Study on thermal properties of a novel PCM and heat transfer characteristics in refrigerated vehicles with cold-storage plates.

A novel inorganic phase change material (PCM) for use in refrigerated transport equipment is developed by using an experimental method. The advantages of using a PCM in this application are that it can maintain a stable cold-storage plate temperature in a refrigerated vehicle, meaning the system can consume less energy during peak electrical load periods. The material developed here is called HCW-3, and its thermal properties are studied by using the cooling curve method and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Experimental results show that the proposed PCM has a melting temperature of −18.8°C and a latent heat of 257.6 kJ•kg-1. The effect of a nucleating agent on the degree of super-cooling degree is investigated, as well as the effect of a thickening agent on phase separation. By modifying the material with these agents, the degree of super cooling in HCW-3 reduced 1.59°C. In addition, a 3-dimensional (3D) model is developed in ANSYS FLUENT to investigate the temperature distribution within a refrigerated vehicle. When the temperature distributions within the vehicle with and without cold-storage plates are compared, it is seen that cold-storage plates significantly improve performance. This indicates that the proposed HCW-3 PCM meets the requirements of refrigerated transport equipment.