Copolymer-bound phase change materials for household refrigerating appliances: experimental investigation of power consumption, temperature distribution and demand side management potential

Abstract This study presents the results of an experimental investigation of the influence of latent thermal heat storage elements on the power consumption as well as the temperature distribution of commercial household refrigerators. Two evaporator types and a standard wire-and-tube condenser are equipped with copolymer-bound phase change materials (PCM) and the performance is determined under standard conditions. The results show that refrigerating appliances equipped with PCM can be optimized through modifications of the control strategy to achieve different targets: (a) Power consumption can be significantly reduced by increasing the evaporator and decreasing the condenser temperature. (b) Temperature fluctuations in the refrigerator's fresh-food compartment during the cooling cycle can be reduced from 4 °C to 0.5 °C. (c) The cooling cycle duration can be tripled without compromising the fresh-food compartment conditions. The latter may help to meet the growing demand for balancing power consumption to stabilize the power grid, e.g. if the share of highly fluctuating, sustainable energy supply is large.