Using Industrial Mining Solid Waste through Conversion to Phase-Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage

The mining industry produces a large amount of industrial solid waste every year. Among them, fly ash (FA), slag and tailings are the three main solid wastes, which can cause soil pollution, air pollution, water pollution and serious threat to human health if not handled properly. At present, the treatment methods of industrial solid waste mainly include direct landfill, recovery of high-value components, production of construction materials, etc. These methods not only waste land resources, but also have a limited scope of application. Mining and metallurgical industrial solid wastes are generally characterized by high porosity, certain mechanical strength, and high yield, which can be used as a porous matrix to support phase change materials (PCMs) after modification treatment, thus solving the problem of easy leakage of PCMs. At present, there is no overview of mining industry solid waste in PCM applications. This paper provides a detailed review of the research progress of FA, slag and tailings in the field of phase change thermal storage materials in recent years, which provides useful ideas for further research on the comprehensive utilization of solid wastes in the mining and metallurgical industry and the reduction of their pollution of the environment.