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• Upscaling of a PCM-emulsion to a volume of 600 L and thermal characterization in a 500 L storage tank test facility. • Investigation and comparison of the energy consumption of the installed pump while pumping PCS and water. • Three temperature intervals were investigated: 15–29°C, 20–27°C, 22–29°C. • Within the temperature range of 20–27°C a load factor of 2.6 in comparison to water was measured. Due to the increasing share of renewables in the energy system, research into thermal storage systems is becoming increasingly important. Phase change slurries (PCS) consisting of a phase change material (PCM) within a carrier fluid can be used as thermal storage. The advantage of phase change slurries is that they can be pumped through a hydraulic system independent of the state-of-matter of the emulsified phase change material. In this work a PCS containing 35 wt% Parafol 18 97 (Sasol Germany, n-octadecane, T m = 27.3°C) as the PCM was characterized under realistic thermomechanical stress in a 0.5 m³ storage tank test facility. Measurements showed that at a temperature difference of 7 K (20°C – 27°C) the PCS was able to store 2.6 times more heat than water. Furthermore, the influence of PCS on the energy demand of a pump was investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic formulation of a Phase-Change-Material (PCM)-dispersion is characterized and subsequently enhanced. Enhancement takes place in two steps. First by enlarging the fraction of PCM in the PCM-dispersion and in the second step by adding a nucleating agent to the formulation. This work shows how the increasing PCM-fraction influences the viscosity, thermal-mechanical-stability and the amount of heat that can be stored in the phase change. In addition to that it is shown how these parameters and the supercooling of the PCM-dispersion can be altered by the addition of a nucleating agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]