Thermal Properties of Paraffin Wax-based Composites Containing Graphite

Abstract

The paraffin/graphite composite phase change materials (PCMs) for battery thermal management system (BTMS) were prepared in thermostatic water bath. X-ray diffraction test shows that there is no chemical reaction between the paraffin and the graphite. The energy storage properties of the paraffin/graphite composite PCMs were characterized by Differential scanning calorimetry. The total latent heat was reduced with the increasing of the mass fraction of graphite. As the PCMs must have high thermal conductivity and be insulated, the proposed mass fraction of graphite is 20 wt% and the total latent heat is 89.6% as great as that of the pure paraffin, which may be the best for BTMS.

Keywords:

• battery thermal management system
• graphite
• paraffin wax
• phase change material
• thermal properties