The Phase Change Matters e-mail newsletter is a weekly summary of the latest news and research on phase change materials and thermal energy storage. To subscribe, visit www.puretemp.com/subscribe. For more frequent updates, follow @puretemp on Twitter or visit the Phase Change Matters blog, www.puretemp.com/pcmatters.
IN BRIEF
• Sunamp Ltd. has signed an agreement with Chinese partner Jiangsu Gomon New Energy to move forward with manufacturing of a heat pump water heater based on Gomon heat pumps and Sunamp’s UniQ heat batteries. The two companies signed a memo of understanding earlier this year to develop the new product.
• Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of research papers, has cut off access by University of California faculty, staff and students to articles published since Jan. 1 in 2,500 Elsevier journals. UC, which paid $11 million for Elsevier subscriptions last year, ended its subscription deal with the publisher in February in a dispute over increasing fees and the principle of free access to scholarly work.
• Sonoco ThermoSafe Europe, Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom, posted openings this month for a sales manager and a lab engineer.
• Researchers at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology have developed a window film with a specially designed molecule that can capture energy from the sun’s rays and release it later as heat.
• Nominations are open for the American Oil Chemists’ Society‘s 2020 Society and Scientific Awards. Among the seven awards are the Award of Merit, which recognizes a AOCS member with a history of outstanding service to the society, and the Young Scientist Research Award, which recognizes research contributions in one of the areas represented by an AOCS division. The deadline for submitting nominations is Aug. 1.
PATENTS
Method for making PCM products and system therefor
U.S. patent application 20190217553 (inventor Peter Horwath, New London, N.C.):
“A method for processing phase change material includes providing pieces of phase change material having a transition temperature, the pieces of phase change material being in a solid phase. A medium is provided which is transformable from a liquid state to a solid state, the medium is in the liquid state and at a temperature which is below the transition temperature of the pieces of phase change material. The pieces of phase change material are combined with the medium to form a mixture. The mixture is supplied to a tool which forms a phase change material product. The medium is then transformed to the solid state.”
A passive temperature control system for transport and storage containers
U.S. patent application 20190219320 (applicant Softbox Systems Ltd., Long Crendon, Great Britain):
“The present invention relates to the field of the transportation and storage of goods and to a passive temperature control system for such a transport and storage containers. The present invention seeks to provide a system that can enable goods to be securely and reliably transported and stored for limited periods within specified temperature ranges. Pharmaceuticals, proteins, biological samples and other temperature sensitive products, including food items, are regularly shipped in containers year round and are subjected to a wide range of temperatures. Though they are shipped in insulated containers and/or climate controlled environments, the temperature stability of the shipping containers can be significantly improved by utilising suitable phase change materials in an ordered fashion. The present invention provides a simple solution to the maintenance of temperature profiles for the transport and storage of temperature sensitive products.”
Battery module, battery pack module and vehicle including battery pack
U.S. patent application 20190221901 (applicant LG Chem Ltd., Seoul, South Korea):
“A battery module includes a plurality of battery cell assemblies, each having at least one battery cell; a bottom case configured to accommodate the plurality of battery cell assemblies; an upper case mounted to an upper side of the bottom case to expose a part of an upper side, a part of a front side and a part of a rear side of adjacent battery cell assemblies of the plurality of battery cell assemblies; and a cooling unit configured to cover the exposed parts of the adjacent battery cell assemblies and having a phase change material for cooling the adjacent battery cell assemblies.”
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Journal of Applied Polymer Science:• Thermally conductive high-density polyethylene as novel phase-change material: Application-relevant long-term stability
• Reliable phase‐change polyurethane crosslinked by dynamic ionic‐bond crosslinking for thermal energy storage
From International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer:
• A molecular dynamics study of the effects of crystalline structure transition on the thermal conductivity of pentaerythritol as a solid-solid phase change material
• A comparative study of the effect of varying wall heat flux on melting characteristics of phase change material RT44HC in rectangular test cells
• High thermal response rate and super low supercooling degree microencapsulated phase change materials (MEPCM) developed by optimizing shell with various nanoparticles
From Materials Research Express:
• Evaluation of thermophysical properties of shaped inorganic hydrated salt-based phase change materials for wall energy storage
From Construction and Building Materials:
• Measurement and analysis of thermophysical parameters of the epoxy resin composites shape-stabilized phase change material
• Thermal enhanced cement-lime mortars with phase change materials (PCM), lightweight aggregate and cellulose fibers
From Energy and Buildings:
• Properties of concretes enhanced with phase change materials for building applications
From Hong Kong Polytechnic University:
• Development of encapsulation methods for organic-based phase change materials in water
From Journal of Energy Storage:
• Recent developments in the synthesis of microencapsulated and nanoencapsulated phase change materials
From Energy Conversion and Management:
• Experimental and modeling study on thermal performance of hydrated salt latent heat thermal energy storage system
From Energies:
• Thermal Response of Mortar Panels with Different Forms of Macro-Encapsulated Phase Change Materials: A Finite Element Study
From Renewable Energy:
• Influence of the location of discrete macro-encapsulated thermal energy storage on the performance of a double pass solar plate collector system
From IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science:
• Simulation and Analysis of Fuel Tank Heat Exchanger Based on Phase Change Material
• Simulation Analysis of Thermal Storage Process of Phase Change Energy Storage Materials
From Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects:
• Synthesis of organic phase change materials by using carbon nanotubes as filler material
From Processes:
• Preparation and Performance Analysis of Graphite Additive/Paraffin Composite Phase Change Materials
From International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction:
• Thermoregulating and Hydrating Microcapsules: Contributions of Textile Technology in the Design of Wearable Products for Wheelchair Dependents
From Materials Today:
• Experimental study on hybrid natural circulation type solar air heater with paraffin wax based thermal storage
From Thermal Science and Engineering Progress:
• Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Melting Characteristics of Phase Change Material-RT58
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 1,480 people 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. This week we welcome Vivek Tiwari, research scholar at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Jhujhunu, India; and Simge Özkayalar, senior textile engineer, Istanbul, Turkey.