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MARKET RESEARCH
Strong growth projected for global PCM market through 2022
The global demand for advanced phase change materials, estimated to be $235.3 million in 2016, is expected to reach $638.7 million by 2022, according to the research firm MarketsandMarkets. The five-year compound annual growth rate, 17.66 percent, is lower than the 19.9 percent CAGR projected by Mordor Intelligence earlier this year.
According to the MarketsandMarkets report:
“The inorganic PCM segment accounts for the largest share among all type segments. The market for inorganic PCM is estimated to grow owing to the increasing usage in various applications due to its good thermal conductivity, high latent heat of fusion, non-flammability, and low cost. Inorganic PCM finds usage in various applications such as TES, cold chain & packaging, HVAC, and refrigeration & equipment.
“The building & construction application segment is expected to be the largest application segment of this market, owing to the stringent regulations regarding greenhouse gas emissions and increasing investments in net-zero energy or low carbon buildings in region such as Europe and North America. In addition, the growing demand for green buildings and presence of stringent building codes in region such as North America and Europe boost the PCM market in building & construction application.”
ENERGY STORAGE
Ohio company wins grant to develop geothermal energy storage with PCM
Melink Corp. of Milford, Ohio, is one of 13 small companies to receive a share of $4.5 million in grants recently announced by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The grants are funded through the department’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. The 13 companies are receiving the funding to develop “energy-efficient technologies in the buildings sector with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation.”
Melink, a global provider of energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for the commercial building industry, added a new division in April to serve the geothermal heating, ventilation and air conditioning market. Melink received its grant to explore the development of geothermal seasonal energy storage based on phase change materials that could “dramatically lower the cost of storing energy.”
PACKAGING
From Italy to Singapore by bicycle, with a little help from PCM
They made it! The Italian couple who embarked on a 17,550-kilometer bicycle trek last June arrived in Singapore last week. Chiara Ricciardi and Riccardo Rocchi began the yearlong journey, dubbed “Piece of Cake,” to raise awareness about diabetes. Ricciardi has type 1 diabetes and requires a daily dose of insulin. She used Pelican BioThermal‘s Credo ProMed pack to keep insulin at the right temperature.
Their latest Facebook post: “385 days. 21 countries. Bottom line: with type 1 diabetes, you can do it. But also … We’ve learned that the world is a better place than they say, people help and help you. … The engine is overrated, time is the biggest luxury of the 21st century.”
PATENTS
Facial massaging mask with PCM
U.S. patent application 20170181924 (applicant HCT Group Holdings Ltd., China):
“A facial massage device configured to be positioned on a human face may include a plurality of layers. An intermediate portion may be disposed between an outer cover and an inner liner. The intermediate portion may include a plurality of individually actuatable massage elements. In some cases, the individually actuatable massage elements may be pneumatically actuated. In other cases, the individually actuatable massage elements may be mechanically actuated. … [T]he inner liner may be formed of a foam or gel material … [that] may include phase change materials which are useful in conveying the cooling sensation, since phase change materials, by definition absorb heat energy when changing phases.”
Automobile interior temperature stabilizer
U.S. patent application 20170184348 (inventor Roger Li-chung Wu, West Covina, Calif.):
“An automobile interior temperature stabilizer includes a holder adapted for placing within a vehicle cabin and a temperature stabilizing member which is made of latent heat material that absorbs and releases heat without rising in its temperature and is disposed in the holder, wherein the temperature stabilizing member has a threshold temperature range that the temperature stabilizing member is arranged for absorbing cabin heat within the vehicle cabin to cool down the vehicle cabin when an interior temperature of the vehicle is higher than the threshold temperature range, and the temperature stabilizing member is arranged for releasing stored heat to the vehicle cabin to warm the vehicle cabin when an interior temperature of the vehicle is lower than the threshold temperature range. … The temperature stabilizing member, which is made of phase change material (PCM), will collect heat during the day (high temperature), and will release heat at night (low temperature) to provide an optimal cabin temperature, resulting in energy efficiency and cost saving.”
IN BRIEF
• Team Sky cyclists competing in this year’s Tour de France are using Inuteq‘s Siku vest to cool down after each stage. The Dutch company’s hybrid vest combines PCM and evaporative cooling technologies. Inuteq says it is supplying its cooling products to two other teams: Bahrain Merida and Cannondale Drapac.
• Calmac, the New Jersey company whose thermal energy storage tanks help cool more than more than 4,500 buildings worldwide, including the corporate headquarters of JC Penney, Marriott and Google, was profiled in Inc. magazine last week.
• Ember Technologies’ temperature-controlled mug is a finalist in the 2017 International Design Excellence Awards in the Kitchen & Accessories category. The winners will be announced Aug. 16 at the International Designers Society of America conference in Atlanta.
• Cleanergy AB of Sweden has signed an agreement to deploy a 200-MW concentrating solar energy project in China. A Cleanergy spokeswoman confirmed that phase change material will be used in the CSP project’s thermal storage system but declined to provide details about the PCM.
• Midsize energy and chemical companies are among the least prepared for the disruption that technological innovation and other changes will bring, a new report from Capital One Commercial Bank says.
• A U.S. House appropriations subcommittee last week advanced a bill that would impose deep cuts in renewable energy and efficiency programs at the Department of Energy and eliminate the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, ARPA-E.
• ASHRAE has announced the formation of a new ASHRAE Region in Europe and strategic partnerships with two European organizations: the UK-based Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and the Belgium-based Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Associations.
• PCM will be among the topics at the 3rd International Conference: Innovative Materials and Smart Technologies for Environmental Safety. The conference will take place Sept. 27-29 in Latvia. The student conference includes a lecture titled “Heat Transfer Enhancement in Phase-Change Materials” by Dr. Gennady Ziskind, professor of mechanical engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
• BASF, Cargill, Procter & Gamble and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH have joined together in a development partnership to help establish a sustainable certified and transparent supply chain of coconut oil in the Philippines and Indonesia.
• New from Zion Market Research: “Temperature Controlled Packaging Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecasts 2016–2024”
• Bio-Based World News reports that the biobased sector of Finland’s economy is now worth 60 billion euros. About 60 percent of the sector is rooted in the country’s forest industry.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering:• INPATH-TES: Innovative pathways to PhD research in thermal energy storage
From Waste Management:
• Application of high temperature phase change materials for improved efficiency in waste-to-energy plants
From Journal of Building Engineering:
• Experimental investigation and EnergyPlus-based model prediction of thermal behavior of building containing phase change material
From International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology:
• Simulation of Melting Process of a Phase Change Material (PCM) using ANSYS (Fluent) [pdf]
From International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer:
• Effect of temperature and graphite particle fillers on thermal conductivity and viscosity of phase change material n-eicosane
From Journal of Materials Chemistry A:
• Synthesis of three-dimensional graphene aerogel encapsulating n-octadecane for enhancing phase-change behavior and thermal conductivity
• Enhanced Specific Heat Capacity of Binary Chloride Salt by Dissolving Magnesium for High-temperature Thermal Energy Storage and Transfer
From Solar Materials and Solar Cells:
• Thermal stability of sodium nitrate microcapsules for high-temperature thermal energy storage
From Journal of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer:
• Phase change materials to meet domestic space heating demand in the UK – A numerical study
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 1,100 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 include Hassan Nazir, a graduate student at Arizona State University, Machiel van Ingen, commercial executive at Janex S.A., Brussels, Belgium; and Alex Zeng, sales/buyer, Janex S.A., Shanghai, China.