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Xylitol As A Phase Change Material: Exploring The Replacement Of Erythritol By Xylitol As A Phase Change Material, Elsa C. Micklin
Xylitol As A Phase Change Material: Exploring The Replacement Of Erythritol By Xylitol As A Phase Change Material, Elsa C. Micklin
Physics
To circumvent the cost and environmental damage associated with batteries, phase change materials have been employed in solar cookpots to enable cooking in unfavorable weather conditions. Researchers at Cal Poly have traditionally employed the sugar alcohol erythritol as a PCM due to its high latent heat and a fusion point above the boiling point of water, but have discovered issues with the polyol’s degradation over extended periods of cycling. This paper explores the viability of erythritol’s sister-compound xylitol as a PCM in insulated solar-electric cookers, or ISECs. An ISEC was constructed with a xylitol PCM, and the data collected from …
Thermal Degradation Of Erythritol, Sudheendra Gamoji
Thermal Degradation Of Erythritol, Sudheendra Gamoji
Physics
The Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC) is a double walled Aluminum pot with a resistive heater directly connected to a solar panel whose goal is to create and disseminate cheap solar cookers in rural areas that primarily rely on biomass for cooking. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) like Erythritol, a sugar substitute, take a tremendous amount of energy to melt, and when they solidify they release the energy. Through the use of PCMs, the ISECs will produce enough heat to cook food even after the sun sets. However, PCMs like Erythritol degrade over repeated heat exposure, so the purpose of this …