Corrosion of Metal Containers for Use in PCM Energy Storage
Abstract
In recent years, thermal energy storage (TES) systems using phase change materials (PCM) have been widely studied and developed for comfort building applications. The PCM are normally encapsulated in containers, hence the compatibility of the container material with the PCM has to be considered. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to study the corrosion effect that four different PCM (one inorganic mixture, one ester and two fatty acid eutectics) have on five selected metals to be used in buildings comfort applications. Results showed corrosion on aluminium specimens immersed in SP21E, hence caution must be taken when selecting it as inorganic salt container. Despite copper has a corrosion rate range of 6-10 mg/cm2·yr in the two fatty acid formulations tested, it could be used as container. Stainless steel 316 and stainless steel 304 showed great corrosion resistance (0-1 mg/cm2·yr) and its use would totally be recommended with any of the studied PCM.