Experimental investigation on solidification behavior of water based CNT nanofluids for cool thermal storage system

摘要

This study aimed to investigate the thermal performance of a new sort of nano enhanced phase change material (NEPCM) for cool thermal storage energy storage (CTES) system. The NEPCM was prepared by suspending 0.1 wt. % multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in deionized water (DI water) along with the nucleating agent. The stabilizing agent, sodium dodecylbenezene sulphonate (SDBS), was used to stabilize the MWCNT in water. The experiments were conducted at various surrounding bath temperatures with the NEPCM. The results evidently showed that reduction in freezing duration of ～ 25% compared to that of DI water and the presence of pseudomonas diminished the sub-cooling completely. Further, the fraction of mass solidified at various time intervals revealed that 50% of the PCM was frozen in 25% of the total freezing time for both the cases of the water PCM and NEPCM. The enhanced heat transport properties of the NEPCM without sub-cooling and accelerating charging will be very useful in designing energy efficient CTES system.