Thermo‐physical investigation of butyl stearate as potential phase change material for thermal energy storage in cooling application

Abstract

Phase change material (PCM) based energy storage technology is a promising solution to conserve thermal energy. This work involves studies on thermophysical properties of butyl stearate as PCM for thermal comfort application and its corrosion compatibility with commonly used heat exchanger construction materials. The thermophysical properties of butyl stearate is studied using differential scanning calorimetry and the result shows that the peak melting and freezing temperatures are 18.64 C and 13.28 C, respectively. The latent heat of melting and freezing are 120.59 Jg −1 and 120.70 Jg −1 , respectively. The accelerated thermal cycling test reveals that butyl stearate is stable upto 1000 repeated thermal cycles. The thermogravimetric studies and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirm that butyl stearate is thermally and chemically stable. The results of corrosion test provide information about selection of construction materials for heat exchanger and encapsulation in real-time application. Butyl stearate is a potential PCM which can be used in thermal energy storage system for thermal comfort application.