Abstract

Phase change materials (PCMs) are attractive for use in thermal energy storage applications and thermalregulation/control due to their high-energy storage density over a small temperature range. The directuse of phase change materials for energy storage and/or heat transfer applications has been limited dueto the low thermal conductivity of the PCM particularly when solidifying on the heat transfer surface.A Phase change slurry (PCS) consists of small micro-encapsulated PCM particles suspended in a carrierfluid which enhances the heat transfer to the PCM. The PCS can serve not only as the thermal storagemedia but also as the heat transfer fluid, and hence may have many potentially important applicationsincluding in the field of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, solar energy andheat exchangers. A test system to examine PCS performance in residential thermal energy storageapplications has been developed to both observe and characterise the thermal processes that occur ina thermal store with a helical coil heat exchanger. These test results will be used to improve the systemdesign and identify limitations when used for intermittent application.