Evaluation of a cooling system integrated with different phase change material s and its effect on peak load shaving

Abstract

Summary In this study, a vapor‐compression cooling system utilizing different phase change materials (PCMs) has been studied whereby the electricity consumption peak load is shifted. More specifically, the dynamic performance of cooling systems with and without using PCM is evaluated for the hottest day of the year. The proposed system uses the cooling energy to freeze, or “discharge” the PCM during nighttime when the cooling load is minimally needed and uses the stored thermal energy during the peak load hours by melting, or “charging” the PCM. This leads to better performance during peak load hours when higher cooling loads are needed. Different PCMs including oleic acid, SP224A, CL, CaCl2·6H2O have been investigated. The system performance has been investigated by considering several parameters such as coefficient of performance, compressor power consumption, accessible cooling load, and melting fraction of PCM. The effect of different volumes of PCM on the average cooling cost has been evaluated, as well. The results indicated that with using the PCM, the accessible cooling load raises and the electricity consumption falls during hours of the peak load. Peak load reduction in the on‐peak period is different for various PCMs. In comparison with the conventional cooling system, the peak load alters from 315 W to 170, 164, 93, and 74 W for CL, oleic acid, CaCl2·6H2O, and SP224A, respectively. The evaluation of different PCM illustrated that for the volume of 150 L, the peak load shaving for SP224A is the most value which is 76.3%. Moreover, while the volume of different PCMs increases, the average price of the cooling energy decreases, and the Levelized cost of cooling energy rises.

Development of rigid polyurethane foam incorporating phase change material for a low‐temperature thermal energy storage application

“…9 The energy storage characteristics make microencapsulated PCM the material of choice in various sectors such as textiles, 10 construction and buildings, 11 thermal storage 12 and cold energy storage. 13 The polymer shell material for microencapsulation can be polymethyl methacrylate, 14 polystyrene, 15 melamine-formaldehyde, 16 a biodegradable polymer such as gum arabic 17 etc. The porous structure of the foam has been demonstrated in several studies to be a cause of PCM leakage, which is a crucial disadvantage of PU foam integrated PCM composite material.…”

Fabrication and experimental investigation of microencapsulated eutectic phase change material‐integrated polyurethane sandwich tin panel composite for thermal energy storage in buildings

“…These facile use characteristics of these materials have attracted interest from numerous sectors, such as solar energy, 16,17 energy-saving building, 18,19 thermoregulated textiles, 20 thermal storage, 21,22 and cold energy storage. 23 The polymeric shell materials comprise polymethyl methacrylate, 13 polystyrene, 24 ureaformaldehyde, 25 melamine-formaldehyde, 26,27 and biodegradable polymers such as Gum Arabic, 28 and so on. MF polymer shell is used in several research studies because of its thermochemical stability.…”

“…Microencapsulation can be achieved using various methods, including physical and chemical processes such as spray drying, 9 fluidized bed, 10 coacervation, 11 emulsion polymerization, 12 suspension polymerization, 13 in‐situ polymerization, 14 and interfacial polymerization, 15 respectively. These facile use characteristics of these materials have attracted interest from numerous sectors, such as solar energy, 16,17 energy‐saving building, 18,19 thermoregulated textiles, 20 thermal storage, 21,22 and cold energy storage 23 . The polymeric shell materials comprise polymethyl methacrylate, 13 polystyrene, 24 urea‐formaldehyde, 25 melamine‐formaldehyde, 26,27 and biodegradable polymers such as Gum Arabic, 28 and so on.…”

Investigations on transient thermal performance of phase change materials embedded in metal foams for latent heat thermal energy storage

“…Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) is capable of storing and releasing enormous thermal energy, based on the phase transition of employed phase change materials (PCMs). [1][2][3] It is increasingly believed that LHTES can be an effective alternative to address the mismatch between energy supply and demand in time and space dimensions and can practically eliminate the existing energy crisis and atmospheric pollution, when applied in extensive occasions, such as solar thermal utilization, waste heat recovery, building energy saving, electronic device cooling, etc. [4][5][6][7] The charging and discharging performances of LHTES have been evaluated in feasible literatures and it is found that the thermal performance of LHTES is inseparable from thermophysical properties of PCMs.…”