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In high-energy-demand regions, such as the Arctic, the building sector is focused on reducing the carbon footprint and mitigating environmental impact. To achieve this, phase change materials (PCMs) are being investigated for thermal energy storage due to their high latent heat of fusion. However, their limited applications arise from poor thermal conductivity. In addressing this issue, the research delves into the preparation and characterization of nano-PCMs. These materials, synthesized in a laboratory setting, exhibit enhanced thermal performance compared to pure PCMs, attributed to the incorporation of nanoparticles in the material composition. Therefore, in the study, three paraffins with different melting temperatures (10, 15 and 18 °C) are modified by incorporating titanium oxide at various concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mass%). Thermal conductivity and latent heat capacity measurements were undertaken using a thermal conductivity measuring apparatus and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. The aim was to evaluate the enhanced performance of the modified PCMs in comparison with pure PCMs and to assess their suitability for cold climate regions. Results showed that nanoparticle incorporation increased thermal conductivity by up to 37%, albeit with a slight reduction in latent heat capacity of up to 12%. Among the samples, RT18 exhibited the most significant improvement in thermal conductivity, while RT10 experienced a minor decrease in enthalpy values. Ultimately, RT10 was identified as the optimal PCM option for cold climates, as its phase change temperature range aligns with the outdoor temperatures in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel designs have been proposed for the phase change material (PCM) heat sink of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) cells to enhance both convective and conductive heat transfer mechanisms. Trapezoid (with two different thickness ratios) and zigzag geometry designs are suggested for the CPV-heat sink. To enhance the performance, two improving treatments have also been presented for the proposed trapezoid phase change material heat sink, (i) using a baffle and (ii) using two small triangle fins. A set of energy, exergy, economics, and environmental analyses has been established by computational fluid dynamics simulation to compare the performance of the proposed heat sinks with the conventional foamed and finned rectangular heat sinks. The results reveal that a trapezoid heat sink with two small triangle fins reduces the average concentrated photovoltaic temperature by 22 °C, the complete melting time of the phase change material by 1800s (50% reduction), and increases the absorbed heat by 3.13 kJ (7.43% increment), the exergy efficiency by 2.22% (23.9% increment), the generated electricity by 10.55%, and CO2 emission reduction by 10.75% compared to the concentrated photovoltaic with the simple rectangular heat sink. These results of the trapezoid heat sink are very similar to the rectangular heat sink with four long fins but with almost 74.3% lower levelized copper cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]