Heat storage unit involving nanoparticle-enhanced phase change materials

Abstract To control the operating temperature and temperature differences, the battery thermal management system (BTMS) is very necessary for the electric vehicle batteries. Phase change material can be widely used in the BTMS. In other direction, at the present time the continuous increase in energy consumption due to human population growth and rising demand in the industrial sector is considered as a major challenge. More energy should be produced to meet this growing energy demand, which means a greater amount of fossil fuels should be burned, leading to more air pollution. These challenges made researchers work on the exploitation of renewable sources of energy, such as solar as unlimited, sustainable, and clean. Solar power is expected to become the largest source of electricity by 2050. However, solar energy is only available at a certain period during the daytime, and its application is limited by some conditions like terrain, climate condition, and geographical location. Therefore the heat storage unit could permit the solar thermal plant to deliver electricity at night and on the bad weather. In this regard the utilization of phase change material (PCM) is an operative approach for storing solar energy when this energy is available and releasing the stored heat at a later time, which has plenty of practical applications for solar energy storage. This chapter aims to take a close look at the applied methods for enhancing the efficiency of thermal energy storage systems utilized in ventilation systems. Solidification and melting processes have been investigated considering several geometrical shapes. The results revealed that an increase in copper oxide nanoparticle concentration leads to augmenting melting fraction. Following the addition of nanomaterial, the temperature of the outlet air increases, and conduction heat transfer in the top layer enhances. The effectiveness of adding nanosized powders is higher when this approach is combined with employing the sinusoidal surface. With the progress of time, heat flux transfer to PCM reduces. The increase in the wavy duct amplitude leads to minimizing the rate of discharge. When pure paraffin is employed, the effect of wavy surface amplitude is more noticeable.