Characterization of Natural Convection Heat Transfer in Two New Microencapsulated Phase Change Material Slurries for Low Temperature Energy Storage

Thermal properties of a new type of microencapsulated phase change material slurry (MPCMS) were evaluated with the purpose of developing a cold storage system for solar-driven air conditioning applications. An experimental test rig was designed and built for experimentally determining the MPCMS heat transfer coefficient. Two types of MPCMS, with different values of PCM mass concentration, were tested. A higher value of the heat transfer coefficient was found for the MPCMS with a lower PCM microcapsules concentration. For both types of MPCMS a higher value of the natural convection heat transfer coefficient was found in the phase transition temperature range