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Published on: March 12, 2014
A Study of Manufacturing Processes of Composite Form-Stable Phase Change Materials Based on Ca(NO3)2-NaNO3 and
Yunxiu Ren1, Chao Xu1, Tieying Wang1
1Key Laboratory of Power Station Energy Transfer Conversion and System of Ministry of Education, School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, 2 Beinong Road, Changping District, Beijing 102206, China.
Abstract:
The fabrication of form-stable phase change materials (FS-PCMs) usually involves four manufacturing processes: mixing, immersion, stabilization, and sintering. In each process, the operation parameters could affect the performance of the fabricated PCM composite. To gain an efficient and low-cost method for large-scale production of the molten salts/expanded graphite (EG) composite FS-PCMs, the effects of different operating parameters were investigated, including the stirring speed, evaporation temperature, melt-impregnation, cold-pressing pressure, and sintering temperature on the densification, microstructure, and thermophysical properties of the composite FS-PCMs. It was found that the microstructure, the morphology and durability, and the thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity and specific heat enthalpy depended highly on the operating parameters. The following optimal operating parameters of the Ca(NO3)2-NaNO3/EG composite FS-PCMs are suggested: the stirring speed of 20 rpm, the evaporation temperature of 98 °C, the melt-impregnation temperature of 280 °C, the cold-pressing pressure of 8 MPa, and the sintering temperature of 300 °C. The results of the present work can provide valuable insights for the large-scale production of the composite FS-PCMs.
