Design and Performance of Thermal Energy Storage module using high thermal conductivity Phase Change Composite material

摘要

HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Cooling) accounts for approximately 15-30% of a commercial building's electricity cost and about 25% of electricity consumption. Electricity costs charged by the utilities companies for commercial building customers includes consumption charges ($/kWh) and demand charges ($/kW) depending on the time of use (TOU) charges. Thus, there is great interest to reduce the electricity consumption charges and demand charges by using new energy efficient technologies and products. One such product is a thermal energy storage (TES) system using a phase change material (PCM) to offset the cooling costs associated with air-conditioning systems by reducing the electricity consumption during peak time periods. A novel phase change composite (PCC) TES material was developed that has very high thermal conductivity and favorable operating temperature than ice with fast charge/discharge rate capability. Compared to ice, the PCC TES system is capable of very high heat transfer rate and has lower system and operational costs. Proof of concept demonstration and technical feasibility were successfully completed on a 4.5 kWh PCC TES prototype unit. Performance results show that a PCC TES system can be designed for a commercial building and maintain high efficiency at high discharge rates.