Thermogravimetric study of a Phase Change Slurry: Effect of variable conditions

Microcapsules containing Phase Change Materials (MPCM) are widely used for passive systems in energy storage. When MPCM are mixed with a carrier fluid, Phase Change Slurries (PCS) are used for heat transfer fluids in active systems or heat transport systems. The thermal behavior of PCS can be measured as dry or wet basis, resulting in important differences in weight losses. This study explores the optimum conditions for analyzing the thermal behavior of dried PCS by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) varying the parameter conditions for obtaining peak temperature and heat flow (latent heat). The factors that were taken into account were the atmosphere of study (air and nitrogen) and the heating rate (0.5, 1, 5, and 10 °C·min−1). The best conditions to determine peak temperature are at 1 °C·min−1 and in N2 atmosphere, whereas the decomposition fusion/latent heat of the sample is improved at higher heating velocities towards 10 °C·min−1.