Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage in Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Plants

Master of Science, Graduate Program in Mechanical Engineering
University of California, Riverside, June 2011
Dr. Javier Garay, Chairperson

Experimental  studies  are  presented  that  aim  to  utilize  phase  change materials (PCM’s) to enhance thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) systems. Both laboratory scale and prototype flow loop  scale  experiments  were  conducted.  Background  and  motivation  of  the system is presented followed by experimental results and experimental system design.

Laboratory experiments were performed to determine the effectiveness of  various  surface  treatments  on  changing  the  nucleation  kinetics  and enhancing heat transfer in the system. Experimental data is presented to show the effectiveness of both surface finish and surface material treatments.

A large scale flow loop was designed and built to determine real heat transfer during solidification. Extensive design calculations were performed along with CAD design before the apparatus was constructed. Once the system was built, systematic testing and development led to a fully functional system ready for actual heat transfer testing.