Phase Change Matters April 19 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.

IN BRIEF

• Ice Energy of Santa Barbara, Calif., has reached distribution agreements with four California companies to sell, install and maintain its ice-based thermal storage system, the Ice Bear 20. The companies are Correy Baker Heating and Air of Murrieta; Emery Mechanical Engineering of San Diego; H3 of Santa Barbara; and SunRize Mechanical of Temecula. “This distribution network will enable us to further expand our footprint in the residential market in Southern California,” said Marcel Christians, co-COO of Ice Energy.

• Sonoco ThermoSafe and AirBridgeCargo Airlines have announced a global partnership agreement for the leasing of the PharmaPort 360 temperature-controlled shipping container. The agreement will enable pharmaceutical shippers to lease PharmaPort 360 containers directly from AirBridgeCargo.

• Thermal battery maker Sunamp Ltd. of Scotland has appointed Martin Bloom as chairman of the board. Bloom, right, has extensive experience in high-growth technology and renewable energy companies, including Chinese solar company Renesola and Loughborough-based fuel cell specialist Intelligent Energy. Bloom succeeds Sunamp’s founding chairman, Bob Pettigrew, who oversaw its early growth.

• Nominations are being accepted for the 2019 Poncelet Prize for Innovation in Microencapsulation, co-sponsored by Procter & Gamble and the Bioencapsulation Research Group. The award recognizes innovation in process design and modernization; development of new core and shell materials; innovation in characterization methods; or innovation in emerging fields of applications. The deadline for submitting nominations is May 31, 2019.

• Peli BioThermal is rebranding its Chronos temperature-controlled shippers. CoolGuard PCM will replace Chronos Express, and CoolGuard Advance will replace Chronos Advance. The CoolGuard shippers will offer configurations with fewer components and additional temperature set points, such as 16º C.

• Registration is open for “Phase Change Material & Passive Cooling in Large Venues,” a lunch-hour presentation by Henderson Engineers. The free event, sponsored by AIA Kansas City, will be held June 12 at the Center for Architecture & Design in Kansas City, Mo.

• Axiotherm GmbH‘s kraftBoxx thermal energy storage system is a finalist for a Smarter E Award in the renewable energy category. KraftBoxx is a joint development with Klara Energy and Tuxhorn within the scope of the PCM-based HeatSel product line marketed by Axiotherm. Winners will be announced May 15 in Munich.

• PCM expert Harald Mehling’s new book is available on Amazon: “Understanding the Basics of Energy: An Introduction from Simple to Complex Situations.”

• Tempur-Pedic of Lexington, Ky., says its new TEMPUR-breeze mattress will help sleepers “stay up to 8 degrees F cooler through the night.” According to Tempur-Pedic: “At about 80°F, the molecules within TEMPUR-breeze’s most efficient Phase Change Material (PCM) to-date, PURECOOL+, activate, shifting from a solid to a liquid to absorb massive amounts of heat. For the first time, Tempur-Pedic’s scientists successfully altered these proprietary molecules to deliver more phase change material, increasing its capacity to absorb heat by 2x compared to other PCM.”

• Two new ASHRAE publications will be available in June: “Owner’s Guide for Buildings Served by District Cooling” and an updated edition of the “District Cooling Guide” for designers and building owners around the world.

• Researchers at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed a polyethylene glycol-infused wood material that could be used to make windows that absorb heat during the day and release it into the home at night. The researchers are working to increase the heat storage capacity of the transparent wood, Smithsonian.com reports.

PATENTS

Air-conditioning system

U.S. patent application 20190113259 (applicant Ford Global Technologies LLC, Dearborn, Mich.):

“An air-conditioning system includes first and second PCM vessels, a heat recovery circuit, and a conduit and valve system. The heat recover circuit includes a third PCM vessel. The conduit and valve system operably couples i.) a first heat exchanger to the first PCM vessel and a radiator, ii.) a second heat exchanger to a core and the second PCM vessel, and iii.) the heat recovery circuit to the first heat exchanger.”

Thermal energy storage systems utilizing PCMs

U.S. patent application 20190101337 (applicant SABIC Global Technologies B.V., Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands):

“A thermal energy storage system utilizes a phase change material with an encapsulating material surrounding the phase change material. The encapsulating material fully contains the phase change material to prevent passage of the phase change material out of the encapsulating material and/or prevent direct contact of the phase change material with external objects. The encapsulating material is a high density polyethylene (HDPE), which may be a non-crosslinked or crosslinked HDPE. In a method of forming a thermal energy storage system a phase change material is surrounded with the encapsulating material.”

Reflective temperature modulating blanket

U.S. patent application 20190106878 (inventor Robert Joe Alderman, Poteet, Texas):

“A temperature modulating blanket utilizing a reflective surface to block radiation away from a phase change material [110] during daylight and in thermal conductivity with the material to allow heat conduction out of the material at night at a faster rate than it is absorbed during the daylight. The reflective surface is uniquely tailored to both serve a reflective function during daylight while also being sufficiently thermally conductive to facilitate the heat conduction as indicated during night. Additionally, the facilities may be uniquely configured to promote an attic circulation that further facilitates freezing and recharge of the phase change material of the blanket during night hours.”

Building panel system

U.S. patent application 20190112809 (applicant Armstrong World Industries Inc., Lancaster, Penn.):

“A building panel system is provided. The building panel system include a panel structure having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; a mounting system attached to the panel structure; at least one container detachably coupled to the mounting system at one of a plurality of selectable coupling positions so as to be in conductive thermal cooperation with the first surface of the panel structure; and a phase change material contained within the at least one container.”

RESEARCH ROUNDUP

For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:

From Materials:

• Phase Change Materials for Energy Efficiency in Buildings and Their Use in Mortars

From Applied Energy:

• Natural convection during melting in vertical finned tube latent thermal energy storage systems
• Year-round performance analysis of a photovoltaic panel coupled with phase change material

From Energy Procedia:

• A Review of the Performance of Buildings Integrated with Phase Change Material: Opportunities for Application in Cold Climate

From Journal of Applied Polymer Science:

• Encapsulation of polar phase change materials via multiemulsification and crosslinking method and its application in building

From Journal of Energy Storage:

• Thermal performance of shell and tube latent heat storage unit: Comparative assessment of horizontal and vertical orientation
• Experimental investigation of phase change in a multitube heat exchanger

From Chemistry Select:

• Preparation and Thermal Properties of Stearic Acid/n‐Octadecane Binary Eutectic Mixture as Phase Change Materials for Energy Storage

From Journal of Materials Research:

• Synthesis of novel shape-stabilized phase change materials with high latent heat and low supercooling degree for thermal energy storage

From Science of Advanced Materials:

• Fabrication and Performance of Polyurethane/Polyurea Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials with Isophorone Diisocyanate via Interfacial Polymerization
• Design and Analysis of Battery Box Based on Graphite-Phase Change Material and Air Cooling

From Experimental Techniques:

• Design, Build, and Test a Hybrid Cooling System for Crash Helmet

From Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry:

• Capric acid/intercalated diatomite as form-stable composite phase change material for thermal energy storage
• Preparation and thermal performances of microencapsulated phase change materials with a nano-Al2O3-doped shell