Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Energy Storage

Overview

One of the disadvantages in modern buildings are the lack of thermal mass, meaning that buildings cannot contain heat in the winter and overheat in the summer. More times than not, cooling and heating systems are installed in buildings to maintain a comfortable temperature. However, with the use of phase change materials (PCM) it is possible to replicate the effect of thermal mass of a building.

Thermal energy storage through PCM are able to store energy and make it available when needed. This system depends on the shift in phase of the material for holding and releasing energy. For instance, processes like melting, evaporation or solidifying require energy. Heat is released or absorbed when the material changes from liquid to solid and vice versa. Therefore, phase change materials readily and predictably change their phase with a certain input of energy and release that energy later. This in return will improve efficiency and reduce “waste heat” within buildings. In this webinar we will be demonstrating our THW-L1 and its use in the energy storage industry. The Transient Hot-Wire (THW) is the primary method for the measurement of thermal conductivity of fluids, nanofluids and pastes because of its wide range of applications, high accuracy and repeatability.

About the Speaker

Dr. Sofia Mylona is an internationally recognized expert in the area of the thermal conductivity measurements using the Transient Hot-Wire (THW) method. She is a graduate Chemist from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th.) in Greece and holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in the same university. During her Ph.D., she designed and constructed a novel Vibrating-Wire Viscometer for measuring high-viscosity liquids for which she received the 1st Metrology award in Greece. In the last 6 years, Dr Mylona’s research is focused on the thermal conductivity measurements using the Transient Hot-Wire technique.