Optimization of Material Properties of Phase Change Materials for Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage

Abstract

Nowadays, people are increasingly interested in renewable energy sources and accumulation of energy for its efficient use. The use of non-renewable resources is progressively decreasing due to their adverse changes in climate conditions and high production of CO2 emissions. This work deals with the problem of heat accumulation by means of the phase change of a material using the Stefan problem, which serves to describe the temperature distribution in the medium and to determine the location of the interface between the solid and liquid phase. This approach is used to determine desired properties and thermal behaviour of the material under different accumulation requirements. The main objective was to create and solve an optimization model in order to determine heat transfer conditions and other parameters to ensure the extrema of thermal behaviour characterization.

Keywords

• Stefan problem
• phase change
• phase change material (PCM)
• heat transfer
• latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES)
• optimization