Polyethylene Glycol/Carbon Black Shape-Stable Phase Change Composites for Peak Load Regulating of Electric Power System and Corresponding Thermal Energy Storage

Xiang Lu1,Email

Huanyu Liu2

Vignesh Murugadoss4

Ilwoo Seok5

Jintao Huang3

Jong E. Ryu6

Zhanhu Guo4,Email

1 Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering of the Ministry of Education, National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510641, China

2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China.

3 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China

4 Integrated Composites Laboratory (ICL), Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 37996, USA

5 Mechanical Engineering, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Arkansas, 72401, USA

6 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

Abstract

In this work, a unique electrically conductive polyethylene glycol (PEG)/carbon black (CB) shape-stable phase change composite (SSPCC) for peak load regulating of electric power system was prepared via a vacuum impregnation approach. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to study the micro morphology, crystallization behavior, crystallization structure and thermal properties. Leakage test and DSC results showed that when the PEG content in PEG/CB SSPCC was as high as 86 wt%, the phase change enthalpy and relative enthalpy efficiency were up to 147.7 J/g and 95.1 %, respectively. Fourier transform infrared (FITR) and XRD showed no chemical reaction between CB and PEG. Thermal cycling test showed that the PEG/CB SSPCC had excellent thermal stability and thermal reliability. Moreover, the good electro-to-thermal conversion ability of PEG/CB SSPCC (0.2 S/m) provided rich possibilities for peak load regulating of electric power system and corresponding thermal energy storage.