Experimental Investigations into Thermal Performance of Phase Change Emulsion in a Fin-and-tube Heat Exchanger

Abstract

Phase change emulsions (PCMEs) are always identified as potential working fluids that could be used to reduce circulating pump energy consumption in chill water air conditioning systems. But how PCME behaves in a fin-and-tube heat exchanger is still unclear, which limited the application of such material. The paper focused on experimental studies of performance of a novel PCME, named as PCE-10, in a fin-andtube heat exchanger. The research analyzed heat transfer and flow behavior in fin-and-tube heat exchangers and the experimental results are compared with numercial studies published. Both studies showed that PCE-10 had its advantages as a cold storage medium, as PCE-10 did help to improve the heat transfer rate of heat exchanger by factor of 1.1-1.3 at the same flow rate compared with water.