Thermal conductivity enhancement of sodium acetate trihydrate by adding graphite powder and the effect on stability of supercooling

Sodium acetate trihydrate and graphite powder mixtures have been evaluated to investigate the influence of the graphite powder on the stability of supercooling. A sodium acetate and water mixture mixed with graphite powder was successfully supercooled at ambient indoor temperatures for five months. The graphite powder was stabilized using carboxymetyl cellulose and successfully tested in heating and supercooling cycles with no loss of performance. Thermal conductivity enhancing properties of graphite powder was shown in samples. Since the experiments were conducted in small scale, at 200 g per sample, large scale experiments are required to validate graphite as a thermo conductivity enhancing agent, suitable for use in seasonal heat storage applications utilizing SAT. (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/).