Experimental Investigation of Heat Exchanger

Performance by Using Phase Change Material

with Aluminium and Copper Micro Particles
A. Muhammed Shihan1, J. Chandra Dass2, TTM. Kannan3
1

Full-time Research Scholar, 2Asst. Professor, 3 Associate Professor

Dept of Mechanical Engineering, PRIST University, Thanjavur, India
International Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering
Volume 3, Issue 1, January-February, 2015, pp. 08-15
ISSN Online: 2347-5188 Print: 2347-8772, DOA : 24012015
IASTER 2014, www.iaster.com

ABSTRACT
Low Temperature Energy Storage System (LTESS) stores the thermal energy from solar, exhaust
gases and waste heat from industries. To achieve this energy storage, the medium adopted is
Phase Change Materials (PCM). PCM is preferred because of their higher storage density, with
less volume. The disadvantage of PCM for using as LTESS is that, the thermal conductivity of
PCM is less and this requires more time period and surface area of contact, for loading and
unloading of thermal energy. To overcome this problem, an attempt was made to incorporate
CU Micro particles in the paraffin PCM to improve its thermal conductivity. The thermal
conductivity of LTESS is determined both analytically and experimentally. Incorporating microparticle in the PCM has improved the thermal conductivity of the LTESS. Maxwell-Garnett
Equation is used to determine the thermal conductivity of PCM analytically and Transient Hot
Wire Thermal Conductivity Measuring Apparatus KD2 probe is used to determine the thermal
conductivity experimentally.

Keywords: Low Temperature Energy Storage system, Thermal Energy Storage, Phase Change
Materials, Micro materials.

1. INTRODUCTION
Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are very important for thermal protection and optimal utilization of
energy. It is one of the most efficient ways of storing thermal energy. It provides much higher storage
density, with a smaller temperature difference between storing and releasing heat. Furthermore, there are
a lot of phase change materials that melt and solidify at a wide range of temperatures, making them
attractive in a number of applications. An overview of phase change materials (PCMs) used in low
thermal energy systems has been by Abhat (1983), Zalba et al. (2003) and Farid et al. (2004). The ideal
phase change material to be used for latent heat storage as known must meet following requirements:
high sensitive heat capacity and heat of fusion; stable stochiometric composition; high density and heat
conductivity; chemical inert; non-toxic and non-inflammable; reasonable and inexpensive. The various
PCMs are generally divided into two main groups: organic and inorganic compounds. Organic
compounds present several advantages like ability of congruently melting, self-nucleating properties,
non-corrosive behavior and compatibility with conventional materials of construction. Sub-groups of
organic compounds include paraffin and non-paraffin organics. Technical grade paraffins have been
extensively used as heat storage materials due to wide melting/solidification temperatures ranges and
have a relatively high latent heat capacity. They have also no sub cooling effects during the

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ISSN

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solidification as well as a small volume change during the phase change processes. They are chemically
stable, non-toxic and non-corrosive over an extended storage period. Widely used non-paraffin organics,
as heat storage materials, are fatty acids like lauric, myristic, palmitic and stearic acid. Their advantages
are a possibility for reproducible melting and solidification behavior and little or no sub cooling effects.
Low thermal conductivity is the main disadvantages of all organic compounds. The main advantages of
inorganic compounds are a high volumetric latent heat storage capacity, often twice the capacity of
organic compounds, and high thermal conductivity. Salt hydrates are frequently used inorganic
compounds. Their disadvantages include incongruent melting. Paraffin waxes are cheap with moderate
thermal storage density and a wide range of melting temperature. However, searching on a material that
have a large latent heat, high thermal conductivity, melt congruently with minimum sub-cooling,
chemically stable, low in cost, non-corrosive has attracted great interest in research around the world.

