The capric-lauric acid and pentadecane combination as phase change material for cooling applications

The mixture of 65 mol% capric acid and 35 mol% lauric acid (C-L acid) is a potential latent heat storage material. However, its melting temperature of 18.0 degreesC is quite high for low-temperature thermal energy storage. Addition of pentadecane, with a melting point of 9.9 degreesC, is proposed. The thermal characteristics of the combination of the C-L acid with pentadecane (CL:P) in different volume ratio are investigated employing the DSC analysis. The actual thermal performance of each CL:P combination is further determined from their radial and axial temperature distribution employing a fabricated thermal storage capsule. The 90: 10 CL:P combination manifests an improvement in the melting characteristic of the C-L acid. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.