LATENT HEAT STORAGE UNIT WITH A DEVICE FOR TRIGGERING THE CRYSTALLIZATION IN A PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL AND METHOD FOR TRIGGERING THE CRYSTALLIZATION IN A PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL

摘要

The invention relates to a latent heat store having a storage container 1 for accommodating a phase change material PCM and having a device 7 for triggering a crystallization in the phase change material. The triggering of the crystallization in the phase change material is, in the case of the device according to the invention and the method according to the invention, based on the presetting of crystallization nuclei which initiate a nucleation, such that, under the given conditions, a stable phase is formed from the metastable phase. For this purpose, a gaseous medium enriched with crystallization nuclei (seed crystal) is supplied to the phase change material. The latent heat store according to the invention has a storage container 1 which is filled, aside from a residual volume 36 of a gaseous medium, with a phase change material PCM. The gaseous medium enriched with crystallization nuclei is supplied to the phase change material PCM by way of a line system 16 which has a supply line 24 which extends into the container interior of the storage container 1, the open end 35 of which supply line is situated below the boundary layer 26 between the gaseous medium situated in the storage container 1 and the phase change material PCM.