Characterization and Experimental Investigation of Glycerol and Propylene glycol in Water Solutions for cool Thermal Energy Storage

This study aims to develop PCM for low temperature applications below 0°C. The main material of this PCM is made from tap water. Water has very good thermal properties but has high super-cooling. PCM materials that have high super-cooling can cause a decrease in performance system. To reduce the temperature tap the water below 0°C and eliminate super-cooling, nucleation agents need to be added to trigger the faster freezing process. Glycerol and Propylene glycol are selected as nucleation agents. Various mixtures of Glycerol and Propylene glycol in tap water are made as PCM material. T-history is used to measure the thermal properties of PCM candidates. To obtain the characteristics of a sample of large phase change material the T-history method is very suitable to use. The result showed that glycerol and propylene glycol in water solutions suitable to be used as PCM for cold thermal energy storage applications.