Investigating PCM activation using transient plane source method

Paper in proceeding, 2015

Heat storage solutions with phase change materials (PCM) as main heat storage material have larger storage capacity and more even storage temperature than traditional water-based systems at the same conditions. The efficiency of the PCM storage depends primarily on its ability to receive and deliver heat in a phase transition mode. To plan and verify a PCM storage, methods are needed to determine if the PCM is in phase transition under different thermal loading. This study investigates differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), which is a common method for the characterization of PCM, and the transient plane source (TPS) method for capturing the phase transition. For the latter, a small water tank is studied in laboratory to provide alternate thermal loading to the encapsulated PCM. The TPS method has shown to be appropriate to differentiate between solid and liquid PCM. However, there exist several limitations in the method that has to be solved before the PCM can be used to visualize the phase transition of PCMs.