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DSC ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL PARAFFIN WAXES

FOR ITS USE AS SOLAR ENERGY STORAGE MATERIAL
Babar Onkar A.1,*, Rachna Sehrawat2, Anit Kumar3 and Patil Harshali B.

1 Department of Food Engineering, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and

Management, Sonepat-Haryana, 131028, India.
2 Department of Food Engineering, National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and
Management, Sonepat-Haryana, 131028, India.
3 Department of Food Science and Technology, National Institute of Food Technology
Entrepreneurship and Management, Sonepat-Haryana, 131028, India.
4Department of Basic and Applied Sciences, National Institute of Food Technology
Entrepreneurship and Management, Sonepat-Haryana, 131028, India.

E-Mails: omkarbabar@gmail.com; sehrawatrachna@gmail.com; aks.kumar6@gmail.com

* Corresponding Author; Tel.: +91-8607620106.

Abstract: The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were conducted to

find out suitable PCM from amongst three paraffin waxes (PW1, PW2 and PW3 etc).
Three commercial grade paraffin waxes used for experiments having density of about
761, 794 and 810 kg/m3 respectively. The enthalpies obtained in DSC experiments
were 132.56, 148.23 and 164.46 KJ/kg respectively at melting temperatures 63, 62.42
and 59.01 OC respectively. The PW1 with highest melting point and moderate enthalpy
were observed to be the best suitable option as storage material for solar energy
storage, since its DSC analysis showed least deviation from its mean value on repeated
melting and solidifying which is a measure of stability against repeated heating and
cooling. The paraffin wax can be best individual for thermal energy storage.

Keywords: Phase change material, paraffin, melting, enthalpy, differential scanning

calorimetry

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1 Introduction
Nowadays, the gap between energy supply and its demand is increasing as rise in population
all over the world is continued. The use of energy is increasing with living standards of this
population. Numbers of energy sources are being explored. Various new energy resources have
been coined viz., solar energy, wind energy; geothermal energy etc. and more are under
exploration phase. The new and sustainable resources have become need of time. Solar energy is
one of those very sectors of renewable energies, but has shortfall with its storage. It requires
either to be converted to electrical form or it requires to be used immediately onsite.
Most of the energy received from the sun in the form of solar energy is thermal energy. Thus
energy storage was thought to be the best alternative to store this abundance form of energy.
Especially thermal energy storage (TES) is gaining importance nowadays. It helps in conserving
energy in most convenient way. It is reported to be best way to utilize energy at the stage of its
use. Thermal energy storage has some advantages like most of the industrial process utilizes
thermal energy, energy can be converted to its thermal form easily, huge scope of thermal energy
storage materials (sensible heat storage and latent heat storage materials etc.), most abundant
source of energy i.e. sun supplies energy in thermal form. Any heat storage system should have
following components viz. suitable PCM which can be melted in desired temperature range
absorbing desirable heat, suitable container for its storage and efficient heat transfer medium.
Paraffins are reported to be best candidates for such a PCM ranges.
Thermal energy storage is usually carried in two ways latent heat storage and sensible heat
storage. Latent heat storage employs phase change material (PCM). The advantages like high
storage density and isothermal operations (charging phase and discharging phase at constant
temperature) during melting and solidification make it more efficientthan sensible heat storage
material. Latent heat storage systems store the thermal energy during the melting phase of PCM
which is recovered at utility point during its solidification phase. Use of latent heat storage
material for energy storage has fetched notable attention nowadays due to its applications in
refrigeration, air conditioning systems, solar energy systems, heating and cooling of buildings,
water heating systems etc. Latent heat storage has sound advantages as mentioned above
however; some pitfalls also it has regarding low thermal conductivity, change in density on
heating, instability over repeated melting and solidifying, phase segregation and sub-cooling etc.

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The present work was undertaken with objectives of investigating effectiveness of the paraffin
waxes of different commercial grades for thermal energy storage. For determination of thermal
performance of these paraffins differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis was carried out.
2 Literature Review
Since last decade, numerous works have been carried for study of thermal behavior of
various latent heat storage materials for thermal energy storage systems. Most of these studies
had focused the melting and solidification problems of the segments of PCMs. Some of those
works viz. Abhat [1], Hasnain [2] reviews on sustainable technologies using thermal energy
storage in terms of heat storage materials i.e. latent and sensible heat storage material can be of
interest of fresher. Faith [3] worked on evaluated thermal storage technologies for solar energy.
Zalba et al. [4] reviewed the historical events and emphasis made by various researchers in the
field of thermal energy storage using solidliquid phase change mainly regarding PCM materials,
its heat transfer and various applications; Farid et al. [5] focused on encapsulation of PCM in
previous work and recent emphasis on development of new category of phase change materials
thereby.
Most of these studies have reported the paraffin wax is a suitable phase change material for
low temperature heat storage system. Features of paraffin like high heat capacity over narrow
range of temperature and non-toxicity prove it to be user-friendly.
Paraffin is mostly studied PCM consisted of straight chain n-alkanes [6]. Normal paraffins
are of type CnH2n+2, saturated straight chain hydrocarbons. Several researchers have reported
these organic PCM to be best suitable candidate for TES and have desirable properties [7]. They
have considerable thermal energy storage densities but many of the researchers have reported
these paraffins to have less thermal conductivity. For better energy transfer and these paraffin
requires larger surface area. Generally, larger the length of hydrocarbon chain, maximum is the
melting temperature and higher is the heat storage capacity of paraffin [8]. These are byproducts
of petroleum distillation process, so cheaper and easily available.
Paraffin waxes are identified to have stable properties even after thousands cycles of melting
and solidifying. It does not show degradations in thermal properties after repeated cycles of
melting and solidifying. Advantages like safe and non-corrosiveness of paraffins make them
suitable to work efficiently in metal containers and these can be converted easily to heat storage
system.

