Aircraft sensors are typically cable powered, imposing a significant weight overhead. The exploitation of temperature variations during flight by a phase change material (PCM) based heat storage thermoelectric energy harvester, as an alternative power source in aeronautical applications, has recently been flight tested. In this work, a scaled-down and a scaled-up prototype are presented. Output...

Many researchers have investigated how to increase the overall efficiency of solar-driven thermal systems. Several key parameters, such as collector efficiency and storage tank characteristics, may impose some constraints on the annual solar fraction (ASF) of such systems. In this paper, the behaviour of integrating the phase change material (PCM) in SDHW systems is modelled and optimized n...

Mastering dynamic free-space spectral control and modulation in the near-infrared (NIR) and optical regimes remains a challenging task that is hindered by the available functional materials at high frequencies. In this work, we have realized an efficient metadevice capable of spectral control by minimizing the thermal mass of a vanadium dioxide phase-change material (PCM) and placing the PCM at...

This paper presents a numerical analysis of natural convection dominated melting inside a rectangular enclosure from three discrete heat sources. This analysis is motivated by the need to improve the design of a latent heat thermal energy storage system. It also finds applications in the cooling of electronic equipment. A computational methodology based on the enthalpy method for phase change i...

Many researchers have investigated how to increase the overall efficiency of solar-driven thermal systems. Several key parameters, such as collector efficiency and storage tank characteristics, may impose some constraints on the annual solar fraction (ASF) of such systems. In this paper, the behaviour of integrating the phase change material (PCM) in SDHW systems is modelled and optimized n...

The state-of-the-art latent heat energy storage system is equipped with aluminum fins at the heat exchanger pipes in order to compensate the low thermal conductivity of the phase change material (PCM). The necessary amount of fins is directly coupled to the capacity of the storage system, what makes larger systems expensive. The PCMflux concept is developed in order to realize both a controllab...

Three-dimensional (3D) printed concrete has recently received considerable research attention. In buildings, phase change materials (PCMs) with excellent thermoregulatory properties and thermal storage capacity can improve the insulation of external walls reduce energy consumption. this study, microencapsulated paraffin was added to a 3D printable material phase-change developed, resulting in g...