The Conference on Sustainable Building Materials Deploying

Advanced & Nano Technologies

Nano Phase Change Material (PCM)

to Enhance Efficiency and Thermal

Comfort

Zhang Xiyao, PhD

Engineer

Nano and Advanced Materials Institute Ltd (NAMI)

Nov 28 2019

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PCM Introduction and Applications

Micro vs Nano PCM

NAMI PCM

Contents

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Background Information

Global Market of PCM Products

Applications in Buildings and Other Fields

Background Information

• Air-conditioning consumes more than

30% of total in the building sector

(HKEEUD, 2019)

• Utilizing the thermal energy efficiently

and resolving the energy resource

issues.

• The building sector is a main

consumer of energy

• consuming 65% of total energy

consumption of Hong Kong.

• Much energy is consumed in the form

of heat.

• Phase change materials (PCMs), absorb or release a large

amount of heat during phase change processes.

• PCMs are used to manage or store thermal energy, leading

a more efficient energy consumption.

Phase change material (PCM)

Advantages of the heat storage using PCMs:

• High density of energy storage

• Smaller and lighter

• Constant temp.

Encapsulation technology is used to prevent from the

leakage, isolated the potential hazards and to enlarge

the heat transfer surface.

Polymer

Shell

PCM

Core

Outlast® microencapsulated PCM

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North America

Rest of the world

Europe

Asia-pacific

Market share (%)

CAGR (2017-22)

Energy efficient

buildings

Food delivery

Cold Chain

Transportation

Less energy

consumption & high

efficiency

Bedding

Clothing

Outdoor Gear

Sports

Cooling in Data Center /

Electronic Devices

Thermal Storage

Systems

Health Care

Automobiles

Building Cold Chain HVAC Textiles Others

Mark

et

by r

eg

ion

Mark

et

by a

pp

licati

on

2017

2022

PCM global market and applications (2017-2022)

Data from: ADVANCED PCM MARKET - GLOBAL FORECAST TO 2022, MarketsandMarkets™

Applications in buildings: cool ceilings & walls

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Save

~10% Energy

when using 1 cm

PCM in walls

Multiple energy sources reduce power consumptions

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Sky

radiation

Stratified TES-PCM tank

Heat

pump

Cooling

tower

Valley

electricity

Applications in Thermal Storage Systems (TES)

Save

~40% Energy

more than using

ice cooling

Textile/fiber products with PCM

Polymer

Shell

PCM

Core

Outlast® fiber with microencapsulated

PCM

Not too cold, Not too warm

Packing or coating PCM into textile in indoor space:

beddings, floor covering, window curtain

Micro vs Nano encapsulated PCM

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Micro vs Nano

High thermal resistance & low

energy storage density

Poor coating &

suspension stability

Short service cycle time

Low thermal resistance & High

energy storage density

Excellent coating

& suspension

Long service life

1-1000 micrometer vs 1-1000 nanometer

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NAMI nano-encapsulated PCM

Phase

separation

Micro Nano

Separated

Broken PCM

More

Stable

Micro-PCM

in ~10 microsNAMI Nano-PCM

<100 nm & Uniform

Photo of sample after 10 mins ultra-sonic

treatment.

67 nm

73 nm

52 nm64 nm

Latent Heat :

over 100 J/g

Summary

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Enhance indoor

thermal comfort and

efficiency of HVAC

Building /

indoor

envelopes

Works as a coolant

circulating cooling

systems

Electronics

Adding a

temperature

regulation function

to coatings

Coating Textiles

Maintain

temperature

sensitive goods

Packaging

⚫ Benefits:

➢ An effective buffer balancing heat against ambient temperature

fluctuations;

➢ Enhanced efficiency of heat change processes;

➢ Improved thermal comfort;

➢ Long service life.PCM Nano-capsulate

Take comfort in skin

temperature by

improving micro-

climate of bodies

ENERGYSAVING

ENERGYSTORAGE

ENERGYGENERATION

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