Experimental case studies of the effect of Al₂O₃and MWCNTs nanoparticles on heating and cooling of PCM

Thermal storage materials considering phase-changing materials (PCM) have attracted many researchers for thermal management of energy crises due to better temperature range to suit the thermal storage applications. However, the effectiveness of PCMs is affected by very low thermal conductivity and this deficiency limits the use of PCMs as an efficient thermal storage material. To increase the thermal conductivity of PCM, different nanoparticles (NPs) with a higher value of thermal conductivity are added which are called nano PCM. This paper presents the preparation and characterization of phase change material enhanced by metallic NPs alumina (Al2O3) and nonmetallic NPs multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The aim of this study is to create the nano PCM by adding Al2O3 and MWCNTs NPs in Paraffin wax at 2 wt%,4 wt% and 6 wt%. The results showed that in the case of pure paraffin wax, the maximum peak temperature obtained after 90 min is 61.53 °C. In the case of alumina oxide maximum peak temperature obtained at top layer for all three samples is as follows; for 2 wt% is 62.65 °C, 4 wt% is 63 °C and 6 wt% is 64 °C and in the case of MWCNTs maximum peak temperature obtained at top layer for all three samples is as follows; for 2 wt% is 68 °C, 4 wt% is 69.86 °C and 6 wt% is 70.55 °C. The maximum peak temperature was increased by an increment of NPs concentration results in better charging and discharging of PCM. It was observed that composite of paraffin wax having 6 wt% of MWCNTs NPs shows the best results as compared to other prepared samples.