International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—A phase-change material (PCM) is a substance with a high latent heat storage capacity which on melting and solidifying at a certain temperature, is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy. Various PCM like Paraffin wax, sodium acetate tri-hydrate and phenolphthalein are considered which are used to absorb heat from the coolant water from the engine. The conduction and convection criterion of heat transfer enable the PCM to store this heat as latent heat. The amount of convection and temperature change brought about due to the heat flux has been simulated and studied in detail using GAMBIT and FLUENT .

Index Terms—Latent Heat storage capacity, phase change materials, paraffin wax, sodium acetate tri-hydrate, phenolphthalein.

Authors are with Department of Mechanical Engineering, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, India (email: amritomnayak@gmail.com; gowthamtce@gmail.com; vinod.einstein@gmail.com; ramtcemech09@gmail.com).

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Cite: Amrit Om Nayak, M. Gowtham, R. Vinod, and G. Ramkumar, "Analysis of PCM Material in Thermal Energy Storage System," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 437-441, 2011.