Experimental evaluation of latent heat use of a microencapsulated phase change material slurry in spraying

A spraying system was constructed with a microencapsulated phase change material (MPCM) slurry as the working medium to weaken the adverse effects of the slurry's high viscosity and low thermal conductivity on heat transfer in a wall tube heat exchanger. The temperature distributions of pure water and MPCM slurry were first obtained through infrared thermal imaging in spraying. Furthermore, the latent heat use of MPCM slurry was investigated through a new method based on the temperature properties of the phase change fluid, in which the working and phase change temperature ranges are matched. The heat-mass transfer characteristics are compared and discussed with those of the base fluid, and the latent heat use of 10wt% MPCM slurry containing the core material n-docosane (C₂₂H₄₆). The experimental results indicate that the phase change enables the MPCM slurry droplets to maintain a higher temperature than a fluid with no phase change or base fluid. Different application modes (static and spraying) have correspondingly different phase change temperature ranges owing to supercooling, and the degree of matching between the working and phase change temperature ranges has a critical impact on the latent heat use of the MPCM slurry. Finally, comparing the heat transfer coefficients and Lewis numbers between the base liquid and MPCM slurry reveals that the phase change not only enhances the heat transfer but also slightly reduces water evaporation compared with pure water spraying.