Laboratory test of a prototype heat storage module based on stable supercooling of sodium acetate trihydrate

Laboratory test of a long term heat storage module utilizing the principle of stable supercooling of 199.5 kg of sodium acetate water mixture has been carried out. Avoiding phase separation of the incongruently melting salt hydrate by using the extra water principle increased the heat storage capacity. An external expansion vessel minimized the pressure built up in the module while heating and reduced the risk of instable supercooling. The module was stable supercooled at indoor ambient temperature for up to two months after which it was discharged. The energy discharged after activating the supercooled sodium acetate water mixture was 194 kJ/kg of sodium acetate water mixture in the first test cycles dropping to 179 kJ/kg in the later test cycles. Instability of the supercooling occurred when the charging periods were short and in the last test cycles where the tube connecting the module to the expansion vessel had been blocked by the salt hydrate. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).