Chapter 11
PCM-Metal Foam Composite Systems
for Solar Energy Storage
Anirban Bhattacharya
Abstract Efficient storage of solar thermal energy has been a key research area in
recent years. Among the various methods for energy storage, phase change material (PCM) based latent heat systems have shown a lot of promise due to their high
energy storage densities and smaller system sizes. However, the low thermal conductivities of PCM pose a significant challenge in designing such systems, therefore,
augmentation with suitable thermal conductivity enhancers becomes necessary to
improve their energy charging and discharging performances. The use of metal foam
structures embedded in PCM to form composite PCM-metal foam energy storage
system can improve the effective thermal conductivity remarkably due to the high
surface area for heat transfer between the metal foam and the PCM. This chapter
presents a study of PCM-metal foam composite systems for solar energy storage. At
first, a brief overview of the relevant thermal enhancement methods with particular
emphasis on metal foam systems is presented. This is followed by the description of a
typical PCM-metal foam composite system and the important parameters governing
its energy storage performance. Different modelling approaches for such systems and
their advantages and disadvantages are presented. The effect of important factors for
metal foam-PCM composite systems are analyzed by performing pore-scale simulations. It is shown that factors such as metal foam porosity, pore size distribution,
foam material, phase change material and overall system size contribute significantly
towards the melting pattern and energy storage characteristics of these systems.
Keywords Solar energy storage · Phase change material · Metal foam · Thermal
enhancement
11.1 Introduction
Solar energy is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy. It is universally available, can be harnessed safely and relatively easily, and is unlimited in
nature. Solar energy can be harnessed at various scales starting from small roof-top
A. Bhattacharya (B)
School of Mechanical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 752050, India
e-mail: anirban@iitbbs.ac.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
H. Tyagi et al. (eds.), Solar Energy, Energy, Environment,
and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0675-8_11
207
PCM-Metal Foam Composite Systems
for Solar Energy Storage
Anirban Bhattacharya
Abstract Efficient storage of solar thermal energy has been a key research area in
recent years. Among the various methods for energy storage, phase change material (PCM) based latent heat systems have shown a lot of promise due to their high
energy storage densities and smaller system sizes. However, the low thermal conductivities of PCM pose a significant challenge in designing such systems, therefore,
augmentation with suitable thermal conductivity enhancers becomes necessary to
improve their energy charging and discharging performances. The use of metal foam
structures embedded in PCM to form composite PCM-metal foam energy storage
system can improve the effective thermal conductivity remarkably due to the high
surface area for heat transfer between the metal foam and the PCM. This chapter
presents a study of PCM-metal foam composite systems for solar energy storage. At
first, a brief overview of the relevant thermal enhancement methods with particular
emphasis on metal foam systems is presented. This is followed by the description of a
typical PCM-metal foam composite system and the important parameters governing
its energy storage performance. Different modelling approaches for such systems and
their advantages and disadvantages are presented. The effect of important factors for
metal foam-PCM composite systems are analyzed by performing pore-scale simulations. It is shown that factors such as metal foam porosity, pore size distribution,
foam material, phase change material and overall system size contribute significantly
towards the melting pattern and energy storage characteristics of these systems.
Keywords Solar energy storage · Phase change material · Metal foam · Thermal
enhancement
11.1 Introduction
Solar energy is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy. It is universally available, can be harnessed safely and relatively easily, and is unlimited in
nature. Solar energy can be harnessed at various scales starting from small roof-top
A. Bhattacharya (B)
School of Mechanical Sciences, IIT Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 752050, India
e-mail: anirban@iitbbs.ac.in
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
H. Tyagi et al. (eds.), Solar Energy, Energy, Environment,
and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0675-8_11
207