Design and optimization of composite phase change material for cylindrical thermal energy storage

Phase change materials store thermal energy in the form of latent heat, and are often integrated with high thermal conductivity metals to make composites that have both high power density and large energy storage capacity. In this study, we provide a theoretical framework to design and optimize cylindrical composites with three figures of merit – minimization of temperature rise, maximization of the effective volumetric heat capacity and maximization of the effective heat capacity based on mass. We validate the figures of merit experimentally by 3D printing AlSi12 alloy and using octadecane as phase change material for a heat flux of 13.3 Wcm⁻² and heating time of 10 s. The metal component volume fractions in the printed structures vary from 15% to 70% for straight fin structures, 10% to 70% for the SC lattice structures, and 20% to 70% for branching fin structures. When minimizing temperature rise, the optimum volume fraction of thermally conductive material is 0.5–0.7. When maximizing the effective volumetric heat capacity, the optimum volume fraction for the high conductivity material is 0.3–0.5. Finally, when maximizing the effective heat capacity by mass in cylindrical composites, the optimum volume fraction for the high conductivity material is 0.2–0.3. Importantly, the optimum values depend on the applied thermal load, which is not captured in existing figures of merit for thermal storage systems. The volumetric and mass based heat capacity values of the optimized composites identified in this study are at least 10x higher when compared to single component PCMs that are widely used for volumetric and mass based thermal storage systems. The figures of merit developed here can assess the performance of most composite PCM systems and help to design future cylindrical composites while accounting for the thermal loads specific to the thermal storage application.