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Phase Change Matters Newsletter Sept 20 2019

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.

PATENTS

Reduced permeability microcapsules

U.S. patent application 20190275490 (applicant Trucapsol LLC, Bethlehem, Penn.):

Trucapsol patent drawing“Disclosed is a composition including controlled release particles, wherein each of the controlled release particles includes: (a) a core including at least one hydrophobic active ingredient; and (b) a wall at least partially surrounding the core and including: (i) an outer layer including a copolymer of polyacrylamide and polyacrylate; (ii) an intermediate layer under the outer layer and including a polyurea; (iii) an inner layer under the intermediate layer and including an acrylate copolymer; and optionally (iv) an optional outer layer above the outer layer and including a quaternary amine containing moiety, wherein the inner layer is a mesh and the controlled release particles are effective to retain the at least one hydrophobic active ingredient upon exposure to water and effective to release the at least one hydrophobic active ingredient in response to friction. A method for preparing the composition is also disclosed.”

Battery-cooling heat sink provided with PCM capsule

U.S. patent application 20190288351 (applicant LG Chem Ltd., Seoul, South Korea):

“A battery module including a battery-cooling heat sink having a PCM capsule. The battery-cooling heat sink provides a uniform temperature of a cooling fluid flowing through the battery module using a PCM capsule, minimizes a temperature variation of the cooling fluid over the entire area of the heat sink formed in the battery module, and prevents the temperature at a cooling fluid outlet of the heat sink from being higher than that of a cooling fluid inlet.”

Method and apparatus for transporting temperature sensitive products

U.S. patent application 20190285328 (applicant Illuminate Consulting LLC, Tampa, Florida):

“Embodiments of the subject invention relate to a method and apparatus for thermally protecting a product, such as when storing and/or shipping a product, so as to control the temperatures the products are exposed to. Embodiments can [increase] the amount of time the product and/or portions of the product experience a desired temperature range and/or reduce the amount of time the product and/or portions of the product experience temperatures outside of the desired temperature range and/or experience an undesirable temperature range. Embodiments can incorporate thermally conductive materials, such as aluminum sheets, positioned around and/or near the product positioned inside a packaging container, such that the conductive materials conduct heat from one or more locations in the interior of the package to one or more other locations in the interior of the package.”

Noninvasive thermal stimuli for treatment of migraine

Migraine treatment patent drawingU.S. patent application 20190275287 (applicant University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Penn.):

“Methods, systems and devices for treating headaches, including migraines. In some variations these methods may include enhancing sleep, including enhancing the quality of sleep, reducing sleep onset time, increasing total sleep time, treating insomnia, and/or treating other neurological disorders by non-invasive temperature regulation of the frontal cortex prior to and/or during sleep. … Treatment may be accomplished by sustained thermal regulation (warming or cooling) in an appropriate therapeutic range and time using one or more phase change materials.”

IN BRIEF

Viking Cold Solutions is a finalist for an Energy Storage of North America Innovation Award. The behind-the-meter thermal energy storage systems up for the award are part of an Eversource demand management program in Massachusetts. 

A thermal storage project in Northamptonshire, England, is expected to provide 47 new homes with hot water and heat via renewable energy sources such as solar power. The borehole technology, developed by Caplin Solar of Leicester, stores heat in the ground in warmer months for later use in colder periods.

• Packaging giant Sonoco of Hartsville, S.C., has announced the creation of its EnviroSense sustainable packaging initiative. EnviroSense products are designed to incorporate a number of elements associated with more sustainable packaging, including optimized package-to-product ratio; increased use of recycled and recyclable content; fiber sourcing; compostability; and the use of bio-based materials.

• Registration is open for Sonoco ThermoSafe‘s next Leading Minds Seminar, “Collaborative Learning that FUELS Your Temperature Sensitive Healthcare Products,” to be held Nov. 14 in Amsterdam. The seminar is designed for European supply chain, logistics, quality and packaging professionals responsible for the protection and management of temperature sensitive healthcare clinical supplies and finished products. 

