Ce travail est effectué dans le cadre d'une thèse Conventions Industrielles de Formation par la Recherche (CIFRE) entre l’entreprise Sophia Antipolis Énergie Développement (SAED) à Valbonne et l'Institut Matériaux Microélectronique Nanosciences de Provence (IM2NP) – CNRS – Université du Sud Toulon-Var.L’objectif de cette collaboration est l’évaluation du potentiel technico-économique de divers matériaux pour le stockage de l’énergie thermique par chaleur latente, adapté aux niveaux de température des capteurs solaires développés par SAED. En effet, le stockage de l’énergie est un des principaux verrous technologiques reconnus pour les procédés ayant recours à des énergies renouvelables intermittentes et en particulier pour les centrales héliothermodynamiques.Après une introduction sur le potentiel et l’intérêt des centrales solaires thermodynamiques à basse température, un bref état de l’art des principaux types de stockage de l’énergie est présenté. Le deuxième chapitre aborde plus en détail le principe du stockage thermique par chaleur latente et recense une centaine de matériaux sélectionnés dans la littérature pour leur changement de phase dans la gamme de température 70 - 140°C. Les critères de sélection retenus y sont exposés.Des analyses thermiques par calorimétrie différentielle à balayage sont effectuées de façon systématique sur les différents Matériaux à Changement de Phase (MCP) sélectionnés. Les résultats de ces mesures, présentés dans le chapitre III, caractérisent avec précision le comportement de ces matériaux au chauffage. La transformation au refroidissement est étudiée au moyen d’un dispositif conçu spécifiquement pour représenter au mieux les conditions imposées dans une enceinte industrielle. Cette étude, présentée dans le chapitre IV, permet d’affiner la sélection des MCP pour ne garder que ceux dont la réversibilité du changement d’état est compatible avec une utilisation industrielle en tant que milieu de stockage de l’énergie thermique. Les chapitres V et VI permettent d’étudier plus en détails les spécificités de deux types de MCP que sont les polyols et les mélanges eutectiques de nitrates.Le dernier chapitre est consacré à la modélisation des échanges thermiques au sein d’une cuve de stockage contenant un MCP encapsulé. L’objectif est de disposer d’un outil de prédiction des performances d’une unité de stockage par chaleur latente, afin d’analyser l’influence des différentes solutions envisagées sur le productible d’une centrale thermodynamique solaire et leur impact sur le coût du kWh électrique produit. / This work of thesis is done within the framework of industrial agreements research training, between the company Sophia Antipolis Energie Développement (SAED) in Valbonne, and the Institut Matériaux Microélectronique Nanosciences de Provence (IM2NP) – CNRS – University Sud Toulon-Var.The aim of this collaboration is to investigate the technical and economic potential of various materials for thermal energy storage by latent heat, suitable for temperature levels of the solar collectors developed by SAED. Indeed, energy storage is a major technological barrier to the process resorting to intermittent renewable energies and especially for thermodynamic solar power plants.After an introduction on the potential and interest of solar power plants working at low temperature, a brief state of art of the main types of energy storage is presented. The second chapter addresses in detail the principle of thermal storage by latent heat and identifies a hundred of selected materials from the literature for phase change in the temperature range 343 - 413 K. The selection criteria are exposed.Thermal analyses by differential scanning calorimetry are carried out systematically on the various selected Phase Change Materials (PCMs). The results of these measurements, presented in chapter III, accurately characterize the material behavior when heated. The transformation on cooling is studied using a device specifically designed in order to be more representative of conditions found in an industrial enclosure. This study, presented in chapter IV, allows refining the selection of PCMs retaining only those whose phase change reversibility is compatible with an industrial use as medium for thermal energy storage. Chapters V and VI are used to study in further detail the specifics of two types of MCP, respectively polyols and eutectic mixtures of nitrates.Final chapter deals with the modeling of heat transfer into a storage tank containing encapsulated PCM. The aim is to provide a tool for predicting the performance of a latent heat storage unit, in order to analyze the influence of different options on the solar power plant energy yield and their impact on the kWh cost.

