Phase Change Matters

• Under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., energy storage technologies such as batteries, thermal energy storage and regenerative fuel cells that qualify would get a 30 percent investment tax credit, similar to incentives available to wind and solar projects.

• PCM maker va-Q-tec AG has signed global rental agreements with two air carriers, Cargolux of Luxembourg and IAG Cargo, based in London and Madrid. The airlines will rent passive containers designed to ship temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical and biotech goods safely and efficiently. Va-Q-tec shares began trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol VQT) last week.

• The Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, known as Empa, has posted an opening for a postdoctoral researcher in the field of phase change materials in building materials. The one-year position requires a strong background in thermal energy storage with PCMs and applications.

• PCM maker Entropy Solutions has an opening for a sales engineer. The sales engineer will work closely with Entropy's research and development team, providing direct support to key customers, channel partners and vendors, while taking the lead in managing incoming inquiries.  

• Sunamp Ltd. took first-place honors last week at the Solar Power Portal Awards in Birmingham, England. The heat battery maker won the Residential Energy Management Project award for its work on the Eastheat PV/PCM project in Edinburgh and surrounding towns. 

• The biobased products industry contributed $393 billion and 4.2 million jobs to the U.S. economy in 2014, according to a report released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "As this sector is strengthening, so is the economy in rural America, where this year the unemployment rate dropped below six percent for the first time since 2007," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

• Cardinal Health Inc., a global health care services and products company, has received the 2016 Excellence in Reusable Packaging award. The Reusable Packaging Association honored Cardinal for its innovative approach to ensuring the safe, efficient and sustainable delivery of refrigerated pharmaceuticals. In partnership with Sonoco ThermoSafe, Cardinal switched from water-based coolant gel packs within its reusable plastic totes to plant-based PureTemp phase change materials. The change helped Cardinal reduce product spoilage by 90 percent.

• Review of current state of research on energy storage, toxicity, health hazards and commercialization of phase changing materials [Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews]

• Experimental investigation of a passive thermal management system for high-powered lithium ion batteries using nickel foam-paraffin composite [Energy]

• Assessing the thermal performance of three cold energy storage materials with low eutectic temperature for food cold chain [Energy]

• CFD simulation of melting process of phase change materials (PCMs) in a spherical capsule [International Journal of Refrigeration]

• Thermophysical Properties of Multifunctional Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composites Incorporating Phase Change Materials [Thermochimica Acta]

• Experimental study of evacuated tube collector/storage system containing paraffin as a PCM [Energy]

U.S. patent application 20160268653 (applicant Covidien LP, Mansfield, Mass.):

"A battery autoclaving system is provided including a battery pack having a housing, a battery cell disposed within the housing, and an isolation region disposed between the housing and the battery cell. The isolation region may be formed at least partially from at least one of a thermal insulating material, a phase change material or any combination thereof. The system may include a temperature sensor adapted to sense at least one of a temperature of the battery cell temperature of the isolation region, The system may include and an autoclave configured to receive a temperature indication from the temperature sensor and to inhibit autoclaving when the temperature indication exceeds a predetermined value."

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20160268653.pdf

• Experimental Research on the Dynamic Thermal Performance of a Novel Triple-pane Building Window Filled with PCM [Sustainable Cities and Societies]

• Experimental studies on the supercooling and melting/freezing characteristics of nano-copper/sodium acetate trihydrate composite phase change materials [Renewable Energy]

• A novel heat exchanger concept for latent heat thermal energy storage in solar power towers: Modelling and performance comparison [Solar Energy]

• Effects of parameters of the shell formation process on the performance of microencapsulated phase change materials based on melamine-formaldehyde [Textile Research Journal]

• Numerical studies of lithium-ion battery thermal management systems using phase change materials and metal foams [International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer]

• Energy savings due to the use of PCM for relocatable lightweight buildings passive heating and cooling in different weather conditions [Energy and Buildings]

• Thermal storage in a MW scale. Molten salt solar thermal pilot facility: Plant description and commissioning experiences [Renewable Energy]

U.S. patent application 20160226290 (applicant Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp., Milwaukee, Wis.):

"The electrical combination comprises a battery pack configured to be interfaced with a hand held power tool, a control component, and a semiconducting switch. The transfer of power from the battery pack to the hand held power tool is controlled by the control component and the switch based on one of a battery pack state of charge and a respective state of charge of one of a plurality of battery cells."

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20160226290.pdf

• Transient natural convection heat transfer of liquid D-mannitol on a horizontal cylinder [Renewable Energy]

• Recent progresses and achievements in photovoltaic-phase change material technology: A review with special treatment on photovoltaic thermal-phase change material systems [Energy Conversion and Management]

• Radial-like mesoporous silica sphere: A promising new candidate of supporting material for storage of low-, middle-, and high-temperature heat [Energy]

• Thermal optimization of composite phase change material/ expanded graphite for Li-ion battery thermal management [Applied Thermal Engineering]

• Cooling Li-ion batteries of racing solar car by using multiple phase change materials [Applied Thermal Engineering]

• The flammability of aerogel and PCM coated cotton fabric for firefighter's garment [Textile Bioengineering and lnformatics Society]

• Polyvinyl Alcohol-salt Hydrate Mixtures as Passive Thermal Energy Storage Systems [Energy Procedia]

• Transient cooling effect analyses for a permanent-magnet synchronous motor with phase-change-material packaging [Applied Thermal Engineering]

• Pelican BioThermal has posted an opening for a vice president of engineering and new product development. The VP will "lead a team of highly-driven and innovative engineers to design and develop the next generation of best-in-class temperature controlled packaging solutions for the life sciences industry." 

• The novel use of phase change materials in an open type refrigerated display cabinet: A theoretical investigation [Applied Energy]

• Reducing cell-to-cell spacing for large-format lithium ion battery modules with aluminum or PCM heat sinks under failure conditions [Applied Energy]

• Synthesis and thermal properties of the MA/HDPE composites with nano-additives as form-stable PCM with improved thermal conductivity [Applied Energy]

• An experimental study of thermal management system using copper mesh-enhanced composite phase change materials for power battery pack [Energy]

• Novel Multiphase Change Materials for Energy Storage Application in Buildings [14th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, Propulsion and Energy Forum]

• MSWI bottom ash for thermal energy storage: An innovative and sustainable approach for its reutilization [Renewable Energy]

• Response surface method optimization of V-shaped fin assisted latent heat thermal energy storage system during discharging process [Alexandria Engineering Journal]