Novel thermal energy storage component: Development, performance, and phase transition diagnosis

Zhiming Gao; Philip Boudreaux; Yoram Shabtay; Naomi Carmeli-Shabtay; Kashif Nawaz; Edward Allan Vineyard

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120682

Novel thermal energy storage component: Development, performance, and phase transition diagnosis

Zhiming Gao
, Philip Boudreaux
, Yoram Shabtay
, Naomi Carmeli-Shabtay
, Kashif Nawaz
, Edward Allan Vineyard

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials (PCMs) is a promising technology for capturing and storing excess thermal energy for later use. However, challenges such as poor heat transfer efficiency and a lack of modular, scalable designs have limited widespread adoption of TES in real-world applications. This study developed and evaluated modular brick-type and blade-type TES prototypes featuring an aluminum housing, an embedded serpentine coil for active or passive thermal exchange, and a cost-effective metal mesh to enhance PCM thermal conductivity. The blade-type TES achieved notable geometric efficiency, with a thickness-to-length ratio of 0.03 and a thickness-to-width ratio of 0.08, enabling highly compact and modular thermal storage suitable for space-constrained applications. The paper presents a detailed evaluation of the TES prototypes’ performance. The comparative analysis indicated that the TES prototypes provide a highly cost-effective, thermally optimized alternative for compact energy storage and load shifting. A novel diagnostic technique was also introduced: using a portable endoscope to capture real-time visualizations of PCM phase transitions inside the TES. This method provides critical insights into internal heat transfer mechanisms, identifies potential issues, and offers valuable support for optimizing the TES design and developing the control algorithm. Overall, the modular brick-type and blade-type TES designs demonstrated in this work provide a scalable, efficient, and economically viable solution for advancing TES across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The designs’ compact structure, enhanced thermal performance, and integrated diagnostic capabilities make them strong candidates for future deployment in energy-efficient systems.

Original language	English
Article number	120682
Journal	Energy Conversion and Management
Volume	348
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120682
State	Published - Jan 15 2026

Funding

This work was sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office, with Dr. Wyatt Merrill as program manager. This research employed resources at the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors also thank Mr. Steve Kowalski and Dr. Brian Fricke, and Dr. Mingkan Zhang for helping in the work, as well as Wendy Hames and Stacey Montgomery for technical editing. Notice: This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (https://www.energy.gov/doe-public-access-plan). This work was sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Building Technologies Office , with Dr. Wyatt Merrill as program manager. This research employed resources at the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors also thank Mr. Steve Kowalski and Dr. Brian Fricke, and Dr. Mingkan Zhang for helping in the work, as well as Wendy Hames and Stacey Montgomery for technical editing.

Keywords

Blade-type
Brick-type
Enhanced thermal conductivity
Modularity
Phase change material
Phase transition diagnosis
Thermal energy storage

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10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120682

Cite this

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title = "Novel thermal energy storage component: Development, performance, and phase transition diagnosis",

abstract = "Thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials (PCMs) is a promising technology for capturing and storing excess thermal energy for later use. However, challenges such as poor heat transfer efficiency and a lack of modular, scalable designs have limited widespread adoption of TES in real-world applications. This study developed and evaluated modular brick-type and blade-type TES prototypes featuring an aluminum housing, an embedded serpentine coil for active or passive thermal exchange, and a cost-effective metal mesh to enhance PCM thermal conductivity. The blade-type TES achieved notable geometric efficiency, with a thickness-to-length ratio of 0.03 and a thickness-to-width ratio of 0.08, enabling highly compact and modular thermal storage suitable for space-constrained applications. The paper presents a detailed evaluation of the TES prototypes{\textquoteright} performance. The comparative analysis indicated that the TES prototypes provide a highly cost-effective, thermally optimized alternative for compact energy storage and load shifting. A novel diagnostic technique was also introduced: using a portable endoscope to capture real-time visualizations of PCM phase transitions inside the TES. This method provides critical insights into internal heat transfer mechanisms, identifies potential issues, and offers valuable support for optimizing the TES design and developing the control algorithm. Overall, the modular brick-type and blade-type TES designs demonstrated in this work provide a scalable, efficient, and economically viable solution for advancing TES across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The designs{\textquoteright} compact structure, enhanced thermal performance, and integrated diagnostic capabilities make them strong candidates for future deployment in energy-efficient systems.",

keywords = "Blade-type, Brick-type, Enhanced thermal conductivity, Modularity, Phase change material, Phase transition diagnosis, Thermal energy storage",

author = "Zhiming Gao and Philip Boudreaux and Yoram Shabtay and Naomi Carmeli-Shabtay and Kashif Nawaz and Vineyard, \{Edward Allan\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2025. Published by Elsevier Ltd.",

year = "2026",

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doi = "10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120682",

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AU - Nawaz, Kashif

AU - Vineyard, Edward Allan

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ER -

Novel thermal energy storage component: Development, performance, and phase transition diagnosis

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Keywords

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