Water-paraffin dispersion systems: manufacturing and application

The paper presents the study results of the stability and heat storage capacity of paraffin-in-water phase change suspensions (PCSs) obtained by the homogenization of paraffin and water in the developed rotary hydrodynamic homogenizer. The optimal concentration of components for obtaining stable paraffin-in-water suspensions is found. It is shown that the stable PCSs in the form of pastes, gels, and liquids can be obtained depending on the concentration of water, paraffin, and the surface active agent (SAA) as well as its type. In addition, the scheme of the solar heating system with the heat storage tank where the PCS functions both as the heat transfer fluid and the heat storage media is presented. It is shown that the use of PCS in the domestic solar heating system allowed the heat storage capacity of the storage tank to be increased by 25% as a result of the high fusion heat of paraffin and the high value of the water specific heat capacity. The estimation of the saving rate from applying fluid PCS as a heat storage medium is also presented and discussed.