Solar thermal energy storage and heat pumps with phase change materials

doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.01.071

Applied Thermal Engineering

Volume 99, 25 April 2016, Pages 1212-1224

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.01.071 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Advances in heat transfer fundamental processes of PCMs are reviewed.
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Defects and heat transfer enhancements are discussed.
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Innovative applications of STES and HPs with PCMs are performed.
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Metadata analysis on modeling formulation and efficiency factors are resumed.

Abstract

Latent energy storage with PCMs integrated buildings application is facing an increasing interest. The charging and discharging processes during phase change and heat transfer affect the technological and market readiness of such systems. This review paper approaches the significant processes taking place during phase transition, the recent advantages and the appropriate PCMs in the range of buildings operation conditions.

The critical mechanisms in heat transfer augmentation are examined while the recent state of the art methods is reported. The applications are classified in such a way to better reflect the effect of latent energy storage to the indirect and direct heat pump energy consumption, respectively.

A metadata analysis on the models that are used to formulate the moving boundary processes and the key efficiency factors appearing in the applications are resumed. The current research in the era of standardization and verification, the nanostructures incorporated in phase change materials and the integration in solar hybrid systems define the roadmap in building passive and active applications.

Introduction

Latent heat storage systems are extensively studied in the past forty years. Currently, they are facing a revival with the introduction of new methods and promising materials to be implemented in rigorous branches of technological innovations. A review is approached here and focus in the built industry.

Solar radiation exploitation is confined by geographical variations, seasonal cycles, intensity oscillations and intermittent availability. Temporary energy storage for later use is a common method to overcome these variations and to match the energy demand and the supply of that resource in a controllable way. Fig. 1 depicts the solar thermal energy storage implementation and the three main different driving mechanisms respectively.

Heat is absorbed and released in materials by melting and crystallization in solids or vaporization and condensation in liquids. Lane [1] suggests and analyzes that three main stages are involved in the crystallization process during the phase transition of the material: induction or nucleation, crystal growth, and recrystallization or crystal regrowth. Recent developments suggest that solidification plays a major role in the dendrites formation as well as in other phase transitions, such as growth or melting Roh [2]. The shrinking solid affects the final geometrical shape and size and, therefore, the melting process while the phenomenon affects the time of the process as well [3].

Section snippets

Classification

The known classes of PCMs in terms of melting temperature and energy extend in a wide range [4]. Several reviews have been conducted [5], [6], [7] and a full classification of the latest advances in PCMs with their thermophysical properties can be found in the literature. Fig. 2 presents these developments, based on the above reviews, with polymeric and solid–solid PCMs included.

Indirect and direct effect on heat pumps energy consumption

Applications of thermal storage systems cover a wide range of modern industry and innovative applications. An extended research for a wide range of temperatures can be found in, but not limited to, industry [54], agriculture [55], [56], [57], cold storage and transportation [58], [59], textiles [60], [61], [62], vehicles [63], [64], electronics [65], batteries [66], biomedical [67], [68], [69], [70] and thermoelectric [71], [72].

Plentiful applications for thermal energy storage refer to their

Phase change models formulation

The problems associated with the complex behavior of PCMs derive from, the nonlinear motion on the solid–liquid interface. Indeed, the presence of buoyancy driven flows in the melt, the irreversibility of metastable zones, the non equilibrium phase, the conjugate heat transfer between PCM and the heat transfer fluid as well as the volume expansion makes the modeling of them a mathematically difficult process. Solidification and melting process explicit solutions are first proposed in early

Conclusions

Innovative applications impact the consumption of the buildings heat pumps within the vision of reaching to null or positive energy dwellings. The majority of building applications aimed to the thermal regulation between the ambient and the indoor environmental conditions through the charging and discharging process of the phase change materials.

Besides the thermal and optical properties, the combined research between the phase change materials and nanostructures, such as ionic, porous support

Acknowledgements

This work is part of the Ph.D. thesis of the corresponding author on leave from the National Technical University of Athens.

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Solar thermal energy storage and heat pumps with phase change materials

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Classification

Indirect and direct effect on heat pumps energy consumption

Phase change models formulation

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. Cells

Int. J. Heat Mass Transf

Appl. Energy

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Prog. Mater. Sci

Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. Cells

Energy Convers. Manag

Appl. Therm. Eng

Sol. Energy

Appl. Energy

Appl. Energy

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Renew. Energy

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Energy Build

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Energy

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Energy Convers. Manag

Energy Convers. Manag

Int. J. Heat Mass Transf

Appl. Therm. Eng

Sol. Energy

Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells

Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells

Energy Build

Energy

Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev

Thermochim. Acta

Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. Cells

Mater. Chem. Phys

Thermochim. Acta

Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. Cells

Int. J. Heat Mass Transf

Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. Cells

Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. Cells

Nano Energy

Int. J. Heat Mass Transf

Renew. Energy

Energy Convers. Manag

Appl. Energy

Int. J. Refrig

Thermochim. Acta

Appl. Therm. Eng

Appl. Therm. Eng

Chem. Eng. Sci

Transfus. Apher. Sci

Biosens. Bioelectron