Heat transfer improvement of Wood's alloy using compressed expanded natural graphite for thermal energy storage

Published Date
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
May 2012, Vol.100:263–267, doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2012.01.033
Photovoltaics, Solar Energy Materials, and Technologies: Cancun 2010

Author 

Yajuan Zhong ^a,,

Quangui Guo ^b

Lei Li ^c

Xianglei Wang ^b

Jinliang Song ^d

Kesong Xiao ^b

Fuqiang Huang ^a

• aCAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China
• bCAS Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
• cSiemens Shanghai Medical Equipment Ltd., Shanghai 201318, China
• dCAS Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis Technique, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China

Received 18 October 2011. Revised 19 December 2011. Accepted 24 January 2012. Available online 15 February 2012. 

Abstract

As a phase change material, Wood's alloy is infiltrated into the compressed expanded natural graphite (CENG) in an attempt to improve the thermal conductivity of the alloy. The thermal conductivity of the CENG/Wood's alloy composite depends on the bulk density of the CENG. Thermal conductivity of the composites can be 2.8–5.8 times than that of the Wood's alloy. On the other hand, the latent heat of the composites ranges from 29.27 to 34.20 J/g. The graphite does not undergo a phase change, so the latent heat would be expected to be linear with the amount of Wood's alloy. The composites have a potential use in the heat sink of the electronic device.

Highlights

► Compressed expanded natural graphite (CENG) improved the thermal performance of Wood's alloy. ► Thermal conductivity of the CENG/Wood's alloy composites is ∼5 times than that of the Wood's alloy. ► The latent heat would be expected to be linear with the amount of Wood's alloy. ► The composites have a potential use in the heat sink of the electronic device.

Keywords

Phase change material (PCM)

Wood's alloy

Compressed expanded natural graphite (CENG)

Thermal conductivity

Latent heat

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  Corresponding author at: CAS Key Laboratory of Materials for Energy Conversion, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200050, China. Tel./fax: +86 21 5241 6360.

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