Experimental analysis of a microencapsulated PCM slurry as thermal storage system and as heat transfer fluid in laminar flow

A microencapsulated PCM (Phase Change Material) slurry is a dispersion where the PCM, microencapsulated by a polymeric capsule, is dispersed in water. Compared to water, these new fluids have a higher heat capacity during the phase change and a possible enhancement, as a result of this phase change, in the heat transfer phenomenon. From the literature review, the existing experimental results are found incomplete and contradictory in many cases. For this reason the objective of this investigation is to analyze the heat transfer phenomenon in mPCM slurries, proposing a new methodology, developed by the authors. In this manner, an experimental analysis using a slurry with a 10% weight concentration of paraffin has been conducted to study it as a thermal storage material and as a heat transfer fluid. The results demonstrated an improvement of approximately 25% on the convective heat transfer coefficient when compared to water.