Preparation and characterization of stearic acid/olive pomace powder composite as form-stable phase change material

• Stearic acid/olive cake powder and stearic acid/olive cake powder/graphite as new kinds of PCM composites were prepared.
• Microstructure and chemical structure of composites were determined.
• Thermal properties and thermal stability of the composites were examined.
• Graphite can increase thermal conductivity of the composite.

This paper mainly includes the preparation, characterization and thermal properties of Stearic Acid/Olive Pomace Powder (SA/OPP) and Stearic Acid/Olive Pomace Powder/Graphite (AS/OPP) as a new form-stable composite phase change material for thermal energy storage, which are prepared by impregnation method followed by uniaxial compression. The graphite is added to improve thermal conductivity of SA/OPP form-stable composite PCM. Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric Analysis and Hot Disk Analyzer measurements are using to characterized morphology, chemical structure, thermal performances, thermal stability and thermal conductivity of form-stable composite PCMs, respectively. The DSC analysis reveals that the melting and freezing temperatures and the latent heats of the SA/OPP form-stable composite PCM are measured as 55 °C and 51 °C, 111 J/g and 109 J/g, respectively. In addition, thermal conductivity of the form-stable composite PCM is increased by adding 7 wt % of graphite.