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.
BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION
Qatar sticks with cooling technology for World Cup stadiums
Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup hinged partly on the promise of a pioneering method for cooling stadiums in the tiny emirate’s searing summer heat, which can get close to 50º Celsius in June. A 500-seat prototype showed how solar power, chillers and phase change material could be combined to chill and store water to cool stadium air and keep temperatures below 27º C on the field.
Observers were skeptical of the solution, and this week a FIFA task force recommended moving the international soccer tournament to November-December 2022. The panel cited the “consistently hot conditions” that prevail in the desert peninsula.
FIFA is expected to approve the move. Still, organizers say they’re going ahead with the cooling plan, which has been criticized as too ambitious, too expensive and “not good from a long-term sustainability point of view.”
BEDDING
Bed show buzz: Temperature-regulating foams and fibers
In its recap of last month’s bedding trade show in Las Vegas, BedTimes magazine highlights two PCM-related “megatrends”:
“Foam wave. The swelling popularity of foam components in all feels—often with poured gel and other temperature-regulating ingredients, cuts, contours, processes and treatments—cannot be overstated. Period.”
“Yarns and fibers at the forefront. Many accessories and mattress fabrics contained viscose yarns that vendors sang the praises of—from ‘cooling’ to ‘antibacterial.’ Merino and other wools, organic cotton and other natural fibers had a strong showing among pillow and quilt fills. Other linens and accessories moved in the opposite direction—think polyester ‘performance fibers.’ “
SOFTWARE
New BASF app calculates impact of PCM use in buildings
BASF has just launched an Android app to help architects, engineers and investors assess the impact of phase change materials on a building’s cooling load. The free app, which also includes tips for PCM users and links to industry research, calculates potential energy savings based on building materials that incorporate BASF’s Micronal phase change material. According to the app description in Google’s Play Store:
“Just enter the cooling load of a building conventionally calculated according to VDI 2078. After entering some additional data on the building situation and the desired PCM building material, you are provided with a figure which is a reduction factor for this cooling load, optimized for the application in question. This reduction factor is calculated on the basis of forecast dynamic simulations in standard rooms and applies the user’s data to a suitable reference building, extrapolating it to the actual construction project in question.
“The app also takes economic efficiency into account and shows the user the break-even point when the costs required for buying and installing the PCM construction material have been covered by savings in facility investments and energy.”
PATENT APPLICATIONS
Heat recovery system incorporating PCMs
U.S. patent application 20150047579: “A heat recovery system arranged to heat water includes at least one heat exchanger arranged to heat water by heat exchange with waste heat. … A preferred type of heat storage unit for this aspect of the invention are those containing phase change materials in order to access the latent heat associated with phase change.”
Composite construction panels and applications
U.S. patent application 20150056404 (assignee Phase Change Energy Solutions Inc.): “In some embodiments, a composite construction panel comprises a substrate layer, a cover layer separated from the substrate layer by one or more spacers, and at least one mat disposed between the substrate layer and the cover layer, wherein the mat comprises at least one phase change material disposed in at least one phase change region.”
ACADEMIC R&D
3 Illinois Tech undergrads to work on hybrid thermal battery system
Nineteen undergrads at the Illinois Institute of Technology have been accepted into the school’s Armour R&D Program this spring. The program offers engineering students a chance to gain research and development experience.
Three of the students – Hanyue Li, Yifan Li and Shihan Tian – will work on a hybrid battery thermal management system using phase change materials and natural air-cooling. They will be mentored by Francisco Ruiz, an associate professor in the school’s Armour College of Engineering.
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE
Innostorage training session to focus on numerical modeling
Innostorage, an international research project aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low-cost thermal energy storage, is offering a training session on numerical modeling. Participants will gather June 15-17 at the University of Lyon, France, to discuss their own ideas and hear lectures by Dr. Gennady Ziskind of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Dr. Albert Castell of the University of Lleida, Spain, and other experts in thermal energy storage and phase change materials.
Universities to develop joint Ph.D. program on thermal energy storage
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program to create a network of universities and research institutes to implement a joint Ph.D. program on thermal energy storage. Partners include Trinity College Dublin, Technical University of Eindhoven, University of Ghent, Warsaw University of Technology, Abengoa Research and KIC InnoEnergy. The program will focus on these technologies:
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
From Energy and Buildings:
From International Journal of Thermophysics:
From Energy:
From Solar Energy:
From Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells:
From Materials Letters:
From International Journal of Energy Research:
From International Journal of Thermal Sciences:
From Nano Energy:
From Energy and Power Engineering:
JOB OPENING
Operations Manager at Entropy Solutions’ R&D lab in Alabama
Entropy Solutions, maker of PureTemp, the world’s first 100 percent renewable phase change material, is accepting applications for the position of Operations Manager at the company’s research and development lab in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Working closely with our team of top-notch scientists, the Operations Manager will help direct a wide range of project- and infrastructure-related initiatives.
YOUR TURN
Got a question about PCMs or TES? Ask our expert
Dr. Mohammed Farid, an Entropy Solutions advisor and professor of chemical and materials engineering at the University of Auckland, has agreed to answer your questions about phase change material and thermal energy storage. We’ll select the best questions sent to inquiries@entropysolutionsinc.com and post the answers here each Friday.
What do you think of our newsletter?
We’re working to make Phase Changes Matters the industry’s most comprehensive source for news and information on phase change materials and thermal energy storage. We’d love to hear from you. Is the academic research roundup useful? How about the links to case studies? Market research? New products? Company news? Job openings? Training opportunities? And just as important: What important topics have we failed to cover?
Don’t be shy: Drop us a line at inquiries@entropysolutionsinc.com and let us know what you think.