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
• Christoph Rathgeber of ZAE Bayern and Michael Andretzky of the University of Duisburg-Essen are among the speakers at next week’s Thermal Energy Storage Forum in Dusseldorf, Germany. The forum will focus on the use of thermal storage in industrial processes. Rathgeber’s topic is “Economy of thermal energy storage.” Andretzky’s topic: “PCM in buffer tank for CHPs.”
• Another frosty gem from Physics Today: “Bubbles freeze in a swirl of ice crystals“
• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has launched an electric thermal energy storage system designed to store large quantities of energy cost-effectively. The pilot plant in Hamburg can store up to 130 MWh of thermal energy for a week. It uses a steam turbine to convert stored energy into electricity.
• CIC Energigune, a thermal energy storage research center in Spain’s Basque Country, has joined the ALISTORE-ERI network. The European network brings together 20 research centers and 12 companies engaged in advanced energy storage research.
• Viking Cold Solutions of Houston has made Food Logistics‘ list of Top Green Providers 2019. Viking was honored in two categories, refrigeration and alternative fuels & energy. The company says its PCM-based thermal storage system, designed for use in cold storage facilities, can reduce energy consumption by more than 25 percent.
• Cryopak, a maker of insulated shipping containers, gel packs and phase change materials, says it is taking steps toward reducing its carbon footprint with the launch of a new line of shipping solutions. The company, based in Edison, N.J. says its R3 Service Program “minimizes the need for insulation materials, phase change solutions, bottles and their necessary disposal by handling the coordination of container delivery, reverse logistics and required refurbishment.”
• Sonoco ThermoSafe has an opening for a sales manager with “experience in strategic selling across Europe.”
PATENTS
3-D electronic structure with integrated phase-change cooling
U.S. patent application 20190191589 (applicant Google LLC, Mountain View, Calif.):
“This document describes techniques for implementing phase-change cooling in a three-dimensional structure. A three-dimensional structure having three-dimensional curvatures is fabricated to include a phase-change chamber with a fluid in a saturated thermodynamic state. As part of fabrication, specific mechanisms may be included that create a thermo-mechanical network that improves thermal performance of the phase-change chamber and also provides structural integrity to the three-dimensional structure. … Structures housing heat-producing components, such as a virtual reality headset, a personal assistant/smart speaker, a smartphone, or gaming controller, are often shaped with complex, three-dimensional curvatures. As part of manufacturing such a structure and using specific techniques, phase-change mechanisms using a phase-change material (PCM) may be integrated as part of the structure, improving thermal control over the electronic system that might otherwise rely on convection or conduction based mechanisms.”
Thermally conductive apparel
U.S. patent application 20190184673 (applicant VF Jeanswear LP, Greensboro, N.C.):
“Provided are garments that comprise thermally-conductive materials, the materials comprising a heat-collecting coating disposed on a fibrous base material having a thermally-conductive additive dispersed within. … The disclosed garments can include a PCM disposed on and/or in a portion of the garment. Such a PCM can provide an improved moisture management or thermal management benefit to the overall garment.”
Thermal energy apparatus
U.S. patent application 20190189882 (applicant Boeing Co., Chicago, Ill.):
“An energy harvesting apparatus may include a thermoelectric device, a heat exchanger coupled to the thermoelectric device, a thermal capacitor container, and a thermal capacitor generation device. The thermal capacitor generation device may be configured to generate a thermal capacitor fluid, to be contained in the thermal capacitor container. An electrical energy storage device may be electrically connected to the thermoelectric device, to store electricity generated by the thermoelectric device.”
Latent heat storage device
U.S. patent application 20190186844 (applicant Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Japan):
“A latent heat storage device includes: a heat transfer cylindrical body allowing a flow of a heat medium inside thereof and being rotatable about a longitudinal axis as a center of rotation; a fixed blade being adjacent to or in a slidable contact with an outer peripheral surface of the heat transfer cylindrical body; and a latent heat storage material disposed around the heat transfer cylindrical body, wherein by rotation of the heat transfer cylindrical body, the fixed blade scrapes a solidified body of the latent heat storage material adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the heat transfer cylindrical body off the outer peripheral surface of the heat transfer cylindrical body, and creates circulation of the latent heat storage material.”
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Renewable Energy:• A N-octadecane/hierarchically Porous TiO2 Form-Stable PCM for Thermal Energy Storage
• Application of environmental friendly and eutectic phase change materials for the efficiency enhancement of household freezers
From International Journal of Energy Research:
• Hybrid solar parabolic dish power plant and high‐temperature phase change material energy storage system
From Journal of Applied Polymer Science:
• Thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of polyethylene glycol/quartz composites for phase change materials
From Journal of Cleaner Production:
• Using fuzzy clustering and weighted cumulative probability distribution techniques for optimal design of phase change material thermal energy storage
From Construction and Building Materials:
• Thermoregulation effect analysis of microencapsulated phase change thermoregulation agent for asphalt pavement
From Applied Energy:
• Residential cooling using separated and coupled precooling and thermal energy storage strategies
From International Journal of Refrigeration:
• Phase Change Materials embedded in porous matrices for hybrid thermal energy storages: experimental results and modelling
From Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells:
• Preparation and thermal energy storage properties of erythritol/polyaniline form-stable phase change material
• A novel bio-based polyurethane/wood powder composite as shape-stable phase change material with high relative enthalpy efficiency for solar thermal energy storage
From Journal of Energy Storage:
• Exergy and energy comparison of organic phase change materials based thermal energy storage system integrated with engine exhaust
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 1,450 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 Philip Brown, mechanical design engineer at Tesla, San Francisco; Veronica Zerpa, assistant project manager at Comet Technology, Barcelona, Spain; and Matt Smith, program manager for the Emerging Technologies Energy Efficiency Program at San Diego Gas & Electric, San Diego.