Investigations on novel erythritol sodium chloride phase change composites for thermal energy storage

Abstract

The impending implications of utilising the available conventional newlineenergy resources puts the contemporary energy scenario in a precarious position. newlineTo counter this, the utilisation of renewable energy resources is becoming an newlineuprising option. As far as cooking is concerned, most kitchens in India rely newlineupon conventional energy resources for cooking, which aids to detrimental newlineeffects on the environment. To be precise, kitchens employing steam cooking newlinepredominantly utilise sources like Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electric newlinecookers, which are ultimately powered by conventional energy resources. newlineHence, it was identified that utilising solar thermal energy sources for steam newlinecooking could be envisaged as a promising option. It was further identified newlinethat utilising solar Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTCs) could aid the generation newlineof steam through the utilisation of solar thermal energy. But however, this newlineenergy source is limited only to the sunshine duration of the day and hence newlineconventional energy resources has to be re-adopted during the off-sunshine newlineduration. To counter this disadvantage, it was further identified that a Thermal newlineEnergy Storage (TES) system could be augmented with an array of PTCs newlinesuch that the TES system would store the excess energy generated during newlinethe sunshine duration and that stored energy could be utilised during the newlineoff-sunshine duration. Augmenting this TES system with PTCs necessitate newlinethe utilisation of a Phase Change Material (PCM) storage medium that would newlinebe capable of accumulating, storing and disseminating the stored energy at a newlinerequirement necessary for steam cooking in kitchens. newline