Phase Change Materials – Eutectic Thermal Energy Storage Products

Ice Thermal Energy Storage (TES) has the advantage of universal availability, low cost and transport ability through other system components. However, a conventional ice TES system for air conditioning application requires low temperature chillers and therefore standard water chillers must be replaced with low temperature glycol chillers which operate with a lower evaporation temperature and consume more power.

If we can offer designers an ice which freezes and melts above or below 0°C (32 °F) these new products will open new horizons for environmentally friendly and economical systems for both New and Retrofit type process cooling / heating load shifting applications.Phase Change Material (PCM) Eutectic solutions are  mixtures of two or more chemicals which, when mixed in a particular ratio, have a freezing / melting point below or above water freezing temperature of 0 °C (32 °F) and they offer a thermal energy storage facility between -114 °C (-173 °F) and +164 °C (327 °F).

Eutectics are well-known and in fact early applications date back to the late 18th century however the separation and the life expectancy of these mixtures were unpredictable and therefore their wide spread usage was limited.

The disadvantages of a conventional HVAC chiller and ice (water ice) storage system can be overcome by utilising the latent heat capacity of various “Eutectic” mixtures without the need for minus circulation temperatures. deschloroketamine

Phase Change Material (PCM) thermal energy storage not only enables the designer to utilise existing chiller technology but also enables charging by means of free cooling, i.e. without running the chillers

Although the term “Eutectic” is widely used to describe the materials we are interested in, a better description would be “Phase Change Materials” (“PCMs”). Unfortunately, very few of the documented PCM solutions are true Eutectics and so many have to be modified to obtain a material suitable for long term use.