Investigating the thermal behavior of phase change materials of ethylene glycol-filled SiO2 plates in the presence of solar radiation by molecular dynamics simulation

Due to excessive energy consumption, today's world needs the importance of using renewable and environ-mentally friendly resources. Therefore, solar energy can be a suitable alternative to fossil and nuclear fuels. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was used to investigate the thermal behavior of glass while using Ethylene Glycol-Filled SiO2 Plates as a phase change material (PCM); and when solar radiation of 1 W/m2 was present. The results depicted that the atomic and thermal behavior of glass filled with ethylene glycol in the presence of solar energy is optimized. In such a way, the structure's maximum density and velocity were 0.0628 atom/angstrom 3and 1.851 angstrom/fs, respectively. And the heat flux and thermal conductivity of the structure converged to 8790.83 W/m2 and 0.85 W/m.K after 10 ns. Then with the addition of solar energy, the density profile and velocity increased to 0.0630 atom/angstrom 3 and 2.010 angstrom/fs, respectively. Additionally, the heat flux increased to 9872.11 W/m2.

Automated summary

Due to excessive energy consumption, the importance of using renewable and environmentally friendly resources, such as solar energy, is emphasized. This study utilized molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the thermal behavior of glass filled with ethylene glycol and exposed to solar radiation. The results demonstrated optimized atomic and thermal behavior of the glass under the influence of solar energy, with increased density, velocity, and heat flux.