Experimental Investigation of Thermal Controlled Packaging from Phase Change Materials

Phase change materials (PCMs) are capable of storing and releasing large amounts of latent energy in a small amount of material through its melting and solidification. PCMs potentially have less weight and volume compared with other thermal energy storage materials. In this paper, the research focuses on the development of a thermal controlled packaging (TCP) for some temperature controlled products in order to maintain an inner temperature within a specified low range as long as possible even ambient high temperature over 30 °C. Thermal images analysis method is introduced by employing thermal imaging scanner during this project. Corresponding results with thermocouples’ are compared and discussed. The results show that proposed packaged box with PCMs can maintain internal temperature in 2°C ~ 8°C over 48 hours. The overall performance analysis of thermal controlled packaging is superior to that of conventional packaging technologies, such as expanded polystyrene (EPS).