PREPARATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF PARAFFIN/NANO-ALUMINA COMPOSITES AS THEMAL ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS

摘要

Paraffin/nano-alumina composites as thermal energy storage materials were prepared. In the composites, paraffin was used as the phase change material for thermal energy storage, nano-alumina acted as the adding material to improve the poor conductivity of paraffin wax. In this paper we discuss the dispersion and stability of nanofluids by physical or chemical method. In order to keep the composites more stability kieselguhr acted as the supporting and absorbing material. The thermal properties and thermal stability were investigated by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The thermal conductivity also be tested and found to be obviously improved which was related with the mass percent of nano-alumina.