2. LITERATURE SURVEY
The majority of the literature research on the LHTES system has been performed for shell and tube
arrangement, and more recently for spherical shells. Saitoh and hirose performed a theoretical and
experimental investigation of transient thermal characteristics of a phase change thermal energy storage
unit using spherical capsules Takayuki watanable et al. developed a numerical model for prediction of
the transient behavior of the latent heat storage module. The model is one-dimensional with a finite
overall heat transfer co-efficient between the PCM and the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF). They conducted
the experiments on the heat storage module consisted of PCM (paraffin wax) with different melting
temperatures using water as HTF both the experimental and numerical results showed some
improvements in charging and discharging rates by use of the three-types PCM.J.L.Zeng, L.X.Sun,
F.Xu, Z.C.Tan, Z.H.Zhang, J.Zhang and T.Zhang studied an experimental and theoretical investigation
of a PCM based energy storage system containing Ag nano particles. In this paper, organic phase change
material (PCM)/Ag nanoparticles composite materials were prepared and characterized for the first time.
The effect of Ag nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity of PCM was investigated. This experiment
results indicated that the Ag nanoparticles dispersed uniformly in the materials, occurred in the forms of
pure metal.F.Frusteri, V.Leonardi, S.Vasta, G.Restuccia was measured a thermal conductivity of a PCM
based energy storage system containing carbon fibers. In this paper, the thermal conductivity
enhancement of PCM44, an eutectic mixture of Mg (NO3)26H2 O-MgCl26H2O-NH4NO3, using carbon
fibers has been investigated. Moreover, a numeric heat transfer model to describe the change of the
thermal conductivity of PCM as a function of fiber content is proposed. M.N.A.Hawlader, M.S.Uddin,
MyaMyaKhin performed a microencapsulation of PCM thermal energy storage system. In the present
study, microencapsulation of a PCM was carried out by two different methods, namely complex
coacervation and spray drying, and a comparison of the characteristic properties of the products was
made. Ronny Hentra, Hamdani, T.M.I.Mahila, H.H.Masjuki presented the thermal and melting heat
transfer characteristics in a latent heat storage system using micro. This paper focuses mainly on the
study of charging process in the system, and includes the following aspects: (i) Experimental study for
thermal analysis of the heat storage system, (ii) experimental and formulation of the physical properties
of the PCM micro, (iii) a theoretical model for thermal analysis of the melting process, (iv) validation of
the theoretical results with experimental data and theoretical establishment of the phase change behavior
during melting. Yuichi Hamada, Jun Fukai was investigated the effect of the carbon fiber brushes on the
thermal outputs of practical scale LHTES tanks, which are installed in an air conditioning system of a
building as a resource for space heating. The experimental investigation using practical scale equipment
is limited because the operating conditions are not arbitrarily established, contrary to the case when
using laboratory scale equipment. Accordingly, the thermal outputs calculated using the previously
reported three dimensional heat transfer model are compared with the experimental ones. The effect of

International Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering

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ISSN

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the carbon fiber brushes on the thermal outputs of the tanks is then numerically discussed. Anica Trp
analyzed the latent thermal energy storage system is a shell-and-tube type of heat exchanger with PCM
filling the shell side. The results of experimental investigations on PCM thermal characteristics during
melting and solidification process in a vertical two concentric pipe energy storage system have been
presented by many authors. Hassan (1994) studied thermal energy storage system employing palmitic
acid. Dimaano and watanable (2001) investigated latent heat storage system with capric and lauric acid
mixture. Sarri and Kaygusuz (2001) studied thermal energy storage system using stearic acid and the
same authors (2002) investigated thermal characteristics of eutectic mixture of lauric and stearic acids.
Sari (2003) studied the thermal energy storage system using an eutectic mixture of myristic and palmitic
acids. All of these authors have obtained similar shapes of PCM temperature profiles during melting and
solidification and described the governing mechanisms of heat transfer in the distinct segments of the
processes. Heat transfer in this type of thermal energy storage system represents a transient conjugate
phase change forced convection problem. Bellecci and conti (1993) using the enthalpy method, studied
numerically the cyclic behavior of a phase change solar shell and tube energy storage system. Ismail and
Goncalves (1999) analyzed phase change heat transfer around a tube immersed in the PCM, with
assumption of a constant heat transfer co-efficient between working fluid and the wall. Cao and Faghri
(1991, 1992) numerically stimulate the transient behavior of the shell-and-tube thermal energy storage
system with a HTF of low prandtl number. For the phase change heat transfer, the temperature
transforming model was used. Zhang and Fagri (1996) semi-analytically studied a shell-and-tube latent
thermal energy storage system with a HTF of moderate prandtl number. They concluded that the laminal
forced convective heat transfer inside the tube never reaches the fully developed state and that it must be
solved simultaneously with the phase change of the PCM. Accordingly numerical calculations of
transient heat transfer in the shell- and-tube latent heat storage system with HTF of moderate prandtl
number require the application of CFD methods. R. Velraj, A. Pasupathy to provide a compilation of
much of practical information on different PCMs and systems developed for thermal management in
residential and commercial establishments followed by existing systems in use and possible future
directions based on latent heat storage technology in building integrated energy system. Brend Hafner,
Klemens Schwarzer, Ginsterweg, was improved the heat transfer in a phase change-material storage.
The aim of this project Latent Heat Storage, financed by the German ministry BMBF (NO. a700297),
was the development of a latent heat storage based on paraffin. Two different approaches were
investigated in the project: (i) short term PCM storage, based on conventional water storage and
equipped with latent heat elements. (ii) A long term storage using a separate volume as PCM storage.

3. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

Fig 1 Experimental Setup

10

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The experimental apparatus was composed of a test unit, two constant temperature water containers set
at different temperatures (above and below the melting/solidification temperature of the PCM) and
pumps supplying water from the constant temperature containers to the test unit. Preceding the
experiments, the PCM tube was filled with the paraffin wax. Melting experiments started at room
temperature and the paraffin wax was in the solid phase. Initial conditions for melting were established
by the circulating water from the low temperature container at environmental temperature. Initial
conditions were established when all thermocouples inside the paraffin wax were recording the same
temperature. Cold water was then quickly drained from the HTF (Heat Transfer Fluid) tube. Water from
the hot temperature container at a required temperature, over the melting range, started to circulate and
data collection began. The mass flow rate of the water was constant. Temperature data for all
thermocouples were collected every 10s. When all measured PCM temperatures were above the melting
temperature range and when they reached the same temperature (slightly below the water temperature in
the HTF tube), the melting experiment was finished. The solidification experiment was then started with
established initial conditions. Hot water was drained from the HTF tube and water from the cold
temperature container, with a constant mass flow rate and temperature below the solidification
temperature range, started to circulate. Temperature distributions in the PCM were measured and
recorded at the same time interval as in the melting experiment. A solidification experiment was
completed when all thermocouples within the paraffin had reached the same temperature.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Aluminium with Paraffin Wax
Table 1Thermal Conductivity of Aluminium Particle with Paraffin Wax

S.no

Temp of
hot fluid,
C

Temp of
cold
fluid, C

Mass flow
rate of
hot fluid,
(mh)

Mass flow
rate of cold
fluid, (mc)

Heat
transfer
rate, (Q)

Heat
transfer coefficient, (U)

Tco

(Kg/s)

(kg/s)

K watts

W /m2 K

Logarithmi
c mean
temperatur
e Difference
(T lm)
K

0.

Thi

Tho

Tci

1.

65

60

35

42

0.01667

0.01667

0.47878

0.51083

23.49

2.

70

65

34

46

0.0200

0.0200

0.71179

1.877

10.864

3.

72

67

34

48

0.0250

0.0250

0.9944

1.9596

13.169

4.

73

69

35

50

0.0300

0.0300

1.1932

2.1016

27.410

5.

76

71

33

52

0.04002

0.04002

2.009

2.5280

29.380

4.1 Calculation
1.Total heat transfer rate in the heat exchanger, (Q)
Q = {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2
= [0.01667 x 4.187 (65-60) + 0.01667 x 4.187 x(42-35)] / 2
= 0.41878 KW
Logarithmic mean temperature difference, (Tlm)
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
T1 = (Thi Tci)= 65 - 35 = 30C
T2 = (Tho Tco) = 60 42 =18C
Tlm= 23.49 K
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Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)

U = Q / A Tln
A=DL
A = (Di - do) x L
A = (0.0375 0.0128) x 0.45
A = 0.0349m2
U = 0.41878 / (0.0349 x 23.49)
U = 0.51083KW
Q = {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2
= (0.020 x 4.187 (70-65) + (0.20 x 4.187(46-34) / 2
= [0.4187 + 1.0048] / 2
= 0.71179 KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
T1 = (Thi Tci) = 70 - 34 = 34C
T2 = (Tho Tco) = 65 - 46 =19C
Tlm= 10.8643 K
Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)
U = Q / A Tln
A=DL
A = (Di - do) x L
A = (0.0375 0.0128) x 0.45
A = 0.0349m2
U = 0.71179 / (0.0349 x 10.8643)
U = 1.877KW

1.

Q
= {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2
= [0.025 x 4.187 (72 67) + 0.025
x 4.187 (48 x 34) / 2
= (0.523375 + 1.46545) / 2
= 0.9944 KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
T1 = (Thi Tci) = 72 - 34 = 38C
T2 = (Tho Tco) = 67 48 =17C
Tlm= 13.169K
Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)
U = Q / A Tln
U = 0.9944 / (0.0349 x 13.169)
U = 1.9596 KW

2.

Q
= {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2
= [0.030 x 4.187 (73-69) + 0.03 x 4.187 (50-35)] / 2
= (0.50244 + 1.88415) / 2
= 1.1932KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
T1 = (Thi Tci) = 73 - 35 = 38C
T2 = (Tho Tco) = 69 50 =19C
Tlm= 27.411 K
12

ISSN

(O) 2347-5188
(P) 2347-8772

International Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering

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ISSN

(O) 2347-5188
(P) 2347-8772

Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)

U = Q / A Tln
U = 1..1932 / (0.0349 x 27.411)
U = 2.1016 KW

3.

