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ENERGY STORAGE
PCM-based system cuts energy use by 27% in frozen-foods warehouse
Frozen Gourmet Inc., a wholesale distributor of premium ice cream and other frozen foods, says a PCM-based thermal battery system has cut energy consumption by more than 27 percent in the company’s freezer warehouse in Redding, Calif.
The Viking Cold Solutions system, installed at the end of 2016, features hundreds of plastic bottles filled with a salt hydrate solution. The bottles are suspended from the ceiling of the 7,900-square-foot warehouse. The phase change material solidifies when the warehouse chillers are running. The PCM absorbs heat as it melts, allowing the chillers to run less frequently and still keep the warehouse within a few degrees of the target temperature, -14.8º Celsius.
Shifting demand to off-peak hours can result in significant savings on electricity in California, where daytime demand charges are common. The Viking system also includes intelligent controls and sensors to optimize energy use and alert managers to temperature abnormalities, equipment failure and power outages.
“We searched for a year to find the right technology to reduce our energy costs and decided to purchase the Viking Cold TES system after seeing the capability and flexibility the system provides,” said Bill Kohn, CEO of Frozen Gourmet. “The reduction in energy consumption has improved our bottom line and the real-time monitoring has been invaluable in helping us recognize and address equipment issues before expensive problems arise.”
PATENTS
Multizone recreational cooler with phase change material
U.S. patent application 20170108260 (applicant Viking Cold Solutions, Houston, Texas):
“A cooler includes a body. The cooler also includes a divider that divides an interior of the body into a first zone and a second zone. A first phase change material module is disposed in the first zone of the interior of the body and a second phase change material module is disposed in the second zone of the interior of the body.”
Fecal incontinence device
U.S. patent application 20170105827 (Renew Medical Inc., Foster City, Calif.):
“A device for treating fecal incontinence in a subject is provided. The device includes a plug configured for positioning mostly within an anal canal of the subject. … A phase change material can also be used in stem portion 12 and optionally cap portion 14; the material can be stiff under room temperature and soft at body temperature. Plug 10 can be filled with such a material and deformed while molten (e.g. by stretching the plug from its ends) to as to form a more deliverable structure with reduced cap portion diameter when the material sets. Once in the body, the material melts and plug 10 assumes its natural configuration providing the anchoring and sealing necessary for treating fecal incontinence.”
IN BRIEF
• With German Chancellor Angela Merkel on hand, Viessmann officially opened its $53 million research and development center in Allendorf this month. Viessmann, maker of the Ice Store heating and cooling system, says the Viessmann Innovation Center will employ 100 people and represents the biggest single investment in the company’s 100-year history.
• Cold Chain Technologies, which is celebrating it 50th anniversary this year, has moved its headquarters to Franklin, Mass.
• Riccardo Rocchi and Chiara Ricciardi, the Italian couple who began an 18,000-kilometer bike ride last June to raise awareness about diabetes, have reached Cambodia. Ricciardi has type 1 diabetes and needs a daily dose of insulin. She is using Pelican BioThermal‘s Credo ProMed pack to keep insulin at the right temperature. The pair topped the 14,000-kilometer mark this week. They’ve pedaled across 18 countries, averaging 47 km per day. They hope to arrive at their final destination, Singapore, by June.
• Ben VanderPlas of Sonoco ThermoSafe and Chris Anderson of Cardinal Health are among the speakers scheduled for next month’s Temperature Controlled Logistics in Biopharmaceuticals USA conference in Princeton, N.J.
• The global market for green and bio polyols, valued at $2.6 billion in 2015, is projected to reach $4.7 billion by 2021, according to new research from MarketsandMarkets.
• Australian start-up 1414 Degrees recently raised AUD $2.5 million in private funding, most of which will go toward installing a molten silicon thermal storage system at a hydroponic farm.
• C-Therm Technologies is offering a free webinar, “Thermal Energy Storage Characterization: Thermal Conductivity Testing and Calorimetry,” on April 25.
• Peli BioThermal is among 50-plus companies to receive a 2017 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation. The company was recognized for achievement in temperature-assured shipping of pharmaceuticals. The award winners are invited to attend a Buckingham Palace reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth.
• Renewable Energy Group of Ames, Iowa, is seeking candidates for the position of senior manager, procurement, with a focus on the feedstock fats and oils markets.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews:• Micro-encapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurries: Characterization and building applications
From Energy:
• Experimental study of a modified solar phase change material storage wall system
From Energy and Buildings:
• A novel binary mixture of caprylic acid/nonanoic acid as latent heat storage for air conditioning and cooling
From Materials and Design:
• A General Method for Retrieving Thermal Deformation Properties of Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials or Other Particulate Inclusions in Cementitious Composites
From Journal of Building Engineering:
• Effect of PCM thickness and melting temperature on thermal performance of double glazing units
From Procedia Environmental Sciences:
• Investigation of Energy Performance in Conventional and Lightweight Building Components with the use of Phase Change Materials (PCMS): Energy Savings in Summer Season
From Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells:
• Large-scale high-temperature solar energy storage using natural minerals
• Hierarchical nano-activated silica nanosheets for thermal energy storage
From Soft Matter:
• Microencapsulation through thermal sintering Pickering emulsion-based colloidosomes
From RSC Advances:
• Preparation of polyurea microcapsules containing phase change materials in a rotating packed bed
From International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer:
• Dynamic measurement of the thermal conductivity of phase change materials in the liquid phase near the melting point
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than a thousand of your peers have joined a LinkedIn group devoted to the discussion of phase change material and thermal energy storage. The Phase Change Matters group is an interactive complement to the award-winning blog and newsletter of the same name.
You are invited to join the group and connect with PCM and TES experts from around the world. New members this week include Sushmita Singh, research associate at MarketsandMarkets, India; Xander Ufkes, account manager at Duraflow, Netherlands; Kate Fisher, research scientist at Sunamp Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland; and Lily Liang, quality manager at Tremco Commercial Sealants & Waterproofing, Ohio.