Solidification behavior of water based Al2O3 nanofluids phase change material for energy efficient cool thermal storage system

The present study aims to investigate the solidification behavior of water based Al2O3 nanofluid phase change material encapsulated in a spherical capsule suitable for cool thermal energy storage application. The nanofluid phase change material is prepared by dispersing the Al2O3 nanoparticles mixed with DI water, which is used as a base phase shift material with a volume fraction of 0.1 %. The experiments are conducted with DI water and the Al2O3 nanofluid phase change material at surrounding bath temperatures of -6,-9 and -12 °C respectively. The presence of Al2O3 acts as a nucleating agent that causes an elimination in under cooling. The enhanced thermal properties of the Al2O3 are very useful to dissipate the concealed heat faster and helps to operate the CTES at higher operating temperature for a lesser duration, when compared with PCM where the nucleating agent is absent. So, this act fetches an energy-saving potential.