2.

1 Measurement techniques
Implementation of phase change material as a storage material depends on the reliability
and stability under several thermal cycles. Thermal stability of PCM can be characterized by
measuring thermo-mechanical properties after repetitive thermal cycles. The morphology of
PCM can be studied by spectrum electron microscope (SEM). Fourier transform infrared
spectrometer (FT-IR) is used to investigate the chemical compatibility of compounds [17].
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) are used to
determine the specific heat of PCM and phase change temperature during melting and
solidification of PCM. It can also be used to estimate latent heat of fusion of PCM. The dynamic
viscosity of PCM is measured by rheometer. The thermal conductivity of PCM is measured
either directly using hot wire method or indirectly through thermal diffusivity, specific heat
and density, which are measured separately. The volumetric thermal expansion coefficient of
PCM can be easily estimated using a slender cylinder made of quartz by measuring the change
in volume of liquid PCM at different temperatures [11]. Garg and Nasim investigated a novel
thermal-energy storage concept using salt-hydrates, such as sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate,
Na2S2O3·5H2O (melting temperature: 48.3 °C) [18] for solar energy flat-plate collector systems
for domestic purpose. The change in melting temperature, latent heat of fusion, and specific
heat of commercial-grade stearic acid, acetamide and paraffin wax was investigated by using
accelerated laboratory experiments [19] after 0, 20, 50, 70, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 thermal
cycles using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Acetamide and paraffin wax were
found to be more stable PCMs. The phase change stability of stearic acid as a phase change
material (PCM) for latent heat storage was experimentally investigated for 450 thermal cycles
and found that the phase transition temperature range is 54.71–61.05 °C [20]. Fifteen hundred
accelerated thermal cycle tests were also conducted to study the changes in latent heat of fusion
and melting temperature of commercial grade acetamide, stearic acid and paraffin wax by
Sharma et al. [21]. They concluded that acetamide had shown better stability as compared to
stearic acid. Few organic and inorganic PCMs, such as Paraffin wax (melting temperature: 54-
62 °C), Sodium hydroxide (NaOH, melting temperature: 66 °C), Di-sodium borate
(Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O, melting temperature: 72 °C), Ferric nitrate (Fe(NO₃)₃·6H₂O, melting
temperature: 52 °C), Barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)₂·8H₂O, melting temperature: 78 °C),
Erythritol (C₄H₆OH₄, melting temperature: 118 °C), were tested to check the stability in
thermal energy storage systems [22] and established that the inorganic PCMs were not suitable
after some cycles while thermal cycling for organic PCMs were undertaken up to 1000 thermal
cycles and has shown a gradual change in melting temperature and latent heat of fusion. An
accelerated thermal cycle test on urea was conducted by Sharma et al. [23] which could be used
for solar cooker. After experiment, it was concluded that urea can not be used as latent heat
storage material. Shinde et al. [11] characterized a commercial phase change material, A164
(melting temperature ~ 170 °C) and optimized the multitube shell and tube based thermal
energy storage.