Estudamos o modelo de Ising com diluição de sítios numa rede de Bethe. a estrutura hierárquica da rede de Bethe leva de forma natural às relações de recorrência satisfeitas pelas distribuições de probabilidade dos campos efetivos. As quantidades termodinâmicas na rede de Bethe são então expressas explicitamente em termos das distribuições limite dos campos efetivos. As distribuições dos campos efetivos em T=0 são obtidas de forma numericamente exata (isto é, se desprezarmos os erros de arrendodamento) e também analiticamente em alguns casos selecionados. Encontramos no caso de interações ferromagnéticas um número sempre finito de campos efetivos possíveis, mas no caso de interações antiferromagnéticas esse número pode divergir para valores irracionais do campo aplicado. Esses resultados fornecem o diagrama de fases campo aplicado versus concentração, numericamente exato, para antiferromagnetismo diluído em T=0. As distribuições dos campos efetivos são determinadas aproximadamente para T>0 e utilizadas para o cálculo de diferentes grandezas termodinâmicas. Apresentamos as curvas de magnetização, energia livre, energia interna e entropia. Esses cálculos fornecem o diagrama de fases aproximado no espaço tridimensional de campo aplicado, temperatura e concentração. / The site diluted Ising model is studied on a Beth lattice. The hierarchical structure of the Bethe lattice leads naturally to recursion relations obeyed by the probability distributions of the effective fields. The thermodynamic quantities on the Bethe lattice are then explicitly written in terms of the limiting distributions of the effective fields. Numerically exact results (i.e. if we neglect roundoff errors) for the distributions of the effective fields for T = 0 are presented, together with analytic results for select cases. It is found that the number of effective fields is always finite in the case of ferromagnetic interactions , but it might diverge for irrational values of the applied field in the case of antiferromagnetic interactions. These results yeld a numerically exact applied field versus concentration phase diagram for diluted antiferromagnet at T = 0. The distributions of the effective fields are computed aproximately for T > 0 and used to evaluete various thermodynamic quantities. Curves for the magnetization, free energy, internal energy and entropy are displayed. These calculations give an approximate three-dimensional phase diagram in the space of applied field, temperature and concentration.

In addition, this project also investigated schemes that might enhance the phase change in the SPR sensor. The "double-pass" and "multi-pass" approaches through which the SPR phase can be amplified upon hitting the sensor surface more than once, have been experimentally studied and successfully demonstrated. A double-pass method can immediately offer two times of phase change as compared to the singlepass one. Accordingly the multi-pass scheme offers a higher then two times phase enhancement. Such improvement in phase detection is extremely important for biosensing applications involving small molecules, small proteins, DNA and etc. Another approach for detection performance improvement is to incorporate a multilayer configuration for the biosensing surface. In order to improve the dynamic measurement response, we proposed to use a multiple resonant angle measurement approach in conjunction with the single-beam self-referenced phase-sensitive SPR configuration. With the use of many multiple incident angles, the system provided sensing capability that covers a refractive index (RI) 1.33 to over 1.38. A 128-element array detector was employed to measure the resonance phase change over the range of the incident angles to ensure a reasonably continuous phase response curves achievable from the system. / This project is concerned with the development and optimization of optical sensors based on measuring the phase change of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. The phase sensitive SPR technique provides very high sensitivity performance due to the fact that an abrupt phase jump occurs near the resonance dip, thus resulting in large phase shift with very small change in the sensing medium. A range of different measurement techniques for enhancing system sensitivity have been investigated. Moreover we also studied the phase change characteristics around the SPR dip region by means of simulation in order to explore various approaches for achieving further improvement in sensitivity and as well as wide dynamic range. Since SPR is caused by electron charge density oscillations in metal surface in which the wave momentum required for plasmon wave excitation is always larger