Thermal storage performance of paraffin and fatty acid mixtures used in walls and floors

The phase change temperature and latent heat of binary paraffin and fatty acid mixtures were measured using a differential scanning calorimeter. 18 types of samples were found to be suitable for passive walls with phase change temperature ranging from 20 °C to 30 °C. In addition, fifteen types of samples were found suitable for active heating floors or walls with a phase change temperature of 30 °C to 40 °C. Five thousand thermal cycling tests were performed on six representative samples. Based on the experimental results, the average change rates of the phase change temperature of paraffin and fatty acid mixtures were found to be less than 5% and 1%, respectively. These phase change materials exhibited good thermal stability, and the thermal stability of fatty acids was better than that of paraffin mixtures. The appropriate proportions of phase change materials for passive phase change walls and active phase change floors or wall was obtained. (paper)