Conference Dates

April 3-7, 2016

Abstract

Cold is essential in many aspects of everyday life ranging from food, drugs and chemicals processing, storage and distribution to control of thermal comfort and superconductors in power electronics. The demand for cooling in all its forms is accelerating with the growing global urban population1. However, existing cooling technologies consume large amounts of energy and can be highly polluting in terms of carbon and other emissions2. One way of reducing the energy required for cooling and increasing cooling technologies efficiency whilst minimising their environmental impact involves the storage of energy efficiently as cold and to deliver cooling whenever needed without worsening peak demand. To this end we have developed a range of microencapsulated low freezing point phase change materials in slurries (MPCMSs) where the PCM core and the carrier fluid are both liquid coolants.

Our strategy was to encapsulate LPCM and structured LPCM with thermal conductivity enhancer materials using inorganic-organic composite shell material to achieve improved cold storage performance from -35˚C to -110˚C. Figure 1 shows microencapsulated diethyl benzene based coolant and structured methanol-water dispersed in ethylene glycol-water and silicone based fluid, respectively. Initial results are promising and these MPCMSs now offer new horizon for cold storage and energy management.

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract.

Share

COinS