Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PCMNano (Using Phase Change Materials for the Base Suspension in the Creation of NanoFluids)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2018-08-27 do 2020-08-26
The research is important to society because there is a significant need for more research and development in the field of thermal properties of PCMs in order to improve heat transfer capabilities in any thermal processes and/or for thermal energy storage. Furthermore, it is possible that the addition of nanoparticles to certain organic compounds can further enhance the PCMs’ heat transfer properties. Therefore, using an organic compound as the base suspension for the creation of a nanofluid should produce a working fluid with thermal transport properties far greater than anything in use today. Then, if successful, this action will provide a means of thermal transport (cooling or storage) beyond today’s current state-of-the-art.
The first work package of the action is to determine the thermal properties of possible PCMs for different base suspension (hydrocarbons) materials using the Transient Hot-Wire (THW) Method. The second work package will use the PCMs from the first phase as a base suspension to create different nanofluids, which will then be tested in the same manner as the base fluids in the first phase. Once all of the experiments have been concluded the data and results will be compared to the base fluids. The nanofluids are expected to produce an order of magnitude higher thermal conductivity than the base fluids alone.
In the PCMNano project, the developed and tested nanofluids using different types of nano-particles, including some commercial nanofluids, do not show such expected enhancement of the thermal conductivity.
Some interesting results have been disseminated and presented at the 26th Biennial Thermodynamic Conference [26-28 June 2019, Huelva, Spain] of the Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics Group (SMTG) of the Faraday Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00268976.2020.1771043) and at the XXXVIIth Biennial Meeting [15-19 July 2019, Zaragoza, Spain] of the Spanish Royal Society of Physics (RSEF, https://eventos.unizar.es/20274/detail/bienalrsef2019.html).
Three other disseminations in international congresses organized for the year 2020 were finally postponed because of the pandemic Covid-19:
5th edition of ImagineNano 2020; Bilbao, Spain, 28 - 30 April 2020 (Postponed to 25-27 May 2021) Website: http://www.imaginenano.com
31st European Symposium on Applied Thermodynamics; ESAT 2020; Paris, France, 28 June – 1 July 2020 (postponed to 4 – 7 July 2021, ESAT 2020 becomes ESAT 2021) Website: http://www.esat2020.com
11th LIQUID MATTER CONFERENCE 2020; LMC 2020; Prague, Czech Republic, 20 - 24 July 2020 (postponed to 18-23 July 2021) Website: http://www.lmc2020.cz
A paper entitled (Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of stable fullerene-based nanofluids) was submitted for publication as Open Access in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.
Determination of the physical properties of both organic compounds together with their use as base suspensions for nanofluids are of great significance to the science and engineering community in the field of heat efficiency and conversion, thermal storage, renewable energy, etc. Having this type of information is vital to future scientific and commercial endeavors. For instance, in solar thermal collectors having a working fluid with adequate thermal properties improves their efficiency. Furthermore, thermal transportation devices are becoming ever more vital and determination of the thermal properties of PCMs can advance innovation in said devices; this is necessary because every year a greater demand is being placed on thermal efficiency. This information is also vital in the oil and gas industries, where these types of hydrocarbons are commonly found within fossil fuel deposits around the world, and knowing their physical properties is essential to proficient extraction of these natural resources.