In this investigation an electric field was applied to a phase change thermal storage system while it was discharging energy. The phase change material used was octadecane. Octadecane is a high purity dielectric material that has a melting temperature close to room temperature. The material was forced to solidify using a heat exchanger mount below the phase change material, cold water flowed through the heat exchanger to ensure it maintained a constant temperature below the melting temperature of the phase change material. By applying -8kV to 9 electrodes – positioned in the phase change material – and by using the heat exchanger as an electrical ground – an electric field was generated in the phase change material. The electric field caused unbalanced body forces in the fluid which generated electro-convection in the fluid. The system was designed such that electro-convection is the only source of convection in the system to isolate the effects of electro-convection, allowing for the underlying physics of electro-convection to be studied easier. To understand the effects of applying electro-convection, a case where there is no applied voltage on the electrodes was compared to a case where there was -8 kV applied to the electrodes. Experiments showed that the effect of applying electro-convection depends on the initial temperature; however, it was found that the improvement after two hours was less than 10%. For a wall temperature of 8.5℃ and an initial temperature of 50℃ - the melting temperate of octadecane is 28℃- then the maximum enhancement of the energy extracted is 50%, but two hours after the start of the test the enhancement approached zero. For a wall temperature of 8.5℃ and an initial temperature of 30℃, the maximum enhancement is 10% and similarly fall to zero after a few hours of application. A simple analytical model was developed. The experimental and numerical results showed that at the early stages of energy discharge the electro-convection case had a large improvement compared to a pure conduction case, however as time progresses this improvement decreases. The explanation for the trend is that adding convection only increases the rate that energy is taken out of the liquid, thus the maximum improvement is bounded by the amount of sensible energy in the liquid phase change material, once this sensible energy is removed applying electrohydrodynamics is no longer beneficial. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Energy storage using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) offers the advantage of higher heat capacity at specific temperature ranges, compared to single phase storage. Incorporating PCMs in lightweight buildings can therefore improve the thermal mass, and reduce indoor temperature fluctuations and energy demand. Large atrium buildings, such as Airport terminal spaces, are typically thermally lightweight structures, with large open indoor spaces, large glazed envelopes, high ceilings and non-uniform internal heat gains. The Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems constitute a major portion of the overall energy demand of such buildings. This study presented a case study of the energy saving potential of three different PCM systems (PCM floor tiles, PCM glazed envelope and a retrofitted PCM-HX system) in an airport terminal space. A quasi-dynamic coupled TRNSYS®-FLUENT® simulation approach was used to evaluate the energy performance of each PCM system in the space. FLUENT® simulated the indoor air-flow and PCM, whilst TRNSYS® simulated the HVAC system. Two novel PCM models were developed in FLUENT® as part of this study. The first model improved the phase change conduction model by accounting for hysteresis and non-linear enthalpy-temperature relationships, and was developed using data from Differential Scanning Calorimetry tests. This model was validated with data obtained in a custom-built test cell with different ambient and internal conditions. The second model analysed the impact of radiation on the phase change behaviour. It was developed using data from spectrophotometry tests, and was validated with data from a custom-built PCM-glazed unit. These developed phase change models were found to improve the prediction errors with respect to conventional models, and together with the enthalpy-porosity model, they were used to simulate the performance of the PCM systems in the airport terminal for different operating conditions. This study generally portrayed the benefits and flexibility of using the coupled simulation approach in evaluating the building performance with PCMs, and showed that employing PCMs in large, open and thermally lightweight spaces can be beneficial, depending on the configuration and mode of operation of the PCM system. The simulation results showed that the relative energy performance of the PCM systems relies mainly on the type and control of the system, the night recharge strategy, the latent heat capacity of the system, and the internal heat gain schedules. Semi-active systems provide more control flexibility and better energy performance than passive systems, and for the case of the airport terminal, the annual energy demands can be reduced when night ventilation of the PCM systems is not employed. The semi-active PCM-HX-8mm configuration without night ventilation, produced the highest annual energy and CO2 emissions savings of 38% and 23%, respectively, relative to a displacement conditioning (DC) system without PCM systems.