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3 Materials and Methods
3.1 Paraffins wax as a thermal energy storage material
The paraffins in this study are used as latent heat storage materials i.e. phase change
materials (PCM). Commercial grade paraffins of three different grades were procured from
market. Those were notified as PW1, PW2 and PW3. As reported by many researchers paraffin
is chemically stable, non-toxic and attractive individual from huge range of PCMs. Also it has
high latent heat storage capacity. Paraffin used for this study showed following physical
specifications as mentioned in table no. 1
Table no. 1 Physical properties of Paraffins used for study(PCM)
Paraffin Grade Density (kg/m3) Color
PW1 761 White (soft in texture)
PW2 794 Pale yellow
PW3 810 White (hard in texture)
3.2 Differential scanning calorimetric analysis
The samples of paraffin waxes(viz. PW1, PW2 and PW3 etc) were analyzed with the help of
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC 200F3, Maia, NETZSCH, Germany). Three paraffin
waxes samples each of 10 mg were weighed in aluminum (Al) crucible and then cruciblewas
sealed. Since the sample mass is a key factor as reported by the author [9], 10 mg mass were
subjected to experiments every time. The Al crucibles are filled manually, so it is important to
know that all samples were within 10 0.5 mg,using 100 L aluminum crucibles under N2
atmosphere at flowrate of 40 mL min1/60 mL min1 as a purge gas. For the weighing the
sample mass, an analytic balance model Mettler-Toledo AG135 with a precision of 0.01 mg
was used. Dynamic mode was set out as a common pattern taking into account the melting
temperature (Tm) of the sample. It is based on a 10 K min1 of constant rate of heating from 20
O
C temperatures up to the 100 OC as maximum temperature range since almost paraffins melt
within the temperature range of 35 to 80 OC. The instrument was calibrated using indium and
deionized water as a reference. Onset temperature (TO), melting (phase change) temperature
(Tm), end temperature (TE) and enthalpy of fusion (H) were calculated. Enthalpy of phase
change of paraffin and the temperature were obtained from the curves of DSC heat flux signal
response by integration. Particularly for calculating the melting point of the paraffinand for phase
change temperature in general, the peak temperature is considered as the representative melting

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temperature of a phase change material. The area under the curve of phase change is accounted
as enthalpy of the phase change.
4 Results and discussion
Thermo-physical properties like enthalpy of phase change (H) and melting temperature
(Tm) are measured by DSC analysis presented as mean of values obtained from experiments.
Phase change enthalpiesand melting temperatures measured for the three PCMs studied
atdynamic modes are shown in Table 2.
Table no. 2Standard deviations were estimated for comparison of the melting point (Tm) and
phase change enthalpies (H) given by calculated and that provided by manufacturer
PW1 PW2 PW3
TM H TM H TM H
Run 1 63.31 133.3 63.14 148.6 59.44 164.2
Run 2 63.12 131.8 61.23 147.7 58.1 161.3
Run 3 62.57 132.6 62.91 148.4 59.49 164.9
** **
Mean 63 132.56667 62.4267 148.233 59.01 163.467**
Std. Dev. 0.38431758 0.7505553 1.0427 0.47258 0.78848 1.90875
Standard error 0.22188586 0.4333333 0.60201 0.27285 0.45523 1.10202
Manufacturers Value 63 134* 62 151* 60 165*
Upper limit 63.43489628 133.416 63.6066 148.7681 59.90225 165.6266

