Energy Storage Science and Technology ›› 2012, Vol. 1 ›› Issue (1): 74-81.

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Progress in metal-based phase change materials for thermal energy storage applications

ZHANG Guocai 1,2,3，XU Zhe1，CHEN Yunfa2，LI Jianqiang1   

  1. 1 National Engineering Laboratory for Hydrometallurgical Cleaner Production Technology，Institute of Process Engineering，Chinese Academy of Sciences， Beijing 100190， China； 2 State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems，Institute of Process Engineering，Chinese Academy of Sciences，Beijing 100190，China；3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences，Beijing 100049，China
  • Received:2012-07-31 Online:2012-09-01 Published:2012-09-01

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Abstract:

Metal-based phase change materials (PCMs) are superior to other phase change materials in latent thermal storage system owning to their advantages such as high heat storage density, good thermal stability, excellent conductivity coefficient, and so on. This paper briefly reviews the development of metal-based PCMs,
as well as the thermophysical properties and characterization methods of metal-based PCMs. The compatibility between metal-based PCMs and container materials was discussed through a close exploration on the recent literatures. The prospects of metal-based PCMs in solar thermal power generation, high temperature waste heat recovery and load shifting in electric power were also analysed. It is summarized that the compatibility between metal-based PCMs and container at high temperature is limiting their potential applications in various thermal control systems. The future work should be focus on the reliable encapsulation of metal-based PCMs in order to realize its comprehensive applications.

Key words: metal-based phase change materials, thermophysical properties, compatibility, solar thermal power generation, waste heat recovery