Design of latent heat energy storage systems using phase change materials

Abstract The large energy storage densities provided by phase change materials during their phase change, mostly isothermal, can be exploited to design and engineer energy-based systems. This large energy storage density can be used to achieve two related outcomes depending on the application: (1) store large amount of thermal energy over a small temperature range through the design of latent heat energy storage systems, or (2) use the isothermal process of storing latent heat to maintain a fairly constant temperature in temperature control and management applications (electronics being a prime example, see Chapter 27: Thermal Energy Storage for Temperature Management of Electronics). When thermal energy storage is the main purpose, the use of PCM would allow for the development of storage systems that are smaller than conventional sensible storage systems (using water or rock for example) for similar amount of energy by exploiting their larger operational storage densities. LHESS can also be designed to operate over smaller temperature ranges, leading to smaller heat losses to the environment compared to sensible storage systems that typically would need to reach higher temperatures for similar overall storage capacities (and hence be subjected to larger heat losses).