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Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/V009923/1

Design and Evaluation of Compact Nano-Enhanced Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage for domestic heating radiators

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:
Dr SC Costa Pereira, Northumbria University, Fac of Engineering and Environment
Science Area:
None
Overall Classification:
Unknown
ENRIs:
None
Science Topics:
Building Ops & Management
Heating of Buildings
Solar Technology
Solar Heating
Solar Thermal Technologies
Abstract:
"EPSRC : Elisangela Jesus D'Oliveira : EP/S023836/1" - Research council that the student is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). - The student's name: Elisangela Jesus D'Oliveira - Training Grant Reference Number: EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU), EP/S023836/1 Heat represents almost half of the use of energy in the UK, and around 80% of domestic heat is supplied by natural gas. Therefore, we must reduce the heating demand by increasing the efficiency and decarbonisation of the space and hot water heating systems. The adoption of low-carbon domestic heating technologies is one of the biggest challenges in the decarbonisation of the UK's energy system because 80% of the homes are already built. The retrofitting of households is one of the most cost-effective routes to reduce carbon emissions. The use of LHTES has the potential to reduce the space heating energy use by storing excess energy and bridge the gap between supply/demand mismatch characteristic of renewable energy sources or electricity peak-load. The efficiency of domestic or residential radiator could be increased using a compact LHTES, and it could be implemented as a retrofit measurement to reduce energy consumption. There are some studies of LHTES in domestic heating. Campos-Celador et al. (2014) designed a finned plate LHTES system for domestic applications using water-paraffin, allowing a volume reduction of more than 50%, comparing to a conventional hot water storage tank. Dechesne et al. (2014) studied the coupling of an air-fatty acids heat exchanger in a building ventilation system; the module could be used either for space heating or cooling. Bondareva et al. (2018) studied a finned copper radiator numerically with paraffin enhancing with Al2O3 nanoparticles, and their results demonstrated that the addition of fins and nanoparticles increases the melting rate. Sardari et al. (2020) investigated the application of combined metal foam and paraffin for domestic space heating by introducing a novel energy storage heater; their results showed that the solidification time was reduced by 45% and the heat recovery was enhanced by 73%. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the enhancement of the thermal conductivity of the PCMs with the incorporation of high conductive nanomaterials, as they increase the heat transfer rate of the PCM to tailor the application charging and discharging rates. However, a study evaluating the feasibility of the nano-enhanced PCMs (NEPCMs) applications on domestic radiators to improve the efficiency and energy-savings through heat recovery has not been conducted. Therefore, a dedicated investigation was planned with the focus on deepening the knowledge and understanding of such a technology. The lack of proper design guidelines, cost and the rate problem have delayed the deployment of LHTES devices. Therefore, this study will build and experimentally evaluate the performance of the LHTES system proposed contributing to the development of the design guidelines. References Bondareva, N. S., Gibanov, N. S., & Sheremet, M. A. (2018, November). Melting of nano-enhanced PCM inside finned radiator. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1105, No. 1, p. 012023). IOP Publishing. Campos-Celador, A., Diarce, G., Zubiaga, J. T. V., Garcia-Romero, A.M., Lopez, L. & Sala, J. M. 2014. Design of a finned plate latent heat thermal energy storage system for domestic for domestic applications. Energy Procedia, 48, 300-308. Dechesne, B., Gendebien, S., Martens, J., & Lemort, V. (2014). Designing and testing an air-PCM heat exchanger for building ventilation application coupled to energy storage. Sardari, P. T., Babaei-Mahani, R., Giddings, D., Yasseri, S., Moghimi, M. A., & Bahai, H. (2020). Energy recovery from domestic radiators using a compact composite metal Foam/PCM latent heat storage. Journal of Cleaner Production, 257, 120504.
Period of Award:
1 Oct 2020 - 30 Sep 2022
Value:
£9,639
Authorised funds only
NERC Reference:
NE/V009923/1
Grant Stage:
Completed
Scheme:
NC&C NR1
Grant Status:
Closed

This grant award has a total value of £9,639  

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FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

Exception - Other Costs
£9,640

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