than that for free space, an inverted prism-coupling scheme (prism-metal-dielectric) is commonly used and this configuration was also employed in our experimental setup, particularly for the SPR biosensor based on differential phase Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration. This design primarily operates by taking advantage of the fact that SPR only affects the p-polarization while leaving the s-polarization unchanged. This means that differential phase measurement between the p- and s- polarizations will result in SPR signals that are completely free from any disturbances that are common to both channels. Experimental results obtained from glycerin/water mixtures indicate that the sensitivity limit of our scheme is 5.48 x 10 -8 refractive index unit per 0.01° phase change. To our knowledge, this is a significant improvement over previously obtained results when gold is used as the sensor surface. While acknowledging that accurate optical alignment is a crucial requirement for the Mach-Zehnder interferometer and it is often not easy to maintain high degree alignment accuracies in practical situations, we have developed a versatile and low cost single-beam self-referenced phase-sensitive surface SPR sensing system. The system exhibits a root-mean-square phase fluctuation of +/-0.0028° over a period of 45 minutes, i.e. a resolution of +/-5.2x10 -9 refractive index units. The enhanced performance has been achieved through the incorporation of three design elements: (i) a true single-beam configuration enabling complete self-referencing so that only the phase change associated with SPR gets detected; (ii) a differential measurement scheme to eliminate spurious signals not related to the sensor response; (iii) elimination of retardation drifts by incorporating temperature stabilization in the liquid crystal phase modulator. Our design should bring the detection sensitivity of non-labeling SPR biosensing closer to that achievable by conventional florescence-based techniques. / Wu, Shu Yuen. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-06, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-147). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Solar assisted heat pump (SAHP) systems have been widely applied in domestic hot water (DHW) production due to their sustainability and stability in operations. However, their performance efficiency requires further improvement using advanced technologies such as energy storage with phase change materials (PCM) and optimal system controls. Undoubtedly, employing PCMs for latent heat storage (LHS) application has a great potential to improve a solar thermal application performance. Despite this fact, the use of PCM in this area is quite limited due to the poor thermal conductivity of available PCMs. Therefore, heat transfer enhancement is one of the essential strategies that can overcome this obstacle. Accordingly, a test rig of a new indirect expansion solar assisted heat pump (IDX-SAHP) system has been designed, built and instrumented. The system can handle heating capacity up to 9 kW. The IDX-SAHP system consists of three operational loops: solar thermal, solar-air assisted heat pump and load profile. A 2 kW PCM heat exchanger (HX) was purposely designed and installed in the system solar thermal loop to store solar energy, when applicable, and release heat when required by the heat pump. The PCM HX is employed with a novel heat transfer enhancement method. The maximum coefficient of performance (COP) of the IDX-SHAP system reached 4.99 during the sunny day with the PCM (HX) integration. However, the maximum energy saving was achieved during the cloudy day with the PCM HX integration. Moreover, the proposed heat transfer enhancement method has been modelled through CFD package and validated with the experimental results. This allows a clear understanding of the reasons for the longer discharging process compared with the charging process. Furthermore, the inlet flow rate and temperature variation of the PCM HX was simulated during charging and discharging processes. The optimum inlet flow rate for this application was found at 0.1 kg/s while the optimum inlet temperature was found at 40°C. Meanwhile, the whole system was modelled by the coupling of TRNSYS, EES and CFD to investigate the potential and advantages of using the system in locations with rich solar intensity such as Cairo and Madrid. The simulation shows that the solar thermal operation loop was called more frequently in these locations. This had a significant impact on the system energy consumption, especially during winter. The maximum COP and solar performance factor (SPF) of the modelled system were 5.3 and 0.83 respectively.

