page_title: Phase-change material
section_title: Applications
hierarchical_section_title: Phase-change material / Applications
caption_attribution_description: English: Miracradle being employed in the treatment of neonates with birth asphyxia
context_page_description: A phase change material is a substance which releases/absorbs sufficient energy at phase transition to provide useful heat/cooling. Generally the transition will be from one of the first two fundamental states of matter - solid and liquid - to the other. The phase transition may also be between non-classical states of matter, such as the conformity of crystals, where the material goes from conforming to one crystalline structure to conforming to another, which may be a higher or lower energy state.
  The energy released/absorbed by phase transition from solid to liquid, or vice versa, the heat of fusion is generally much higher than the sensible heat. Ice, for example, requires 333.55 J/g to melt, but then water will rise one degree further with the addition of just 4.18 J/g. Water/ice is therefore a very useful phase change material and has been used to store winter cold to cool buildings in summer since at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire.
  By melting and solidifying at the phase change temperature, a PCM is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy compared to sensible heat storage.
context_section_description: Applications of phase change materials include, but are not limited to:
  Thermal energy storage
  Solar cooking
  Cold Energy Battery
  Conditioning of buildings, such as 'ice-storage'
  Cooling of heat and electrical engines
  Cooling: food, beverages, coffee, wine, milk products, green houses
  Delaying ice and frost formation on surfaces
  Medical applications: transportation of blood, operating tables, hot-cold therapies, treatment of birth asphyxia
  Human body cooling under bulky clothing or costumes.
  Waste heat recovery
  Off-peak power utilization: Heating hot water and Cooling
  Heat pump systems
  Passive storage in bioclimatic building/architecture (HDPE, paraffin)
  Smoothing exothermic temperature peaks in chemical reactions
  Solar power plants
  Spacecraft thermal systems
  Thermal comfort in vehicles
  Thermal protection of electronic devices
  Thermal protection of food: transport, hotel trade, ice-cream, etc.
  Textiles used in clothing
  Computer cooling
  Turbine Inlet Chilling with thermal energy storage
  Telecom shelters in tropical regions. They protect the high-value equipment in the shelter by keeping the indoor air temperature below the maximum permissible by absorbing heat generated by power-hungry equipment such as a Base Station Subsystem. In case of a power failure to conventional cooling systems, PCMs minimize use of diesel generators, and this can translate into enormous savings across thousands of telecom sites in tropics.
caption: Phase-change material being employed in the treatment of neonates with birth asphyxia[122][123]
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