Hydrostor, a Canadian developer of advanced compressed air energy storage projects, has announced the closing of $37 million (USD) in growth financing. Hydrostor has three projects in operation or under construction in Canada and Australia 

• A projected tripling of heat-related deaths in the United Kingdom over the next 30 years will require a drastic rethinking of ways to cool buildings, a parliamentary select committee warns. “The risk of overheating in terms of minimising risks to health and safety of occupants should be enshrined into regulations for new build homes and retrofits,” the Environmental Audit Committee said. “This should be considered alongside an integrated review of energy efficiency and ventilation, and be included in the government’s planned Future Homes Standard, to include improvement in the measurement of current and future overheating risk and prioritise passive cooling measures.”

• The most entertaining obituary of a self-taught chemist you will read this month. Rest in peace, Joe Heller.

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 Energy Research:

Facile functionalized mesoporous silica using biomimetic method as new matrix for preparation of shape‐stabilized phase‐change material with improved enthalpy
Binary mixtures of fatty alcohols and fatty acid esters as novel solid‐liquid phase change materials

From Journal of Applied Polymer Science:

Phase change material with flexible crosslinking for thermal energy storage

From Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry:

Nanoencapsulation of oleic acid phase change material with Ag2O nanoparticles-based urea formaldehyde shell for building thermal energy storage

From Renewable Energy:

Enhanced properties of diatomite-based composite phase change materials for thermal energy storage

From Energy:

Perspectives for short-term thermal energy storage using salt hydrates for building heating
Design and construction of mesoporous silica/n-eicosane phase-change nanocomposites for supercooling depression and heat transfer enhancement
Numerical investigations on performance of phase change material Trombe wall in building

From Energy and Buildings:

Potential of energy flexible buildings: evaluation of DSM strategies using building thermal mass
Numerical analysis in a full-scale thermal energy storage tank with dual PCM capsules

From Applied Thermal Engineering:

Experimental determination and fractal modeling of the effective thermal conductivity of autoclave aerated concrete (AAC) impregnated with paraffin for improved thermal storage performance
Preparation and characterization of new nano-particle mixed as thermal storage material
Numerical investigation on integrated thermal management for a lithium-ion battery module with a composite phase change material and liquid cooling

From Chemical Engineering Journal:

Fatty Amines/Graphene Sponge Form-Stable Phase Change Material Composites with Exceptionally High Loading Rates and Energy Density for Thermal Energy Storage

From MATEC Web of Conferences:

Thermal conductivity of aerated concrete (AC) composites containing micro-encapsulated phase change materials [pdf]
Overheating mitigation in buildings: a computational exploration of the potential of phase change materials [pdf]

From Solar Energy:

Experimental study on the thermal performance of capric acid-myristyl alcohol/expanded perlite composite phase change materials for thermal energy storage

From Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells:

Graphitization as efficient inhibitor of the carbon steel corrosion by molten binary nitrate salt for thermal energy storage at concentrated solar power
A strategy for designing microencapsulated composite phase change thermal storage materials with tunable melting temperature

From Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers 2019 Summer Conference:

Thermal Management System in Electric vehicle Battery Pack Using Phase Change Material

From Materials Chemistry and Physics:

Preparation and thermal properties of n-eicosane/nano-SiO2/expanded graphite composite phase-change material for thermal energy storage

From Sustainable Cities and Society:

Simulative optimization on energy saving performance of phase change panels with different phase transition temperatures

From Thermochimica Acta:

The stability and thermophysical properties of a thermal fluid containing surface-functionalized nanoencapsulated PCM

From International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer:

Functionalized mesoporous silica as matrix for shape-stabilized phase change materials

From Applied Energy:

Synthesis and characterization of microencapsulated sodium sulfate decahydrate as phase change energy storage materials

From Energy Conversion and Management:

Prototype latent heat storage system with aluminum-silicon as a phase change material and a Stirling engine for electricity generation

From Journal of Solar Energy Engineering:

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Modeling of Room Temperature Control in Buildings by the Implementation of Phase Change Material in the Roof
Suitability Assessment and Experimental Characterization of Phase Change Materials for Energy Conservation in Indian Buildings

NETWORKING

Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn

LinkedIn logoMore than 1,500 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 Mahya Nikoonahad, a student at Tarbiat Modares University, Iran; Srinivas G.N., a graduate student at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India; and Avinash Verma, general manager, India and United Arab Emirates, at EMBALL’ISO, Mumbai, India.