Exploring uses of two-phase mixtures as a way to store peak solar energy for off-peak usage is a novel approach that has been gaining attention in recent years to address the issues tied to solid fuel dependence. This research explores a “solar salt” mixture (40%wt KNO3 and 60%wt NaNO3) in an aluminum enclosure under two test conditions: conduction enhancement and no conduction enhancement. The central aim is to develop an understanding of thermal distributions and melt developments as the system moves from room temperature to 300 oC. Thermal pattern development is explored by experimentally observing a 2-D temperature field at 8 co-planar points, comprised of 3 radial positions with complementary circumferential measurements, using thermocouples. The instrument array is traversed to three different axial positions where collected data is compared with results from a numerical solver. Results find three important details. First, the melt pattern of the fin experiments show quicker rates of melting after the onset of melt at the bottom of the enclosure. Second, the spatial effects of the instrumentation influence the presence of thermal phenomena. Lastly, approximations of the salts behavior using numerical simulations are supported in identifying phases of melt development.

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A prototype thermal storage system, using phase change materials, was developed for a novel electric vehicle climate conditioning application. The proposed system consists of a heat transfer fluid circulating between either an on-board hot or cold thermal storage unit, which we refer to as thermal battery, and a liquid-air heat exchanger that provides heat exchange with the incoming air to the vehicle cabin. The research presented herein focuses primarily on the development of the on-board system and hot battery. While the air conditioning system was developed strictly for laboratory use, it was designed to meet application realistic performance metrics, e.g., a heat dissipation rate of 2 kW. The prototype was tested with three phase change materials: paraffin wax, xylitol, and erythritol. Furthermore, a full system thermodynamic model was developed to predict thermal performance that features semi-analytic solution to the coupled forced convection and phase change conduction heat transfer. Modeling results are compared against a numerical benchmark as well as our own experimental data. / text

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The present study has focused on the use of coil heat exchangers (CHEs) with microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurries to understand if CHEs can yield greater rates of heat transfer. An experimental study was conducted using a counterflow CHE consisting of 3 helical coils. Two separate tests were conducted, one where water was used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) on the coil and shell sides, respectively; while the second one made use of MPCM slurry and water on the coil and shell sides, respectively. The NTU-effectiveness relationship of the CHE when MPCM fluid is used approaches that of a heat exchanger with a heat capacity ratio of zero. The heat transfer results have shown that when using a MPCM slurry, an increase in heat transfer rate can be obtained when compared to heat transfer results obtained using straight heat transfer sections. It has been concluded that the increased specific heat of the slurry as well as the fluid dynamics in helical coil pipes are the main contributors to the increased heat transfer.

abstract: In recent years, 40% of the total world energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is because of buildings. Out of that 60% of building energy consumption is due to HVAC systems. Under current trends these values will increase in coming years. So, it is important to identify passive cooling or heating technologies to meet this need. The concept of thermal energy storage (TES), as noted by many authors, is a promising way to rectify indoor temperature fluctuations. Due to its high energy density and the use of latent energy, Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are an efficient choice to use as TES. A question that has not satisfactorily been addressed, however, is the optimum location of PCM. In other words, given a constant PCM mass, where is the best location for it in a building? This thesis addresses this question by positioning PCM to obtain maximum energy savings and peak time delay. This study is divided into three parts. The first part is to understand the thermal behavior of building surfaces, using EnergyPlus software. For analysis, a commercial prototype building model for a small office in Phoenix, provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, is applied and the weather location file for Phoenix, Arizona is also used. The second part is to justify the best location, which is obtained from EnergyPlus, using a transient grey box building model. For that we have developed a Resistance-Capacitance (RC) thermal network and studied the thermal profile of a building in Phoenix. The final part is to find the best location for PCMs in buildings using EnergyPlus software. In this part, the mass of PCM used in each location remains unchanged. This part also includes the impact of the PCM mass on the optimized location and how the peak shift varies. From the analysis, it is observed that the ceiling is the best location to install PCM for yielding the maximum reduction in HVAC energy consumption for a hot, arid climate like Phoenix. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Mechanical Engineering 2018