Smart textiles especially Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are getting attention because these materials can provide regulation of wearer’s body climate and provide comfort in the temperature fluctuations during the physical activity like sports. These materials have the advantage of latent heat energy storage that can absorb and release high amount of energy over a narrow temperature range around the human’s body temperature to provide thermal comfort. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) absorb energy during the heating process as phase change takes place and release energy to the surroundings during the reverse cooling process. The types of phase change materials that are suitable for sports applications are hydrated inorganic salts, linear long chain hydrocarbons, Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG). The concept of thermal comfort and working of PCMs in the textiles garments are important for determining the functionality of PCMs. Phase Change materials are micro capsulated in the shells by “Situ polymerization technique before application to sportswear and garments. The PCMs microcapsules are incorporated in the sportswear and garments by fiber technology, lamination, foaming and coating. The testing of clothing containing micro capsulated PCMs is discussed after the incorporation of PCMs in textiles. Quality parameters that are key for getting good results are mentioned i.e. particle size, thermal conductivity, fire hazard treatment, durability and performance of micro capsulated PCMs and clothing. In the last section findings, suggestions and conclusion are discussed. / Program: Magisterutbildning i Applied Textile Management

Zugl.: Aachen, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2008.

This thesis deals with computer modeling of temperature hysteresis during phase change, namely complete and partial phase change. There is performed a review of methods for modeling temperature hysteresis based on the enthalpy method and the effective heat capacity method. In the case of complete phase change, there are several methods that use the effective heat capacity method, as well as the heat source method, which, on the contrary, is a certain analogy of the enthalpy method. The following are works dealing with modelling of partial phase change, the most interesting of which is due to the validation method of static hysteresis and the method designed by Bony and Citherlet. The second part of this thesis deals with the hysteresis behavior of the material with phase change, which is organic paraffin RT 27. The input data obtained by differential scanning calorimetry was converted to the dependence of the enthalpy on temperature. These curves was represented by piecewise linear function. In the case of partial phase transformations, a modeling method based on the methods proposed by Bonym and Citherlet was designed. An one-dimensional model enabling thermal simulation of the material was implemented in the MATLAB software environment. The results obtained with this simulation are finally compared with a model that does not consider thermal hysteresis.

No description available.

Phase change materials (PCMs) have the ability to store thermal energy as latent heat over a nearly isothermal temperature range. Compared to sensible heat storage, properly chosen PCMs can store an order of magnitude more energy when undergoing phase change. Organic PCMs present several advantages including their non-corrosive behavior and ability to melt congruently, which result in safe and reliable performance. Because of these qualities, organic PCMs have been proposed for use in latent heat thermal storage systems to increase the energy efficiency or performance of various systems such as cooling and heating in buildings, hot water heating, electronics cooling, and thermal comfort in vehicles. Current performance is hindered by the low thermal conductivity, which significantly limits the rate of charging and discharging. Solutions to this challenge include the insertion of high conductivity nanoparticles and foams to increase thermal transport. However, performance validation remains tied to thermal conductivity and latent heat measurements, instead of more practical metrics of thermal charging performance, stability of the composite, and energy storage cost. This thesis focuses on the use of graphite nanoplatelets and graphite foams to increase the thermal charging performance of organic PCMs. Stability of graphite nanoplatelets in liquid PCM is realized for the first time through the use of dispersants and control of the viscosity, particle distribution, and oxidation. Thermal charging response of stable graphite nanoplatelet composites is compared to graphite foam composites. This study includes a correlation of thermal conductivity and latent heat to material concentration, geometry, and energy storage cost. Additionally, a hybrid PCM storage system of metal foam combined with graphite nanoplatelet PCM is proposed and evaluated under cyclic thermal conditions.

Phase change devices in both optical and electrical formats have been subject of intense research since their discovery by Ovshinsky in the early 1960’s. They have revolutionized the technology of optical data storage and have very recently been adopted for non-volatile semiconductor memories. Their great success relies on their remarkable properties enabling high-speed, low power consumption and stable retention. Nevertheless, their full potential is still yet to be realized. Operations in electrical phase change devices rely on the large resistivity contrast between the crystalline (low resistance) and amorphous (high resistance) structures. The underlying mechanisms of phase transformations and the relation between structural and electrical properties in phase change materials are quite complex and need to be understood more deeply. For this purpose, we compare different approaches to mathematical modelling that have been suggested to realistically simulate the crystallization and amorphization of phase change materials. In this thesis the recently introduced Gillespie Cellular Automata (GCA) approach is used to obtain direct simulation of the structural phases and the electrical states of phase change materials and devices. The GCA approach is a powerful technique to understand the nanostructure evolution during the crystallization (SET) and amorphization (RESET) processes in phase change devices over very wide length scales. Using this approach, a detailed study of the electrical properties and nanostructure dynamics during SET and RESET processes in a PCRAM cell is presented. Besides the possibility of binary storage in phase change memory devices, there is a wider and far-reaching potential for using them as the basis for new forms of arithmetic and cognitive computing. The origin of such potential lies in a previously under-explored property, namely accumulation which has the potential to implement basic arithmetic computations. We exploit and explore this accumulative property in films and devices. Furthermore, we also show that the same accumulation property can be used to mimic a simple integrate and fire neuron. Thus by combining both a phase change cell operating in the accumulative regime for the neural body and a phase change cell in the multilevel regime for the synaptic weighting an artificial neuromorphic system can be obtained. This may open a new route for the realization of phase change based cognitive computers. This thesis also examines the relaxation oscillations observed under suitable bias conditions in phase change devices. The results presented are performed through a circuit analysis in addition with a generation and recombination mechanism driven by the electric field and carrier densities. To correctly model the oscillations we show that it is necessary to include a parasitic inductance. Related to the electrical states of phase change materials and devices is the threshold switching of the amorphous phase at high electric fields and recent work has suggested that such threshold switching is the result of field-induced nucleation. An electric field induced nucleation mechanism is incorporated into the GCA approach by adding electric field dependence to the free energy of the system. Using results for a continuous phase change thin films and PCRAM devices we show that a purely electronic explanation of threshold switching, rather than field-induced nucleation, provides threshold fields closer to experimentally measured values.

