Improving the performance of home heating system with the help of optimally produced heat storage nanocapsules

Abstract In this paper, nanoencapsulation of PCM n-Octadecane with PMMA polymeric shell enhanced with comonomer PEHA via miniemulsion polymerization was performed. The effects of comonomer addition to homopolymer shell were studied to achieve a qualified shell. Optimization of nanocapsules was carried out based on RSM to investigate the effects of design parameters of Monomer/PCM, Comonomer/Monomer, and Emulsifier/PCM on the percentage of encapsulation and production cost. Innovatively, the renewable energy system was employed to provide the required energy and water for the polymerization reaction. Moreover, by introducing the nanofluid slurry containing CuO nanoparticles, the performance of synthesized nanocapsules as thermal energy storage (TES) was investigated in the PV-thermal PTC/gas boiler heating system installed in the designed room. The result indicated that the addition of comonomer EHA could improve the thermal stability and morphology of the polymeric shell. According to the optimization outcomes, the encapsulation percentage of 83.3% at the cost of 0.083$ provided the nanocapsules with the latent heat of 66 Jg-1. Also, the results of room temperatures indicated the effectiveness of the proposed heating system providing thermal heat comfort along with the overall improvement of the system utilized with the TES.