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COMPANY NEWS
Axiotherm joins RAL Quality Association PCM
Axiotherm GmbH of Germany has joined the RAL Quality Association PCM, a European-based organization established in 2004 to develop standards for the phase change material industry.
Axiotherm, a subsidiary of ESDA Technologie GmbH, specializes in developing macro-encapsulation of phase change materials for various applications. The company’s HeatSel capsule, for example, is designed to increase the capacity of water-based heat and cold storage systems.
Dirk Büttner, Axiotherm’s chief research officer, said the European Commission recently recognized HeatSel’s market potential.
“Out of 135 applications in the Horizon 2020 SME’s energy category, the Hi-ThermCap project proposal was rated with the highest score and thus ranks first among the most innovative ideas in Europe,” said Büttner, right. “Within the scope of the project Axiotherm is now also striving for validation by an external testing of their products performed by one of the association’s monitoring institutes, ZAE or ISE.”
Croda International, which is working with Axiotherm on thermal energy storage applications, is also a member of the association. Other members are Microtek Laboratories, Rubitherm, EMCO, va-Q-tec, PCM Technology, Global Energy Systems Europe, Sasol, Sunamp Ltd., Pluss Advanced Technologies and Entropy Solutions.
The association held its semiannual meeting in Düsseldorf, Germany, on Thursday. Crystal Air PCM Ltd. was invited as a guest but had to cancel because of severe weather in Ireland. The company will be invited to make a presentation at RAL’s next meeting, scheduled for Nov. 15, 2018, in Düsseldorf.
BUILDING | CONSTRUCTION
For Melbourne family, PCM ceiling mats ‘worth the investment’
A recent two-story addition to a bungalow in suburban Melbourne, Australia, uses bio-based phase change material as a lightweight alternative to thermal mass.
Phase Change Energy Solutions’ BioPCM mats containing about 270 kilograms of phase change material were installed above the ceilings, according to architect Penny Guild of Guild Architects. The PCM has a melting point of 24 degrees C. In an e-mail interview, Guild answered questions about the Playtime House project.
Q: What are the projected energy savings related to PCM use in this project?
A: “We didn’t do any specific calculations, but the manufacturer claims between 40 to 80 percent saving in energy bills. The amount of PCM that was put in the project equates to 10kw hours.”
Q: Have you worked with PCM products in the past? Are there plans to use PCM in future projects?
A: “It’s relatively new for the residential market in Australia so I haven’t used it before. The upfront costs are reasonably high, and being a new product there’s not many people that potential clients can turn for advice on its effectiveness. They can’t just ask a friend ‘did you think the PCM was good value in your house’ because no one else has used it. The clients on this project had a high degree of environmental consciousness and both had a science background of some sort (doctor and teacher) and they felt confidant enough it was worth the investment. As the project was an extension above an existing structure adding traditional heavy mass materials was basically impossible which is where the PCM came in.”
IN BRIEF
• The 2nd symposium on the use of PCM in buildings will take place March 14-15 in Würzburg, Germany. It is part of the demonstration project PCM Demo II. The free event is aimed at specialists and decision makers who would like to get informed about the topic, such as architects, planners, building physicists, energy consultants, municipalities and building cooperatives. Thomas Wollheim of va-Q-tec AG, Thomas Haussmann of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Felix Klinker of ZAE Bayern and Felix Pawelz of Rubitherm are among the scheduled speakers.
• Outlast Technologies of Golden, Colo., will be among the exhibitors at the International Battery Seminar & Exhibit March 27-29 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Outlast is using LinkedIn to showcase Outlast partners and their newest products. First up: Betabrand‘s Microclimate Office Wrap, a lightweight cardigan-style wrap designed to regulate body temperature “for all-day comfort.”
• The environmental group CDP reports that more than 100 cities worldwide now get the majority of their power (70 percent or more) from renewables. And a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency confirms the potential for increased use of renewable energy in Europe’s heating and cooling sector.
• New from Coherent Market Insights: “Chilled Water Storage Systems by Market … Opportunity Analysis, 2017-2025“
• New from Global Market Insights: “Phase Change Materials Market Size By Product (Paraffin, Non-Paraffin, Salt Hydrates, Eutectics) … Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017-2024“
• CIC Energigune, an energy research center in Spain’s Basque Country, is looking to fill a post-doctoral position in its Thermal Energy Storage group. The selected candidate will focus on the development of advanced PCMs tailored for TES applications at low to medium temperatures, including solid-solid PCMs, shape-stabilized PCMs and encapsulated PCMs.
• In an Accenture survey of 360 chemical companies in 12 countries, 80 percent of respondents said they are increasing their investments in digital technologies for plants, in particular plant management and product quality.
• The final agenda has been released for the ARPA-E Summit in Washington, D.C., March 13-15. U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is among the speakers. Also on tap: A discussion of “High Power Systems and Thermal Management Challenges in Defense” and a demonstration of an “Additively Manufactured Record High Thermal Conductivity Polymer Composite Heat Exchanger.”
• Two Fraunhofer CSE projects, SunDial and Energy Storage Integration Lab, were on display Friday at the MIT Energy Conference Showcase in Cambridge, Mass. SunDial is an energy storage and distribution management system. The ESI Lab simulates a connected home of the future with a range of electric devices, including rooftop solar, energy storage, smart loads and EV charging.
• Leaving the North American Free Trade Agreement could cost the United States $22 billion in lost chemical exports and create a tariff burden of up to $9 billion, the American Chemistry Council says.
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Applied Energy:• Reversible thermochromic microencapsulated phase change materials for thermal energy storage application in thermal protective clothing
• Micro encapsulated & form-stable phase change materials for high temperature thermal energy storage
• Thermal performance of an active-passive ventilation wall with phase change material in solar greenhouses
• Core-sheath structural carbon materials for integrated enhancement of thermal conductivity and capacity
• Thermal behavior of a translucent superinsulated latent heat energy storage wall in summertime
From Energy Conversion and Management:
• A novel nanosilica-enhanced phase change material with anti-leakage and anti-volume-changes properties for battery thermal management
From Materials Science Forum:
• Synthetic Comb-Like Phase-Change Material Poly(Acrylonitrile-co-Lauric Acid) Copolymer for Low Temperature Energy Management
From Journal of Applied Physics:
• Fundamental incorporation of the density change during melting of a confined phase change material
From E3S Web of Conferences:
• Preliminary investigation of thermal behaviour of PCM based latent heat thermal energy storage
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 1,200 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. New members include Giselle L. McDonough, territory manager at Saf-T-Pak/Inmark, Hanover, Md.; Gagea Alexandru Mihai, CEO and founder at Ager Instal S.r.l., Sibiu, Romania; Ivan Roubos, director at Tizzon, Maasdijk, Netherlands; and Nikolaos Stathopoulos, building/environmental physicist and post-doctoral fellow at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.