Coconut oil as phase change material to
maintain thermal comfort in passenger
vehicles: An experimental analysis
August 2018
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 136(1)
DOI:10.1007/s10973-018-7676-y
Project: Phase Change Materials for Thermal Comfort in Passenger Vehicles
Abstract
Parked vehicles are vulnerable to cabin overheating, which leads to hyperthermia, accidental death of
babies and pets, increased fuel consumption and deterioration of vehicle interior. In this study, an effort
was made to maintain thermal comfort inside an automobile cabin by impregnating phase change
material (PCM) beneath the rooftop of the vehicle. Experiments were performed for a period of 3 months
with coconut oil as PCM, in the Abha region of Saudi Arabia. An Arduino UNO microcontroller-based
temperature measurement system with LM-35 temperature sensors along with a bluetooth module and an
android application was used to monitor the cabin temperature history. Initially, the cabin temperature was
monitored without PCM, and it was found in good agreement with the theoretical values published in the
literature. Subsequently, the cabin temperature with PCM was measured, and the results show that the
interior temperature of the automobile cabin is decreased by 15 °C on an average. This method is a
simple and feasible solution to prevent undesirable heating of automobile cabins when parked under
sunlight.
International Journal of Thermal Sciences
Volume 102, April 2016, Pages 154-167
PCM cooling vest for improving thermal
comfort in hot environment
Author links open overlay
panelHaneen Hamdan , Nesreen Ghaddar , Djamel Ouahrani
a a
, Kamel Ghali , M. Itani
b a a\
Abstract
A cooling vest containing phase change materials (PCM) can help in
maintaining the skin temperature of the covered parts at a
comfortable level. A transient mathematical model of heat and
mass transfer through clothing layers containing PCM packets was
developed. Two experiments were performed on a clothed heated
cylinder in controlled environment to validate the model using two
PCMs at different melting temperatures. Good agreement was
found between model-predicted and measured temperatures of
the microclimate air between the cylinder and the PCM.
The validated fabric-PCM model was then integrated with a
segmental bio-heat model to provide realistic skin boundary
conditions. The predicted core and mean skin temperatures agreed
well with published experimental data of a human wearing a PCM-
vest in hot environment.
The validated integrated bio-heat and fabric-PCM models were
used to study the effect of the melting temperature of the PCM and
its mass on the vest performance. It was found that a lower melting
temperature must be used when a fast cooling effect is desirable.
Moreover, it was found that at fixed melting temperature
increasing the PCM mass increased the cooling duration.
Phase-change material
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A sodium acetate heating pad. When the sodium acetate solution crystallises, it becomes warm.
A video showing a "heating pad" in action
A phase change material (PCM) is a substance which releases/absorbs sufficient
energy at phase transition to provide useful heat or cooling. Generally the transition will
be from one of the first two fundamental states of matter - solid and liquid - to the other.
The phase transition may also be between non-classical states of matter, such as the
conformity of crystals, where the material goes from conforming to one crystalline
structure to conforming to another, which may be a higher or lower energy state.
The energy released/absorbed by phase transition from solid to liquid, or vice versa,
the heat of fusion is generally much higher than the sensible heat. Ice, for example,
requires 333.55 J/g to melt, but then water will rise one degree further with the addition
of just 4.18 J/g. Water/ice is therefore a very useful phase change material and has
been used to store winter cold to cool buildings in summer since at least the time of the
Achaemenid Empire.
By melting and solidifying at the phase change temperature (PCT), a PCM is capable of
storing and releasing large amounts of energy compared to sensible heat storage. Heat
is absorbed or released when the material changes from solid to liquid and vice versa or
when the internal structure of the material changes; PCMs are accordingly referred to
as latent heat storage (LHS) materials.
There are two principal classes of phase change material: organic (carbon-containing)
materials derived either from petroleum, from plants or from animals; and salt hydrates,
which generally either use natural salts from the sea or from mineral deposits or are by-
products of other processes. A third class is solid to solid phase change.
PCMs are used in many different commercial applications where energy storage and/or
stable temperatures are required, including, among others, heating pads, cooling for
telephone switching boxes, and clothing.
By far the biggest potential market is for building heating and cooling. In this application
area, PCMs hold potential in light of the progressive reduction in the cost of renewable
electricity, coupled with the intermittent nature of such electricity. This can result in a
misfit between peak demand and availability of supply. In North America, China, Japan,
Australia, Southern Europe and other developed countries with hot summers, peak
supply is at midday while peak demand is from around 17:00 to 20:00. This creates
opportunities for thermal storage media.
Solid-liquid phase change materials are usually encapsulated for installation in the end
application, to contain in the liquid state. In some applications, especially when
incorporation to textiles is required, phase change materials are micro-encapsulated.
Micro-encapsulation allows the material to remain solid, in the form of small bubbles,
when the PCM core has melted.