Lower limit 62.56510372 131.7173333 61.24674 147.6986 58.11775 161.3067

The upper limit and lower limit is calculated for 95 % level of confidence.
Above table no. 1 indicates phase change enthalpies**obtained by DSC analysis are lower
than the values provided by manufacturer*. Standard deviation still shows that DSC values do
not deviate much from the enthalpy values provided by manufacturer. The lower values obtained
from DSC might be explained by assumptions based on studies reported by various
researchers.Difference in manufacturers values and experimental values might be due to
methods that manufacturer uses to calculate these thermal properties. The experimental condition
may vary with respect to heating rate, sample mass, equipment calibration etc.[10]. Furthermore,
manufacturers might also be considering sensible heat stored by each PCM in the melting
process, while only latent heat is taken into account in this study.
For melting temperature (Tm) the standard deviation values are closer to that provided by
manufacturer. The standard deviation is also within acceptable limit. Observing the values of
melting temperatures one can come at conclusion that sample PW1 is less deviated from its mean

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value on repeated melting and solidifying. So it is more stable than other two sample paraffins. It
also has moderate phase change enthalpy i.e. heat capacity. PW3 has highest heat capacity value
but it is less stable on repeated melting and solidification than PW1. Hence PW1 can eb selected
for further use as a latent heat storage material.
DSC curves obtained during experiments are presented in figure no.1. Peak obtained in
the curve is melting point of the sample analyzed whereas the area under the curve is estimated
to be enthalpy of phase change.

(a)

(b)

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(c)
Fig. no. 1- DSC Curves of Paraffin Waxes
(a. PW1, b. PW2, c. PW3)
5 Conclusions
Experiments of DSC of given paraffin wax samples were conducted to select the suitable
paraffin for solar energy storage.It was presumed that paraffin with more stability is to be
selected for further use as thermal energy storage material in solar energy systems. Following
conclusions were drawn from the DSC experiment conducted,

- No significant differences were observed in experimental and manufacturers values of

melting temperatures of all three paraffins. Whereas; little differenceswere observed
between enthalpy values of paraffins under experiment.
- More or less, repeatability can be achieved in all three paraffin to be used as PCMs.
- PW1 was observed to have least deviation from its mean values both in case of melting
temperatures and melting enthalpies as well. Hence it presents itself more stable than
other two paraffins viz. PW2 and PW3 respectively.
- PW1 can withstand against repeated melting and solidifying, so it can be better option for
its utilization in solar energy storage systems.
Study conducted shows that paraffin PW1 is effective PCM and suitable candidate for
low temperature heating applications. It is non-corrosive hence can be used in solar energy
storage application even at small scale level. DSC analysis conducted shows that large
amount of heat can be occupied by melting PCM i.e. paraffin PW1 (132.5 KJ/kg) changing

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its phase at 63 OC. A slow dynamic mode is most suitable way to carry out DSC of phase
change materials especially for paraffin waxes for obtaining reliable results. Paraffin can be
best option for storing solar heat in the form of phase change enthalpy. The phase change
materials show shortfalls with heat transfer due to boundary layer formation, so heat transfer
studies can be done further as future work to enhance heat transfer. It isimportant to study
its heat transfer since thermal efficiency of the system would completely depend upon the
amount of heat it stores during charging phase and the amount of heat it supplies during
discharging phase.
6 Nomenclature and Abbreviations
DSC Differential Scanning Calorimetry

PCM Phase Change Material

PW Paraffin Wax
O
C Degree Celsius

TO Initial (Onset) temperature

TM Melting temperature or phase change temperature

H Enthalpy of phase change

7 References
1. Abhat, A.. Low temperature latent heat thermal energy storage: heat storage materials.
Sol Energy, (1983); 30: 31332.
2. Hasnain SM. Review on sustainable thermal energy storage technologies. Part I: Heat
storage materials and techniques. Energy Conversion and Management(1998); 39:1127
38.
3. Faith HE. Technical assessment of solar thermal energy storage technologies. Renew
Energ 1998;14:3540.
4. Zalba B, Marin JM, Cabeza LF, Mehling H. Review on thermal energy storage with
phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications. Applied Thermal
Energy (2003); 23:25183.

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5. Farid MM, Khudhair AM, Razack SAK, Al-Hallaj S. A review on phase change energy
storage materials and applications. Energy Conversion and Management (2004);
45:1597615.
6. Mehling, H; Cabeza, L.F. Heat and Cold Storage with PCM: An. up to Date Introduction
into Basics and Applications, 1st ed.; Springer Science & Business Media: Berlin,
Germany, 2008; pp. 1157.
7. Farid, M.M.; Khudhair, A.M.; Razack, S.A.K.; Al-Hallaj, S. A review on phase change
energy storage: Materials and applications. Energy Convers. Manag. 2004, 45, 1597
1615.
8. Himran S, Suwono A, Mansori GA. Characterization of alkanes and paraffin waxes for
application as phase change energy storage medium. Energ Source 1994;16:11728.
9. C. Barreneche, A. Sol, L. Mir, I. Martorell, A.I. Fernndez, L.F. Cabeza, New
methodology developed for the differential scanning calorimetry analysis of polymeric
matrixes incorporating phase change materials, Meas. Sci. Technol. 23 (2012) 085606.
10. ISO 11357:2009 Plastics, Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

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