Q = {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2

= [( 0.04 x 4.187 (76 71) + 0.04 x 4.187 (46 34)] / 2
= [0.8374 + 3.18212] / 2
= 2.0097 KW

4.2 Analytical Method of Copper

Maxwell Garnet Equation is used to determine the thermal conductivity of PCM for LTES. The
Maxwell Garnet Equations is kMaxwell=

+ 2k1 + 2(

+ k1)

} k1 / {

+ 2k1 + 2(

+ k1)

}c

Where
kp is the thermal conductivity of the dispersed particles. Thermal conductivity of copper = 385
W/mK.
kl is thermal conductivity of the dispersion liquid, Thermal conductivity of paraffin wax = 0.214
W/mK.
is the particle volume concentration of the suspension.
4.3 Copper with Paraffin Wax
Table 3.Thermal Conductivity of Aluminium Particle With Paraffin Wax

S.
no

Temp of
hot
fluid, C

Temp of
cold
fluid, C
Tco

Mass flow
rate of
hot fluid,
(mh)
(Kg/s)

Mass flow
rate of
cold fluid,
(mc)
(kg/s)

Heat
transfer
rate,
(Q)
K watts

Heat
transfer coefficient,
(U)
W /m2 K

Logarithmic
mean
temperature
Difference (T lm)
K

0.

Thi

Tho

Tci

1.

65

59

35

43

0.01667

0.01667

0.4885

0.6280

22.27

2.

68

61

34

46

0.02012

0.02012

0.8361

1.0318

23.21

3.

71

63

34

51

0.03201

0.03201

1.675

2.1621

22.20

4.

75

70

33

55

0.03521

0.03521

1.990

2.17465

24.62

5.

78

72

34

60

0.04101

0.04101

2.747

3.1962

26.22

Calculation

1.

Q = {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2

=[( 0.01667 x 4.187 (65 59) + 0.1667 x 4.187 (43 35)] / 2
=0.48857 KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
= (Thi Tci) = 65 - 35 = 30C
= (Tho Tco) = 59 43 =16C
= 22.27C

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2.

Q = {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2

= [(0.02102 x 4.187 (68-61) + (0.02102 x 4.187 (46-34)]/2
= [0.616075 + 1.056128] / 2
= 0.83610 KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
= (Thi Tci) = 68 - 34 = 34C
= (Tho Tco ) = 61 46 =15C
= 23.218 K
Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)
U = Q / A Tln
U = 0.83610 / (0.0349 x 23.218)
U = 1.031807
3.

Q = {{mh Cph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco )}} / 2

= [0.03201 x 4.187 (71-63) + 0.0321 x 4.187 (51-34)] / 2
= [1.0722069 + 2.278439] / 2
= 1.67532KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
= (Thi Tci) = 71 - 34 = 37C
= (Tho Tco ) = 63 51 =12C
= 22.2022 K
U = Q / A Tln
= 1.67532 / (0.0349 x 22.2022)
= 2.16210KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
= (Thi Tci) = 75 - 33 = 42C
= (Tho Tco) = 70 55 =15C
= 26.2232 K
Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)
U = Q / A Tln
= 1.99022 / (0.0349 x 26.2232)
= 2.17465KW
3.Q = {{mhCph (Thi Tho)} + {mcCpc (Tci Tco)}} / 2
= [0.04101 x 4.187 (78-72) + (0.0.4101 x 4.187 (60-34)] / 2
= [1.030253 + 4.46443] / 2
= 2.7473 KW
Tlm = (T2 - T1) / lm (T2/T1)
= (Thi Tci) = 78 - 34 = 44C
= (Tho Tco ) = 72 60 =12C
= 24.6288 K
Overall heat transfer co-efficient (u)
U = Q / A Tln
= 2.7473 / (0.0349 x 24.6288) = 3.19622 KW

14

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(P) 2347-8772

International Journal of Research in Mechanical Engineering

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ISSN

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(P) 2347-8772

5. CONCLUSION
Initially we can see that the thermal conductivity of paraffin wax is 0.214W/MK and analytically it is
increased to 0.2697W/MK with the addition of aluminum micro particles and experimentally it is
increased to 0.3102W/MK. At volume of 0 the thermal conductivity remains same i.e. thermal
conductivity of paraffin wax is 0.214 W/MK. When the volume concentration increases to 0.02, the
thermal conductivity also increases to 0.242W/MK. The micro particles we employed is the reason for
the thermal conductivity improvement. This method is efficient to enhance the thermal conductivity
of organic PCM. Further the experiment is tested in various nano particles like copper and magnesium
in the same heat exchanger. It will be compared based on the performance in various conditions.

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