Boiling phenomena in micro scale has emerged as an interesting topic due to its complexity and increasing usage in micro electronic and mechanical systems (MEMS). Experimental visualization has discovered five main flow regimes: nucleate boiling, isolated bubbles, confine bubbly flow, elongated bubbly (or slug) flow, and annular flow. Two of these patterns (confine bubbles and slug flow) are rarely found in macro channels and are believed to have very different heat transfer mechanisms to that of nucleate boiling. The development of a phenomenological model demands a deep understanding of each flow regime as well as the transition process between them. While studies in every individual flow pattern are available in literature, the mechanisms of transition processes between them remain mysterious. More specifically, how the isolated bubbles evolve into a confined bubbly flow, and how this further evolves into elongated bubbles and finally an annular flow. The effects of boundary conditions such as wall heat flux, surface tension, and interfacial velocity are unclear, too. The aims of this thesis are to develop and validate a new numerical algorithm, perform a comprehensive numerical study on these transition processes, uncover the transition mechanisms and investigate effects of boundary and operating conditions. Firstly, a sophisticated and robust numerical model is developed by combining a coupled level set method (CLSVOF) and a non-equilibrium phase change model, which enables an accurate capture of the two-phase interface, as well as the interface temperature. Secondly, several flow regime transitions are studied in this thesis: nucleate bubbles to confined bubbly flow, multi confined bubbles moving consecutively in a micro channel, and slug to annular flow transition. Effects of surface tension, heat flux, mass flux, and fluid properties are examined. All these regimes are studied separately, which means an appropriate initial condition is needed for each regime. The author developed a simplified model based on energy balance to set the initial and boundary conditions. / <p>QC 20170403</p>

Chalcogenide phase change (PC) materials can be reversibly transformed between the high resistivity (~ 1 Ω∙m) amorphous state (OFF-state) and low resistivity (~ 10-6 Ω∙m) crystalline state (ON-state) thermally, both are stable at the room temperature. This makes them well suited as reconfigurable RF switches and non-volatile memories. This work will present the understandings of two key characteristics of PC materials, the crystallization dynamics and the threshold voltage (Vth), as they determine performance limitations in these applications. Crystallization dynamics describe the correlations of the states, temperature and time; the Vth is the trigger of the threshold switching which leads to the “break down” of PC materials from OFF-state to ON-state. The four-terminal indirectly-heated RF switches with high cut-off frequency (> 5 THz) has advantages over other technologies but its programming power (~ 1.5 W) is yet to be reduced. Measuring the maximum allowed RESET quench time in the crystallization dynamics is critical for designing low power switches. As a major contribution, this work provides a universal methodology for accurate heater thermometry and in-situ crystallization measurements for this study. On the other hand, understanding the Vth is essential for high power handling applications as it determines the maximum power that an OFF-state switch can withstand without being spontaneously turned on. This work will discuss new observations and learnings from Vth measurements including the geometry dependent Vth variations which provide insights into the threshold switching mechanism. Unlike RF switches, faster crystallization is desired for memories to improve the write speed. The non-Arrhenius crystallization needs to be explored to achieve short crystallization time (< 10 ns) at high temperature (> 700 K). As another major contribution, this work will present a nano-scale (~ 100 nm) high-speed (thermal time constant < 5 ns) PC device for assessing the crystallization time in this regime, and provide a comprehensive learning for the crystallization dynamics from 300 K to 1000 K by developing a unified framework based on the fragility model and growth-dominated crystallization. This can be used to accurately simulate the crystallization process for any device geometry and estimate the RF switches power and Vth.