Characterization of bio-nano doped phase change material (bio-nano/PCM) for building energy management
S.D. Anitha Selvasofia, Soundharyaa Shri, P. Manoj Kumar, K.B. Prakash
Abstract
The energy consumed by buildings to maintain thermal comfort has been significantly high in recent years. It is attributed to the increased cooling/heating loads of the buildings, and it has been considered the most challenging factor in achieving net-zero buildings. Phase changing materials (PCM) have been proposed as prospective thermal energy storage materials, and they can be deployed to maintain the thermal comfort of the building in a passive manner if they are integrated with the building components appropriately. In this research, an organic bio-nano doped phase change material (bio-nano/PCM) has been synthesized and characterized for its thermophysical characteristics to analyze its suitability for building thermal management. Paraffin wax has been chosen as the PCM, and an in-house synthesized eggshell nanoparticle (derived from bio-wastes) has been deployed as the thermal characteristics-enhancing medium of the PCM. The waste eggshells are mechanically milled into nano-sized particles, and then they are blended with the PCM in different mass proportions (.0%, .5%, 1.0%, and 2.0%) to obtain bio-nano/PCMs. Then, the thermophysical characteristics of the bio-nano/PCMs have been studied using different instruments to assess the effect of bio-nanoparticles on the thermal storage performance of the base PCM. The results confirmed the consistent distribution of the bio-nanoparticles within the PCM matrix at lower mass fractions and the significant stability of bio-nano/PCMs, both in terms of chemical and thermal aspects. Further, the results exposed that the amalgamation of 1.0% bio-nanoparticles in PCM has pointedly suppressed the supercooling of the PCM and greatly amended the thermal conductivity of PCM to 53.33% without much distressing its latent heat, even after 500 thermal cycles. However, the inclusion of bio-nanoparticles above a 1.0% mass fraction significantly reduced the thermal storage capability of the PCM.