MELTING/SOLIDIFICATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PARAFFIN BASED NANOCOMPOSITE FOR THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS

The present work aimed to investigate the melting and solidification characteristics of nanoparticle enhanced phase change material (NEPCM). The NEPCM were prepared using paraffin as the phase change material and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) as the nanomaterial without using any dispersant. Thermal conductivity of the NEPCM was measured with respect to temperature and the measured data showed higher enhancement than the phase change material both in liquid and solid state, due to inherent high conductive and the continuous networking of the MWCNT. A reduction in solidification and melting time of 42% and 29% was achieved in the case of NEPCM with 0.9% and 0.3%, respectively. It is concluded that enhanced heat transfer characteristics of NEPCM is highly beneficial towards design and development of efficient thermal energy storage system for various applications.