Applied Energy 238 (2019) 582–611

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Advanced thermal systems driven by paraffin-based phase

T

change materials – A review

Raza Gulfam, Peng Zhang , Zhaonan Meng
Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

HIGHLIGHTS

• Issues and applications of paraffin and paraffinic thermal composites are presented.
• Paraffin enhances thermal performances of thermoelectric energy harvesters.
• Merging paraffin with hygroscopic material fosters the concept of green energy towns.
• Thermo-responsiveness of paraffin nurtures the fabrication of smart energy systems.

• Micro-energy storage/release from paraffin ensures robust execution of microfluidics.

ARTICLEINFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Advanced thermal systems designed and fabricated through paraffinic phase change materials have emerged
Paraffinic phase change materials quite fast until recently. However, most of the prior works have reviewed the fabrication strategies to tailor the poor
Thermal management thermal characteristics of paraffin waxes, as well as compiled the application-oriented studies related to
Thermal energy thermal/cold storage, thermal management of batteries, photovoltaics, buildings, and so forth. In the present
Thermoelectric energy harvesting
review, the advanced thermal systems, manipulated through multifunctional inherent traits of paraffin waxes, have
Thermal expansion
Smart surfaces been reviewed and systematically categorized into thermo-management, thermo-mechanical, thermo-re-sponsive
and thermo-chemical systems. In addition, guided by the previously reported results for paraffinic thermal
composites, it is hereby recommended to urgently promote the synergistic tradeoff between thermal conductivity
improvement and latent heat reduction so as to avoid the thermo-physical bottlenecks and the design challenges
in the future. Additional attempts include proposals of an ideal phase change diagram, serving as a guide to
understand the phase change theory henceforth, and a categorical flow chart of thermal re-inforcements leading to
fundamental principles to fabricate an ideal thermal composite. In all, the effort is mainly dedicated to bridge the
gap between broad fields where paraffin waxes have been, directly or indirectly, deployed. Therefore, fundamental
terminologies are necessarily defined and tabulated to establish a closer-outlook for the experts of far-reaching
fields.

1. Introduction necessary amount of thermal energy, which is commonly termed as a

Thermal systems driven by phase change materials (PCM) have
witnessed revolution over the last four decades [1]. Broadly, phase
change deals with thermodynamic states of matter (i.e., solid, liquid
and gas) being transformed from one into another with instinctive
capability of restoring the pristine state, i.e., it is a physical and re-
versible phenomenon [2]. Phase change is fundamentally driven by
temperature change, acting as an external stimulus generated through
the heat source, to which the pristine state of matter is impulsively
responsive. For example, solid state of the matter tends to absorb
sensible heat, until a point arrives at which thermally excited matter
changes into the liquid state. This point of phase change is thermo-
dynamically called the melting point, and the corresponding thermal
energy is known as the latent heat in general, while enthalpy of fusion
or enthalpy of vaporization in particular. Most importantly, enthalpy of
fusion takes place at thermodynamically invariant temperature
throughout the transition and is further dependent on the melting
temperature, chemical configuration and crystallographic arrange-
ments of PCMs under-consideration. Examples include organic and in-
organic materials which are recognized as fundamental PCMs,

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhangp@sjtu.edu.cn (P. Zhang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.114
Received 3 June 2018; Received in revised form 3 October 2018; Accepted 17 January 2019
0306-2619/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
6. Conclusion
Taking into account of the multifunction of paraffin waxes and or-
ganizing them to set forth novel thermal systems were the main moti-
vations of the present review. Research and developments on paraffin
waxes have witnessed a tremendous progress over the last four decades.
Widespread inherent traits and unique thermal, physical, mechanical and
chemical functionalities have enabled paraffin waxes to be highly adaptable
and environment-friendly. Combining the fundamental characteristics with
interdisciplinary domains, four thermal systems have been
comprehensively elaborated, eventually setting up the in-sights to find out
the supplementary loopholes for the future works.
Each function of paraffin wax is of versatile importance and has the
capability to unlock innovative lab-scale and industrial avenues. However, it
has been found that tailoring the pristine thermo-physical properties of
paraffin waxes is essential to render them effective for thermo-management
systems. To modulate them, phase change thermal composites have been
frequently fabricated by incorporating many thermal reinforcements;
anyhow, thermal reinforcements always tend to reduce the latent heat and
drastically influence the overall energy storage efficiency. Hence, it is
anticipated that improving the thermo-physical properties of paraffin waxes
is not possible without sacrificing the latent heat. But defining the upper
limit for thermal conductivity enhancement and lower limit for latent heat
reduction can open up the effective design, fabrication and implementation
strategies for paraf-finic systems. In the light of collected experimental and
conceptual interpretations, the following deductions and recommendations
are proposed:
1. Duplex thermal composites with high thermal conductivity, large
pristine latent heat and optimum shape-stability are appropriate for thermo-
management systems. Most importantly, duplex thermal composites having
a tradeoff between thermal conductivity en-hancement and shape-stability
seems to be superior in preserving thermal energy of paraffinic systems.
Triplex thermal composites with medium thermal conductivity, low latent
heat and long-lasting shape-stability are viable for thermo-chemical
systems. Thermo-mechanical systems do not need serious property
alteration as the volumetric expansion is deemed to be adversely affected if
thermal reinforcements are added in large quantities, nonetheless, lab-
scale exploration is necessary to make this hypothesis true.
2. Only need-based thermal composites should be promoted.
Introducing surplus fillers by ignoring latent heat reduction should be
avoided. Even after adding much quantity of thermal reinforce-ments, the
need of a proper mechanical enclosure to hold paraffin composites can
never be neglected. Therefore, a design engineer should take the
responsibility not to introduce a number of additives in over-abundance just
to impart the shape-stability on the account of high latent heat reduction.
Instead, relying on optimum quantities of highly effective thermal
reinforcements would be technically and economically feasible.
3. Microporous thermal reinforcements are robust to suck and hold
paraffin waxes as compared with nanoporous thermal reinforce-ments into
which sorption is hindered due to high viscosity of par-affin. In addition,
visualization studies of thermal composites are encouraged to be
undertaken during phase change especially with graphene thermal
reinforcements as they are always vulnerable to phase segregation issues.
4. Paraffin waxes have numerous features, but all of them are
random. To design a thermal system with feasible performance, the
feature-dependent selection of paraffin waxes should be prioritized.
Further, to envision the physical interpretation of cited features of paraffin
especially for thermo-mechanical, thermo-responsive and thermo-chemical
systems, coupling them with influential triggers can allow to better observe
a change and its relevant effect. However, a right external trigger is always
necessary whose magnitude decides how much change and what kind of
effect would be produced. Particularly, for such systems, property alteration
of paraffin waxes may not be indispensable, but paraffin selection should
be carefully done prior to employ them in respective thermal systems.
Acknowledgement
This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China under Contract No. 51676122. The characterization in our
research has been continuously supported by the AEMD of Shanghai Jiao
Tong University.