Experimental investigation of a latent heat thermal energy storage unit encapsulated with molten salt/metal foam composite seeded with nanoparticles

Abstract

Molten salt has been widely used in latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system, which can be incorporated into hybrid photovoltaic/thermal solar system to accommodate the built environment. Solar salt (60 wt.% NaNO3 and 40 wt.% KNO3) was employed as the phase change materials (PCMs) in this study, and both aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanopowder and metal foam were used to improve the properties of pure solar salt. The synthesis of the salt/metal foam composites seeded with Al2O3 nanopowder were performed with the two-step and impregnation methods, and the composite PCMs were characterized morphologically and thermally. Then pure solar salt, the salt/2 wt.% Al2O3 nanopowder and salt/copper foam composite seeded with 2 wt.% Al2O3 nanopowder were encapsulated in a pilot test rig, respectively, where a heater of 380.0 W was located in the center of the LHTES unit. The charging and discharging processes of the LHTES unit were conducted extensively, whereas the heating temperatures were controlled at 240 °C, 260 °C and 280 °C respectively. Temperature evolutions at radial, angular and axial positions were recorded, and the time-durations and volumetric mean powers during the charging and discharging processes were obtained and calculated subsequently. The results show that physical bonding between Al2O3 nanopowder and nitrate molecule has been formed from the morphological pictures together with XRD and FTIR curves. Slight changes are found between the melting/freezing phase change temperatures of the salt/metal foam composites seeded with Al2O3 nanopowder and those of pure solar salt, and the specific heats of the salt/Al2O3 nanopowder composite slightly increase with the addition of Al2O3 nanopowder. The time-duration of the charging process for the salt/copper foam composite seeded with Al2O3 nanopowder at the heating temperature of 240 °C can be reduced by about 74.0%, compared to that of pure solar salt, indicating that the heat transfer characteristics of the LHTES unit encapsulated with the salt/copper foam composite seeded with Al2O3 nanopowder can be enhanced significantly. Consequently, the mean volumetric powers of the charging process were distinctly enhanced, e.g., the volumetric mean power of heat storage can reach 110.76 kW/m3, compared to 31.94 kW/m3 of pure solar salt. However, the additive has little effect on the volumetric mean power of heat retrieval because of the domination of natural air cooling.