Review on phase change material emulsions and microencapsulated phase change material slurries: Materials, heat transfer studies and applications

Phase change materials (PCM) in the form of slurries have had an increasingly important role as heat transfer fluids and as thermal energy storage media. Although it is a recent technology in the field of thermal energy storage with phase change materials, the volume of literature begins to be significant. This investigation carries out a compilation of information on two latent thermal fluids: PCM emulsions and microencapsulated PCM slurries (mPCM slurries). This review presents tables containing information on the different PCM emulsions and mPCM slurries studied by different researchers, as well as commercially available products. Thermophysical and rheological properties are analyzed, making a special effort to analyze heat transfer phenomena, concluding with the enumeration of application examples available in literature. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.