Application T-History method on measurement of thermal properties of phase change material as latent heat storage in solar water heating system

The advantages of latent heat storage systems are heat storage materials capable of providing large energy storage densities and are capable of storing heat at almost constant temperature according to the transition temperature at each phase change. The thermophysical properties of phase change material (PCM) materials are important to know before they are applied in a variety of uses. The thermophysical properties of PCM materials are very important to note i.e. melting point, super cooling temperature, latent heat, heat type and thermal conductivity of the PCM material. Methods of determining the thermophysical properties of PCM materials that have been widely used are differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and calorimetry. These three methods have weaknesses. DTA and DSC methods that have very small test samples (110 mg) cause the materials thermophysical properties to be different when used in larger quantities. Another disadvantage is that DTA and DSC measurement equipment is complex and expensive, and cannot measure latent heat, specific heat and thermal conductivity of multiple PCM samples simultaneously. The weakness of the calorimetry method is the process of changing the two phases of PCM that is difficult to observe. T-history method that uses simple equipment has been widely used at this time. In this research, we will use T-History method to measure the thermophysical properties of phase change materials that will be used as heat storage material in solar water heating system. The material is: paraffin, beeswax, cow fat, and mixture of the material with a certain ratio. From the test, results can be concluded that the use of T-History method gives good results with a difference of 7% with the measurement results using DSC. (paper)