Thermal analysis on a phase change material latent heat storage in a cold room in case of power outage

An investigation into the effectiveness of Phase Change Material (PCM) placed near the evaporator of a cold room to maintain stable temperature in case of loss of electrical power was carried out. Specifically, an air heat exchanger consisting of aluminium containers with finned surface was filled with a PCM characterized by 5 °C melting temperature. The aim is to decrease the rate of temperature increase favouring therefore the maintenance of thermal conditions of stored products during power loss. For this purpose, an experimental campaign was carried out and a monitoring system was developed. The experimental results showed that when there is no refrigeration system, both the compartment and refrigerated product temperatures remain at lower values for much longer time when PCM is applied.