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PATENTS
Heat-preserving mask with phase change material
U.S. patent application 20160183610 (applicant Prior Co. Ltd., Taiwan):
“The creation provides a mask having the function of heat preservation. The mask includes an outer layer, an inner layer, and an intermediate layer. The inner layer is in contact with the user’s face. The intermediate layer is located between the outer layer and the inner layer. The intermediate layer contains a base layer and a coating layer located on the base layer. The coating layer includes a paraffin particle and a first polymer, wherein the paraffin particle is dispersed in the first polymer.”
IN BRIEF
• The Environmental Protection Agency has published a plan detailing its agenda for the first 12 months of implementing Toxic Substances Control Act safety regulations.
• “While the wave of EPA regulation that is soon to come will impose many challenges, the revised TSCA also provides some opportunities that should not be overlooked,” writes Joseph J. Green of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. Manufacturers, for example, “can seek an EPA ‘safe to use’ determination — which could have obvious marketing advantages (and forestall potential state regulations).”
• The Sir Joseph Swan Center for Energy Research at Newcastle University has an opening for a research associate with expertise in adsorption refrigeration, thermal energy storage, solar power engineering, heat and mass transfer, and thermodynamics. The full-time position is for 12 months to cover maternity leave.
• Pelican BioThermal has expanded its presence in Central America, announcing a distribution partnership with Kryotec, a cold chain technology company based in Mexico City.
• A combined heat and power district heating network in Scotland has led to significant reductions in energy costs for poorer residents, a report released this week has found. The heating network was installed in 2013 at Wyndford Estate, an 1,800-unit housing complex in Glasgow. The system’s 120,000-liter thermal storage unit supplies heat and hot water through a 5 km pipe network.
• Registration is open for the 12th annual COMSOL Conference to be held Oct. 5-7 in Newton, Mass. Software training opportunities include conduction/convection, heat transfer and phase change modeling.
• The winning design for WenzhouKean University’s new College of Architecture and Design in China features ice thermal energy storage and thermal mass to reduce energy use. The university is a U.S.-Chinese partnership. Its new campus in Zhejiang Province is in development under a master plan originally designed by Michael Graves.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Applied Energy:• Preparation and characterization of capric-myristic-stearic acid eutectic mixture/modified expanded vermiculite composite as a form-stable phase change material
• High thermal conductivity phase change composite with a metal-stabilized carbon-fiber network
From Applied Thermal Engineering:
• Experimental investigation of a thermal storage system using phase change materials
• Compatibility of materials for macroencapsulation of inorganic phase change materials: Experimental corrosion study
• Melting of Graphene Based Phase Change Nanocomposites in Vertical Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Unit
From Computer Aided Chemical Engineering:
• Comparison of Different Heat Exchanger Tube Designs used in Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage Systems – a Numerical Study
• Influence of the Mushy Zone Constant on the Numerical Simulation of the Melting and Solidification Process of Phase Change Materials
From Solar Energy:
• Nanoadditives induced enhancement of the thermal properties of paraffin-based nanocomposites for thermal energy storage
From Journal of Energy Storage:
• Experimental analysis of a car incorporating phase change material
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 800 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 Shriram Radhakrishnan, thermal engineer at Concept Group Inc., Jupiter, Fla.; Lisa Seward, Web and marketing engineer at Crystal Air Ltd., Ireland; Liz Zhang, product manager at Shanghai Lizoo Commodity Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China; and Alberto Sánchez, chemical engineer and computational fluid dynamics expert, Zaragoza, Spain.
Tanya Agarwal, a research assistant at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, has started a discussion of sugar alcohols. She writes:
“I am working with thermal conductivity measurement on sugar alcohols. I am working with Laser flash and I am facing some problems. If somebody has some experience with these materials or this technique before, please let me know.”