Experimental study on a new type phase change cooling unit

Copper foam, as the heat transfer enhancer, was employed to make up a new-type composite phase change material (PCM) with eicosane. In order to test the heat absorption effect of the new material, samples with the composite PCM and pure PCM were processed. Tests of the samples were carried out in high power conditions, and the heat preservation effect of the new type samples was compared with the traditional pure PCM ones. The experimental results indicated that after copper foam was used, the energy storage velocity of the sample was largely improved, the thermal conductivity of the composite PCM was increased about 10 times of that of the pure PCM and the entire energy storage efficiency was enhanced. The composite PCM has advantages of high energy storage density, constant energy storage/release temperature and high thermal conductivity, which provide a possible solution for heat rejection problems of advanced electrical equipment in aeronautics and astronautics fields.