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NEW PRODUCTS
Around the world in 80 days
The Storm Pulse, developed by a team at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, is not the world’s first electric motorcycle. What sets it apart is its range: 500 kilometers a day, thanks to swappable 28.5 kWh lithium-ion battery packs cooled by phase change material. On Aug. 14, the bike will begin an around-the-world tour, across Europe, Asia and the United States, with a goal of returning to Eindhoven in 80 days. The latest prototype, which has a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph), will be officially unveiled next week.
‘The ultimate’ cooling coaster for your beer
Two Hungarians, Viktor Kurucz and Zsombor Kaló, have developed a PCM-based aluminum-and-plastic coaster designed to keep canned beer cold. They hope to raise $25,000 on Indiegogo to refine the BoozePad and take it to market. Backers can pony up $10 for a single coaster, $25 for a set of three or $165 for an 18-pack “BBQ Party Set.” Delivery is scheduled for October 2016. 
Colorful necklace is designed to beat the heat
Sam White, co-founder of Promethean Power Systems, which makes a PCM-powered milk chiller, has found another use for phase change material. He and his wife, Jessica Harder, have developed a cooling necklace designed to keep wearers comfortable and looking good. The couple raised $15,000 in a Kickstarter campaign last year. The Nano-Ice necklaces sell for about $40 online and through retail shops in the Boston area.
PATENTS
Heating a sports device with phase change material
U.S. patent application 20160193514 (inventor Robert Marc Goldberg, Fayetteville, N.Y.):
“A sports device configured to generate thermal energy to warm surfaces. In one implementation, the sports device embodies a lacrosse stick with a shaft and head. The shaft includes a thermal core with a phase change material that can retain and dissipate heat over an extended period of time. … Exemplary compositions may include “phase change materials” that are organic (e.g., beeswax, paraffin, fatty acids, etc.) and/or inorganic (e.g., salt hydrates, etc.).”
Systems and methods for thermophotovoltaics with storage
U.S. patent application 20160197574 (applicant Georgia Tech Research Corp.):
“Systems and methods for thermophotovoltaics with storage are disclosed. In one embodiment, includes a heat generating device configured to generate heat for a heat transfer fluid and a thermal storage device configured to receive the heat transfer fluid from the heat generating device via fluid delivery devices and cause, by the heat of the heat transfer fluid, a thermal storage material to store at least a portion of the heat of the heat transfer fluid.”
Heat battery assemblies and monitoring system
U.S. patent application 20160195340 (applicant SunAmp Ltd., Great Britain):
“There are herein described energy storage systems. More particularly there are provided thermal energy storage systems comprising battery assemblies containing phase change materials and a monitoring system therefor. In addition there are provided thermal stores comprising battery assemblies having integral control means for management of the thermal energy provided by the battery assembly.”
Cooling unit with phase change material
U.S. patent application 20160195320 (applicant Yandex Europe AG, Switzerland):
“The cooling system comprises a main cooling unit and a main chilling unit in fluid communication with a heat exchanger, the main chilling unit being configured to cool a liquid coolant for use with the heat exchanger. The cooling system further comprises a back-up cooling unit that includes a cooling reservoir including a plurality of small-sized self-contained cooling accumulators. … [T]he plurality of small-sized self-contained cooling accumulators house a phase change material.”
IN BRIEF
• Lanetra Tate, program executive for NASA’s Game Changing Development Program, will be among the speakers at the agency’s media teleconference next week. She will highlight how a phase change material heat exchanger could help maintain critical temperatures inside a spacecraft by freezing or thawing a material. The device is one of several research experiments headed to the International Space Station later this month aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
• Wisconsin trucking companies are eligible to apply for cost-sharing funds through the state’s Diesel Truck Idling Reduction Grant Program. The program provides reimbursement of up to 50 percent of the cost of idling-reduction equipment for heavy-duty diesel truck-tractors. Eligible technologies include auxiliary power units, battery-powered units and thermal storage systems.
• CALMAC‘s IceBank system is featured in a Forbes.com article this week: “Fighting Air Conditioning’s Peak Demand With Thermal Energy Storage.”
• Under pressure from trade groups, France’s National Assembly has voted to drop a proposed tax on palm oil.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer:• High performance form-stable expanded graphite/stearic acid composite phase change material for modular thermal energy storage
From Applied Thermal Engineering:
• Heat transfer performance of paraffin wax based phase change materials applicable in building industry
• Thermal energy storage using chloride salts and their eutectics
• Preparation of Aerogel-Eicosane Microparticles for Thermoregulatory Coating on Textile
• Solar air heater with phase change material: An energy analysis and a comparative study
From Solar Energy:
• Thermal and electrical performance of an integrated PV-PCM system in double skin façades: A numerical study
From Applied Energy:
• Effects of PCM thermophysical properties on thermal storage performance of a shell-and-tube latent heat storage unit
• Experimental characterization and simulation of a fin-tube latent heat storage using high density polyethylene as PCM
• Thermal performance of a window shutter containing PCM: Numerical validation and experimental analysis
From Cement and Concrete Composites:
• The influence of microencapsulated phase change material (PCM) characteristics on the microstructure and strength of cementitious composites: Experiments and finite element simulations
From Procedia Engineering:
• Thermal Performance of New Hybrid Solar Energy-phase Change Storage-floor Radiant Heating System
• Study on Heat-moisture Treatment of Near Space Crew Capsule Based on Phase Change Material
• Research on U-tube Heat Exchanger with Shape-stabilized Phase Change Backfill Material
From Energy and Buildings:
• Energy saving potential of a novel phase change material wallboard in typical climate regions of China
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 Virginia Vasile, a Ph.D. student at INSA de Lyon, France; Sarawut Luengcharasrung, sales and marketing manager at BASF, Bangkok, Thailand; and Anthony Bunbury, thermal engineer at Airbus Defence and Space, London.
YOUR TURN
Wanted: News tips about PCMs and thermal energy storageDoes your company, agency or university have a job opening, new research, new product or other news you’d like to share with more than 790 newsletter readers? We would love to hear from you. Please contact Ben Welter of Entropy Solutions at bwelter@puretemp.com.