Abstract:
The Butyl stearate mixture with additives was tested for cold storage in low temperature cooling for building applications. PCM was encapsulated in aluminum tubes having a diameter of 12.7 mm and length 101.6 mm. These tubes were enclosed in a wooden box. Thermal energy stored and extracted from PCM was tested at flow rate of 0.08 kg/s, 0.017 kg/s and 0.005 kg/s. Addition of two different metal matrix, copper (Cu) and aluminum (Al), was studied and results showed that Cu increased more heat transfer compared to aluminum. For case of Cu 25% of time was reduced in charging process where as Al only reduced time by 15%. Another observation was about the size of the particles of the metals used; results depicted that finer size of metal shows more effect. System was also tested for useful cold extraction and for comfort temperature of 26 ᵒC; the system was able to provide almost 80% of cold within comfort level for discharging temperature of 31 ᵒC.
