Comparative Study and Recommendations for Thermal Performance Enhancement of Energy Storage Materials: Mono, Binary and Ternary Nano-enhanced Organic Phase Change Materials

The present experimental research explores the integration of ternary nano-enhanced materials into an organic phase change material (PCM), using Erythritol as the base PCM. Three distinct nano-enhanced phase change materials are synthesized, incorporating different nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The thermal performance of mono, binary, and ternary nano-enhanced PCMs based thermal energy storage systems is compared to the base PCM. A parabolic dish solar collector-based thermal energy storage system is fabricated as an indigenous experimental setup and tested for central Indian climatic conditions. The incorporation of ternary nanocomposite nano-enhanced PCM demonstrates the highest thermal conductivity and attains a maximum temperature of 183 °C during field testing. During charging, it exhibits all three phases (solid, solid–liquid, liquid), indicating its strong energy storage potential compared to the conventional thermal energy storage system. The ternary nano-enhanced PCMs-based thermal energy storage system stores 35% more thermal energy, compared to the base PCMs-based thermal energy storage system, offering enhanced thermo-physical properties for enhanced thermal energy storage performance.