Preparation And Characterization Of Paraffin-Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Composites As Form-Stable Phase Change Materials For Thermal Energy Storage Applications

A'zizi, Abdul Rahman (2016) Preparation And Characterization Of Paraffin-Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Composites As Form-Stable Phase Change Materials For Thermal Energy Storage Applications. Project Report. UTeM, Melaka, Malaysia. (Submitted)

Text (24 Pages) Preparation And Characterization Of Paraffin-Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Composites As Form-Stable Phase Change Materials For Thermal Energy Storage Applications.pdf - Submitted Version Download (571kB)

Abstract

Phase Change Material (PCM) are materials that can absorb, store and release the latent heat of fusion to and from the environment during the melting and freezing processes. Paraffin which is the most known PCM have many advantages such as high thermal energy storage and thermal stability to make them the most suitable PCM in thermal energy storage applications. However, the problem of the paraffin is the leakage problem of the PCM itself during the solid to liquid phase change. In this study, paraffin/poly (ethylene glycol) composites were prepared at various mass compositions by mixing paraffin and poly (ethylene glycol) via direct heating method. The differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) provides the data on the thermal properties particularly the melting points and the heat of fusion of the composites. The range of melting temperature and heat of fusion of composites were 56-67˚C and 122-148 kJ/kg respectively. The leakage tests were conducted by replacing the composite samples on a set of four layers filter papers and left at 90˚C for 1 hour. By incorporating PEG into paraffin phase, the leakage percentage was drastically reduced. For example, the leakage percentage at paraffin 50wt% / PEG 50wt% was 32.2 % which was more than half lower than of pure paraffin (72.8%). DSC results show that the melting temperature and heat of fusion of the composites increased as PEG composites increased. Further examination on the DSC curves revealed that the small peak which can be found in the DSC’s curve of pure paraffin gradually disappeared as the PEG composites increased. Suggesting the composites obtained become more homogeneous. Thus, the incorporating PEG in paraffin phase result in more stable composites structures. The PEG polymer matrix in the composites may have trapped the paraffin molecules during melting process thus prevent it from leakage. These form-stable PCM would potentially become novel candidates of PCM for thermal energy storage applications.

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