Sebastian Sonnick

Hochschule Mannheim · Institute for Process Control and Innovative Energy Conversion (PI)

Vacuum insulation panels (VIP) are usually manufactured using standardized manufacturing processes based on empirical values and in most cases with any fumed silica as the main component of the core material. However, not all applications have the same requirements in terms of thermal conductivity and service life. Therefore, it is useful to adapt...

If the effective thermal conductivity of a silica powder in any gas atmosphere is to be calculated analytically, one is faced with a whole series of decisions. There are a lot of different models for the gas thermal conductivity in the pores, the thermal accommodation coefficient or the effective thermal conductivity itself in the literature. Furth...

Best practice energy efficiency goals (EU 2030 climate & energy framework [1]) require substantial improvements in thermal insulation. Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs) offer considerable advantages over traditional insulation materials in terms of thermal insulation performance, with effective thermal conductivities between 0.004 and 0.008 W/(mK) [2...

Investigating switchable vacuum insulation panels might lead to a new type of insulation, which can be switched on to enable a low heat flow when a good insulation effect is desired and switched off when exchange with the environment is requested, during a cold summer night, for example. For this reason, different core materials for vacuum insulati...

The development of sustainable trucks has drawn a lot of attention lately. However, the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions related to deep frozen food transports has not yet been satisfactorily considered. In this paper, a thermal Large Eddy Lattice Boltzmann Method (LES-LBM) is applied to investigate two concepts for optimized refrigerate...

The thermal properties of lightweight buildings can be efficiently improved by using phase change materials (PCMs). The heat storage capacity of the building can be extended exactly at the desired temperature level, which leads to an enormous increase in residential comfort. This is shown in the present paper using the example of a prefabricated wo...

The thermal accommodation coefficient is a measure for the quality of thermal energy exchange between gas molecules and a solid surface. It is an important parameter to describe heat flow in rarefied gases, for example, in aerospace or vacuum technology. As special application, it plays a decisive role for the thermal transport theory in silica fil...

In this study, we performed a multi-scale characterization of precipitated silica including small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), analytical (ultra-) centrifugation as well as electron microscopy and pore size determination techniques. Information about the primary particles and their size distribution within the aggregate, the aggregate size and it...

Thermal energy storage is gaining importance within the framework of energy transition in both heating and cooling applications. To ensure efficiency of the storage system, heat losses need to be reduced with the aid of thermal insulation materials. Conventional insulation materials such as foams or fibers require substantial space. On the other ha...

Vacuum insulation panels are high-performance insulating materials with considerably better thermal properties than conventional thermal insulation. Unfortunately, their use is limited to applications where their high price does not matter. To extend the application range of vacuum insulation, the authors try to replace the high-priced core materia...

Due to reduced thermal conductivity, vacuum insulation panels (VIPs) provide significant thermal insulation performance. Our novel vacuum panels operate at reduced pressure and are filled with a powder of precipitated silicic acid to further hinder convection and provide static stability against atmospheric pressure. To obtain an in depth understan...

Eine zukünftige dezentrale Versorgung von Wohneinheiten mit Wasser, Strom und Wärme bzw. Kälte stellt insbesondere in schwach besiedelten Regionen ohne Versorgungsanschlüsse eine große Herausforderung dar. Weil solche Systeme aber häufig in Gebieten anzutreffen sind, die sowohl über eine Anbindung an verunreinigtes Oberflächen- und Grundwasser als...

Wärmedämmungen sind in vielen Prozessen unerlässlich. Konventionelle, meist faserartige oder geschäumte Dämmstoffe gehen allerdings mit einem erheblichen Platzbedarf einher. Hochleistungsdämmstoffe und Vakuumisolationspaneele (VIPs) liegen, vor allem auf Grund des hochpreisigen Kernmaterials und der Herstellmethode, auf einem für viele Anwendungen...

Fest-Flüssig-Phasenwechselvorgänge sind durch ihre hohe Energiedichte bei kleinen Temperaturgradienten schon seit vielen Jahren ein interessantes Forschungs- und Entwicklungsfeld im Bereich der thermischen Energiespeicherung. Während die Schmelzenthalpien der eingesetzten Paraffine, Kunststoffe, Ester, Salzhydrate, etc. einen großen Mehrwert im Ver...

Thermal energy storage is gaining importance within the framework of energy turnaround. It is required in many applications to supply heat at a constant temperature. Therefore, phase change materials (PCMs) are considered suitable storage media in these cases. In this study, a eutectic salt hydrate mixture with a phase change temperature of approxi...

Die Forschung und Entwicklungsarbeit im Themenbereich Vakuumisolationen umfasst eine Vielzahl von Projekten mit unterschiedlichen Partnern aus der Industrie und öffentlichen Stellen. Entschiedenes Entwicklungsziel aller Partner ist es, das Nischenprodukt „Vakuumisolation“ massentauglich zu machen und damit eine wichtigen Beitrag zur Energiewende zu...

PCM-Heat Storage - Applications in Combination with Heat Pumps Description of the phase change materials and presentation of two applications

PCM Heat Storage - A Widely Usable Technology in Buildings

Wärmespeicher – lange verkannte Technologie mit innovativen Ansätzen für neue Potentiale

Wärmespeicher – lange verkannte Technologie mit innovativen Ansätzen für neue Potentiale

Untersuchung unterschiedlicher Treibmittel auf den Dampfstrahlprozess bei der Verwendung von Wasser als Saugmittel und Vergleich der resultierenden COP