G, Erős I. Study of thermal behaviour of sugar alcohols. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2003;73:615–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Kumaresan G, Vigneswaran VS, Esakkimuthu S, Velraj R. Performance assessment of a solar domestic cooking unit integrated with thermal energy storage system. J Energy Storage. 2016;6:70–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Peiró G, Gasia J, Miró L, Cabeza LF. Experimental evaluation at pilot plant scale of multiple PCMs (cascaded) vs. single PCM configuration for thermal energy storage. Renew Energy. 2015;83:729–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Kumaresan G, Santosh R, Raju G, Velraj R. Experimental and numerical investigation of solar flat plate cooking unit for domestic applications. Energy. 2018;157:436–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Salyan S, Suresh S. Study of thermo-physical properties and cycling stability of D-Mannitol-copper oxide nanocomposites as phase change materials. J Energy Storage. 2018;15:245–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Salyan S, Suresh S. Multi-walled carbon nanotube laden with D-Mannitol as phase change material: characterization and experimental investigation. Adv Powder Technol. 2018;29:3183–91.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sagara A, Nomura T, Tsubota M, Okinaka N, Akiyama T. Improvement in thermal endurance of D-Mannitol as phase-change material by impregnation into nanosized pores. Mater Chem Phys. 2014;146:253–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Xu T, Chen Q, Huang G, Zhang Z, Gao X, Lu S. Preparation and thermal energy storage properties of D-Mannitol/expanded graphite composite phase change material. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2016;155:141–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Singh RP, Kaushik SC, Rakshit D. Melting phenomenon in a finned thermal storage system with graphene nano-plates for medium temperature applications. Energy Convers Manag. 2018;163:86–99.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Cabeza LF, Castellon C, Nogues M, Medrano M, Leppers R, Zubillaga O. Use of microencapsulated PCM in concrete walls for energy savings. Energy Build. 2007;39:113–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Andreani T, Kiill CP, de Souza AL, Fangueiro JF, Doktorovová S, Garcia ML, Gramião MP, Silva AM, Souto EB. Effect of cryoprotectants on the reconstitution of silica nanoparticles produced by sol–gel technology. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2015;120:1001–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Narasimhan NL, Veeraraghavan V, Ramanathan G, Bharadwaj BS, Thamilmani M. Studies on the inward spherical solidification of a phase change material dispersed with macro particles. J Energy Storage. 2018;15:158–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, CEG, Anna University, Chennai, 600025, India

    M. Pramothraj, R. Santosh, M. R. Swaminathan & G. Kumaresan

Authors
  1. M. Pramothraj
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Santosh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. R. Swaminathan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. Kumaresan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Kumaresan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pramothraj, M., Santosh, R., Swaminathan, M.R. et al. Study of effect of Al and Cu microparticles dispersed in D-Mannitol PCM for effective solar thermal energy storage. J Therm Anal Calorim 139, 895–904 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-08469-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-019-08469-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation