Assembly for minimizing explosion hazards

Abstract

An assembly for mitigating explosion hazards, the assembly having an outer surface that confines (i) multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles and (ii) a flowable granular media substantially including a foam-like internal structure, and wherein at least thirty percent (30%) of the outer surface becoming porous with respect to the explosion upon impingement by the explosion hazards.

Description

ASSEMBLY FOR MINIMIZING EXPLOSION HAZARDSRelation to Other Patent Application(s)

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial Number 63 / 657,778, filed on June 7, 2024 in the name of Guy Leath Gettle. Where permitted by law, the entire contents of this provisional patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.Statement Regarding U. S. Federal Government Support

[0002] None.Technical Field

[0003] This invention relates to means of protecting people and objects against explosion events, and specifically to mitigating hazards generated by explosions.Background Art

[0004] There are three principal types of explosions: detonations, deflagrations, and mechanical. All explosions produce a wave front, the pressure of which is much higher than ambient conditions in the fluid through which the wave passes. All types of explosions are capable of inflicting damage and injury.

[0005] Mechanical explosions develop from sudden releases of pressurized fluids, such as catastrophic failure of a vessel filled with gas athigh pressure. No combustion processes are involved with mechanical explosions, thus they release little or no heat energy.

[0006] Detonations and deflagrations are products of combustion.Detonation reactions propagate by shock waves moving through an explosive fuel such as solid cyclomethylene trinitramine (RDX). Deflagrations are combustion events in which ignition of unburned fuels proceeds by heat transfer. Some deflagrations produce pressure waves resembling detonations but not always, such as when flammable mists burn outdoors in a "fireball".

[0007] When confined, detonations and deflagrations can generate very high pressures. Both detonations and most deflagrations are capable of accelerating projectiles.

[0008] Shock waves and acceleration of hot gas provide momentum, or impulse, to blast waves. Impulse is the mechanism that overturns vehicles, knocks down structures, and inflicts lung damage to people. Heat and flame produced by explosions can ignite nearby combustible materials and cause burn injuries.Limitations of the Present Art

[0009] Options for mitigating blast hazards available with the present art include venting, flame arrestors, dispersing extinguishants, and barriers that separate high pressure environments from ambient conditions. In unconfined environments, barriers are the only option.Limitations of venting for mitigation of blast hazards

[0010] Venting is commonly used to avoid catastrophic failure of confinement means by reducing pressure. There are many applications, however, where venting is impractical or impossible. As examples, ventingcannot be employed when explosives detonate beneath vehicles, aboard submarines, or inside large buildings.Limitations of flame arrestors for mitigating blast hazards

[0011] Flame arrestors use metal honeycombs, bundled tube arrays, and spongiform webs inside pressurized vessels and pipes to reduce flame front velocity and pressure while simultaneously extracting heat. Mitigation results because flame front velocity, temperature, and pressure are mathematically linked.

[0012] Flame arrestors, however, can only be used in pressurized equipment, thus they do not work inside buildings, ships, and aircraft, nor for vehicles exposed to detonations of solid explosives. Even then they are effective only when positioned where explosions are likely to occur.Limitations of flame extinguishment for mitigating blast hazards

[0013] Dispensing fire extinguishing agents can mitigate blast hazards involving flammable liquids, gases, and dusts in certain applications. To be effective, however, these agents must suppress or extinguish flames before they generate enough combustion gas to produce intense blasts or pressurize confined gases beyond structural strength limits.

[0014] Without explosive acceleration of extinguishing agents from reservoirs, dispensing of agents is a subsonic process. This limitation may prevent agents from reaching combustion zones before flame fronts transition into explosions. Even if extinguishing agents reach combustion zones, they may fail to suppress combustion. Duration of detonation events is too short for extinguishing agents to arrest detonation processes or mitigate detonation hazards.

[0015] Gases such as carbon dioxide require relatively high concentrations for flame extinguishment, which precludes their use where people may be present. Powders are heavy and are prone to formation of clumps that block nozzles and narrow passages.

[0016] Ewing and co-workers disclosed through several papers (1989, 1990, 1994) that, except in very rare cases, flame extinction is entirely a heat transfer process. Extinguishing agents thus work by absorbing heat energy sufficient to reduce temperatures below the combustion temperature threshold. In Ewing's research, flame extinction times for powdered and liquid extinguishing agents were dramatically reduced when mean diameters of solid particulate and liquid droplets were less than 20 micrometers.

[0017] However, liquid mists with micron-size droplets or ultra-fine solid particles cannot be projected significant distances due to aerodynamic drag and low mass. Liquid droplets are too large to be effective. Nozzles that produce such small droplets are prone to blockage.Limitations of barriers for mitigating explosion hazards

[0018] Structural barriers may be erected to prevent blast effects from seriously affecting people and structures on the unexposed side, but such barriers cannot be usefully placed on a ship or airplane. Barriers that fail under blast loading produce lethal fragments that may travel long distances. Barriers do not mitigate blast waves, and actually increase blast parameters when shock waves reflect on the incident side.Current art for assemblies that mitigate explosion hazards

[0019] Gettle

[1995] disclosed an assembly for attenuating shock waves and suppressing deflagrations comprised of porous screens confining a medium that attenuates pressure waves. Attenuating media contemplated inthis patent were aqueous foams and flowable media with characteristics of aqueous foams comprised of granules such as pumice and perlite that have foam-like internal structures.

[0020] Numerous tests of assemblies made using Gettle's patent have shown that they mitigate explosion parameters in both confined and unconfined environments and with both solid and gaseous explosive compositions. Panel assemblies based upon this concept were fabricated at different times as flexible mattress forms and as sandwich panels filled either with aqueous foam with honeycomb cores filled with granular attenuating media. Honeycomb is akin to an array of small flame arrestors.

[0021] Applications for assemblies in these tests have ranged from barriers to linings for containers to baffles and wall liners for steel tanks. Mitigation of blast pressures have ranged from 40% to 90% compared with unmitigated blast events in the same conditions. Impulse reductions have ranged from 20% to nearly 50% (Energy Analysts, Inc., 1996; Morris, 1996; Sharpe, 1997; Holzwarth, 2013; Mathis, 2024).Limitations of flowable attenuating media for mitigating explosion hazards

[0022] Although assemblies filled with expanded polystyrene foam beads and volcanic foam glass granules in tests cited above demonstrated substantial mitigation, they cannot absorb substantial heat energy. Organic foams and volcanic foam glasses have low thermal conductivities. The present art does not offer means of substantially increasing heat energy absorption for insulating granular media.

[0023] Aqueous foams have high heat capacity, low density, and experimentally determined viscosities and sonic velocities. Numerous experiments have shown that they reduce shock wave particle velocities andpeak pressures typically by roughly half. However, they cannot mitigate explosions through energy dissipation by aerodynamic drag.

[0024] Granular media having foam-like internal structures generate high aerodynamic drag losses due to the velocity difference between fast gas flow and relatively stationary particulates. This effect increases with increased blast wave velocity. They also attenuate shock waves.

[0025] Multiple shock wave reflections between granules and within the foam-like structures inside each granule dissipates additional energy. Friction energy losses also occur due to multitudinous particle relative displacements. However, heat energy absorption from transiting blast waves is comparatively small due to their low thermal conductivities.Limitations of the current art for using phase change materials (" PCMs”]

[0026] Most substances change phase at a specific temperature, or within a narrow range of temperatures. Changes of phase may be from solid to liquid (fusion, or melting), liquid to gas (vaporization), or directly from solid to gas (sublimation).

[0027] Many of these materials absorb a considerable amount of energy when they change phase. Water, as one example, absorbs approximately 1.5 kilojoules per kilogram when ice melts and 2.25 megajoules per kilogram when the water vaporizes into ambient air.

[0028] PCMs are now used widely in thermal management systems for lithium-containing battery packs as well as in many other applications where maintaining temperatures within a narrow range is required. For almost all of these applications, solid PCMs are used.

[0029] The current art uses solid PCMs either in bulk form (blocks, thick spacers, or coatings applied to objects) or embedded in other materials, such as in molded plastics. Due to low thermal conductivities inherent to almost all PCMs, melting is delayed when substances are exposed to heat and return to solid phase is delayed when ambient temperatures drop below their fusion temperature.

[0030] The most commonly used PCMs are hydrated inorganic salts and fatty acids. Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate ("Epsom salt") and sodium tetraborate decahydrate ("borax") are examples of fusible inorganic salts. Capric acid, stearic acid, and palmitic acid exemplify fatty acid choices.

[0031] Most fusible salts do not return to their original structure when re-solidified after melting or decomposing. They often form different substances. Use of paraffins and fatty acids is similarly constrained because they spread and cannot be restored to their original form after melting. This problem prohibits their use in electronic equipment.

[0032] Because of characteristically low thermal conductivities, particulates having high thermal conductivities, such as graphite and aluminum, are often dispersed within bulk PCMs. Even with these enhancements, unfortunately, heat transfer across a layer more than a millimeter thick is too slow for efficient thermal management. These materials also add considerable cost to the finished productsExplosion hazards posed by munitions

[0033] The current art for removal and destruction of explosive devices is inadequate for protecting people and nearby structures. Explosives removal is dangerous. The current art for protecting explosive ordnancedisposal personnel cannot prevent serious injury except from small devices (much less than one kilogram of explosive].

[0034] Large fragmenting munitions and large accumulations of explosive devices are often too dangerous to move on public roads or near communities. For this reason, stockpiles are often disposed of ("demilitarized"] by detonating them where they are located. Shock waves, impulse, and fragments generated in such blasts may damage structures and can still injure people far away. Because of this inadequacy, standards for protection from explosives handling hazards exist that require substantial separation between the explosive materials and nearby roads and structures.Explosion hazards posed by mines

[0035] Millions of mines have been distributed around the world.Many inflict severe injury when stepped on or disturbed. Larger buried mines can disable or destroy mine-clearing vehicles, whether robotic or manned because the current art for protecting the vehicles only resists or partially deflects blast impulse and debris. Armors made to the current art neither dissipate nor suppress significant amounts of blast energy.

[0036] Mines require neutralization if land contaminated by them is to be used safely. This can be done by either detonating mines in place, disarming them, or moving to another location for destruction. Numbers of mines are so large that neutralization is extremely expensive. Neutralization of so many explosive devices using the current art is extremely expensive if done safely and in accordance with safety regulations.Disclosure of the Invention

[0037] Minimizing explosion hazards is achieved by combining flowable granular media having foam-like internal structures and encapsulated phase change materials in an assembly.

[0038] Encapsulated phase change materials are most effective for suppressing deflagrations and mitigating detonations through the present invention when PCM particles have characteristic dimensions not exceeding 20 micrometers [microns]. Such small diameters make them suitable for addition to coatings that can be applied to a wide range of surfaces, such as confinement components and granular media.

[0039] Desirable characteristic dimensions of flowable granular media having foam-like internal structures depend upon the anticipated intensity of blast exposure but in all cases are less than 1 centimeter. Confining surfaces of the assembly for minimizing blast hazards must retain the flowable granular media but allow impinging blast waves to penetrate through the surfaces so that the wave can interact with the granular media.

[0040] Alternatively, a granular medium having surfaces provided with thin coatings containing encapsulated PCM particles may be used to fill panels, mattress-like assemblies, and bags having thin walls made from plastics, textiles, or paper. Another alternative is to substantially fill assemblies for minimizing blast hazards with multitudinous encapsulated PCM particles. These may be added as dry powders or in slurries substantially comprising encapsulated PCM particles.

[0041] Flame front suppression and explosion energy dissipation can be accomplished for a wide range of blast intensities with such assemblies. Ratios of flowable granular media, mass of encapsulated PCM-loadedcoatings, and configurations of assemblies can be varied to maximize heat energy absorption for deflagrating fuels, to minimize weight, maximize shock wave attenuation, or to minimize assembly dimensions.

[0042] Assemblies for minimizing blast hazards in prismatic forms may confine the flowable media in cores consisting of multitudinous cells. Such cores may be honeycombs, grilles, tube arrays, or any combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the core is rigid and the tube arrays are bonded. Opposing surfaces for prismatic forms of the assembly may be parallel, inclined, or have corrugated or irregular profiles.

[0043] Cells according to the present invention can be substantially filled with granular clusters or agglomerations of encapsulated phase change particulates. Multitudinous clusters or agglomerates would preferably be bonded with paraffin or a fatty acid having a fusion temperature higher than paraffin.

[0044] Assemblies for minimizing explosion hazards are contemplated to be mounted on walls and inner surfaces of an enclosed space or container. Alternatively, they may be suspended as baffles that occupy space away from enclosing surfaces.

[0045] When mounted on walls or ceilings, a space of at least one centimeter between the assembly and confining surface would be maintained. Impingement of a pressure wave on one surface would transmit through the panel where it would reflect from the rear surface. This reflected wave would be a rarefaction, or negative pressure, wave that returns to the impinged surface. In doing so pressure would be reduced and substantial blast wave energy would be dissipated within the assembly.

[0046] Regardless of structural form of the assembly, surfaces that confine the flowable attenuating media must be incapable of resisting pressures substantially exceeding the ambient condition prior to an explosion. Such surfaces may become porous either by shattering or melting. In an exemplary embodiment, at least 30 percent of such surfaces become porous.

[0047] Frangible surfaces are effective for this purpose in many applications. Plastic films are suitable options for frangible surfaces, as are thin fabrics, woven or non-woven, comprising either natural or organic resin fibers. An optional thin film substantially comprising the thin coating containing encapsulated PCM powder particles can be bonded to at least one surface of any of these assembly forms.. In an exemplary embodiment, the coating includes at least 20 percent by weight of the encapsulated PCM powder particles, and at least half of the at least one surface is so coated.Summary of the Invention

[0048] In view of the shortcomings of existing means of protection against explosion hazards, novel means are required. The present invention accordingly offers a means of minimizing explosion hazards through the optimal use of phase change materials and granular media having foam-like internal structures within an assembly that allows pressure waves to transmit therethrough.Brief Description of the Drawings

[0049] Figure 1 depicts the basic embodiment of the assembly for minimizing explosion hazards.

[0050] Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment in which assemblies for minimizing explosion hazards are mounted on walls and suspended from the ceiling within a substantially enclosed space.

[0051] Figure 3 is a cross section of an embodiment with granular media having foam-like internal structure having surfaces covered by a coating containing multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles inside cells within a prismatic assembly.

[0052] Figure 4 is a cross section of a vehicle having a mattress-like embodiment of the assembly for mitigating blast hazards suspended beneath its underside.Reference Numerals in Drawings

[0053] 10 assembly for mitigating explosion hazards20 outer surface22 opening with cincture30 encapsulated phase change material particles40 flowable granular medium having a foam-like internal structure 50 substantially enclosed space55 panel60 wall64 mounting components66 space70 ceiling80 cells82 flowable granular medium having a foam-like internal structure with surfaces covered by a coating containing multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles86 frangible surface88 coating containing multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles90 vehicle100 connecting member110 metal skidDetailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention

[0054] The various drawing figures accordingly depict a number of embodiments according to the present invention. Those embodiments are summarized below followed by detailed descriptions of the figures.

[0055] Figure 1 shows a basic embodiment of the assembly for mitigating explosion hazards. The assembly for minimizing explosion hazards 10 having an outer surface 20 confines multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles 30 and a flowable granular medium having a foam-like internal structure 40.

[0056] Figure 2 illustrates the use of assemblies for mitigating explosion hazards disposed in different locations of a substantially enclosed space 50. One assembly for mitigating explosion hazards having a prismatic form 55 is shown mounted on a wall 60 by means of mounting components 64. A space 66 of at least one centimeter is provided between the wall andthe assembly for mitigating explosion hazards. A second assembly for mitigating explosion hazards is shown suspended from a ceiling 70 by means of mounting components.

[0057] Figure 3 is a section view of an assembly for mitigating explosion hazards having a prismatic form. A plurality of cells 80 within the panel are substantially filled with a flowable granular medium having surfaces covered by a coating containing multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles 82. Frangible surfaces 86 confine the flowable granular medium within the cells. A coating containing multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles 88 is applied to exterior surfaces of the assembly.

[0058] Figure 4 is a cross section of a vehicle 90 having a mattress-like embodiment of the assembly for mitigating explosion hazards suspended beneath by connecting members 100 on the front of the vehicle. The assembly for mitigating blast hazards is shown disposed with its confining surfaces oblique to the floor of the vehicle. A metal skid 110 on the end of the assembly protects the assembly when it is dragged.Operation

[0059] The assembly for mitigating explosion hazards becomes operable when a pressure wave generated by an explosion impinges upon at least one surface. The outer surface of the assembly will rupture mechanically due to explosion pressure above conditions ambient prior to impingement or melt upon impingement by hot gas.

[0060] Hot gas will move through the flowable granular medium having a foam-like internal structure and multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles. Phase change materials inside encapsulants willmelt within milliseconds after contact with hot gas. Aerodynamic drag energy losses will occur as gas moves at very high velocities relative to multitudinous granules inside the assembly that are initially motionless.

[0061] Fusion enthalpy of phase change materials contemplated in the present invention ranges between 100 and 300 kilojoules per kilogram Quantities of encapsulated phase change materials in typical coating thicknesses, approximately 0.12 millimeters on each side of a cell wall or 0.25 millimeters total, are in the range of 2.5 kilograms per square meter.

[0062] Thickness of flat panel assemblies comprises the equivalent length of a nozzle for cells of honeycombs and grille cores. Total surface area of a flat panel with honeycomb core, having a planar surface area of 1 square meter and thickness of 2.5 centimeters, is roughly 5 to 10 square meters.

[0063] With typical coating thickness of approximately 0.12 millimeters on each side of a cell wall or 0.25 millimeters total per cell in addition to coating on both planar surfaces, total PCM content will be in the range of 10 kilograms per square meter of planar surface. Using a low value for fusion enthalpy of 100 kilojoules per kilogram (100 kJ / kg], the total fusion enthalpy available for absorbing heat energy is thus on the order of one megajoule (1 MJ] per square meter of assembly surface area.

[0064] Aerodynamic drag of gas accelerated to high velocities creates drag energy losses that subtract from the energy of the impinging blast wave. The formula for calculating energy dissipated by aerodynamic drag is:Drag energy = drag coefficient CD X density x [velocity]2.For a blast wave moving at 100 meters per second, density averaging roughly 10 kilograms per cubic meter x roughly 0.05 kilograms per square meter of panel, drag energy dissipation equals 500 x CD. With CD‘S averaging 0.1 to 0.5for spheres and hemispheres, aerodynamic drag would remove roughly 50 -100 kilojoules per square meter of assembly surface. At 1,000 meters per second, drag energy extraction would jump to 5 to 25 MJ per square meter of assembly surface for assemblies averaging less than 5 centimeters of thickness.

[0065] To suppress deflagration flame fronts in gases by reducing gas temperature below the minimum required to sustain combustion, one must remove heat energy in the gas. Densities of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, propane, and hydrogen average between 0.8 to 1.5 kilograms per cubic meter at 24 degrees Celsius, 1.01 bar. At 10 bar, densities of mixtures of these gases would be considerably higher.

[0066] Total gas mass inside a flat panel assembly 2.5 centimeters (0.025 meters] and 1 square meter planar surface area would thus be on the order of 0.02 to 0.05 kilograms. Enthalpies of these gases at 10 bars would total roughly 1 to 2 kilojoules. One can readily see that the extensive specific surface of assemblies for suppressing deflagrations with coatings containing encapsulated phase change PCMs can absorb almost all the energy of impinging hot gases.

[0067] In combination, mixtures of flowable granular media and encapsulated phase change material particles confined within assemblies for mitigating explosion hazards can absorb vastly greater quantities of heat energy. As one example, detonation of RDX releases approximately 9,500 kJ (9.5 MJ] per kilogram. Several megajoules of blast energy could be absorbed simply with fusion enthalpies. Aerodynamic drag as a blast wave travels through flowable granular media would absorb much more than 10 MJ per kilogram.

[0068] The present invention would be even more effective against underoxidized explosives such 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene [TNT], aluminized explosive mixtures, and almost all propellants. Total heat release and impulse for these energetic materials depend upon a chain of combustion reactions that produce unstable secondary compounds, These secondary compounds mix with oxygen in the surroundings. The sequence of follow-on reactions is generally referred to as "afterburn". Roughly half of total blast energy released by TNT, for example, is due to afterburn. Rapid cooling and energy dissipation as blast waves interact with encapsulated phase change materials and flowable granular media stops afterburn and thus reduces net blast energy output from TNT roughly by half.

[0069] The effective surface area of assemblies for mitigating explosion hazards is substantially increased when assemblies are disposed as baffles and when mounted near walls such that gas can flow around all surfaces,. Energy extraction capability of the panel assembly is then at least doubled. Baffles also increase turbulent gas flow within substantially enclosed spaces. Convective heat transfer in turbulent flow is much greater than in laminar flow.

[0070] Most importantly, another advantage provided by a space between assemblies and walls is that a negative pressure wave traversing the interior of an assembly is generated when a shock wave reaches the space. This negative pressure wave is typically called a rarefaction. The rarefaction travels at very high speed to instantly reduce pressure in the space and within the assembly as well.

[0071] Assemblies for mitigating explosion hazards can be used in a range of forms when protection against explosive devices and unexploded munition hazards is needed. Vehicles traversing minefields and areascontaminated by munitions can be protected by assemblies for mitigating explosion hazards when these assemblies are disposed therebeneath.

[0072] Beneath vehicles, assemblies may be affixed to the underside by mountings. Alternatively, assemblies may be used as floors integral to the vehicle structure. In an exemplary embodiment, the assembly may cover at least 30 percent of the area of such bottom surfaces of the vehicle. They may also be suspended by mountings on one end of the vehicle such that they are dragged as the vehicle moves. Momentum from accelerated soil can be absorbed by the suspended assembly.Advantages

[0073] The invention offers numerous alternatives for a person skilled in the art of designing of designing structures and systems that require protection against explosion hazards. One can see that a thin assembly fabricated according to the present invention is capable of extracting sufficient energy to suppress deflagration flames and substantially weaken impinging blast waves within milliseconds.

[0074] The combination of encapsulated phase change materials having characteristic dimensions less than 20 microns and granular media having foam-like internal structures offer advantages over any means available in the present art for a specified weight and a specified thickness for minimizing blast hazards in numerous applications. New materials and fabrication processes may be developed in the future that could further enhance capabilities within embodiments discussed elsewhere.Conclusion, Ramifications and Scope

[0075] Accordingly, the reader will observe that assemblies for minimizing explosion hazards and with coatings that incorporatemultitudinous encapsulated phase change materials therewithin would offer substantial protection of structures, vehicles, and systems exposed to blast effects. The ability to mitigate explosion hazards with simple assemblies disposed in numerous ways can make the use of hydrogen fuels, oxygen, and flammable gases in various propulsion and chemical storage systems safe. It also affords many structures, vessels, vehicles and aircraft protection against explosive devices and munitions without significant interference to the operation and function of these platforms. The present invention makes this possible for almost any imaginable size or configuration.

Claims

ClaimsWHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An assembly for mitigating explosion hazards, comprising:at least one surface having an outer surface that confines [i] multitudinous encapsulated phase change material particles having a characteristic dimension not exceeding 20 microns and [ii] a flowable granular medium substantially comprising a foam-like internal structure, andwherein at least thirty percent [30%] of said outer surface becomes porous with respect to the explosion hazards upon impingement by the explosion hazards.

2. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein said outer surface is frangible, and ruptures mechanically upon impingement by the explosion hazards, thereby causing said at least 30% of the outer surface to become porous.

3. The assembly of Claim 1, configured as a rigid sandwich having a core form selected from the group consisting of honeycomb, grille, and array of bonded tubes.

4. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein said flowable granular medium substantially comprising a foam-like internal structure is selected from the group consisting of perlite, pumice, and organic resin foam beads.

5. The assembly of Claim 1, wherein at least half of said outer surface is coated with a coating comprising at least 20% by weight encapsulated phase change material particles.

6. The assembly of Claim 1, suspended beneath a vehicle by at least one end of said assembly.

7. The assembly of Claim 1, attached to a bottom surface of a vehicle, and covering at least thirty percent [30%] of an area of the bottom surface of the vehicle.

8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said flowable granular material has a characteristic size no greater than about 1 centimeter.

9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said phase change material of said encapsulated phase change material particles is selected from the group consisting of a hydrated inorganic salt and a fatty acid.

10. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said encapsulated phase change material particles are encapsulated in plastic.

11. The assembly of claim 1, mounted near a wall.

12. The assembly of claim 1, disposed as a baffle in a substantially enclosed space.

13. The assembly of claim 1, configured in prismatic form featuring a plurality of cells sandwiched between opposing surfaces.

14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein at least a plurality of said cells are substantially filed with granular clusters or agglomerates of said encapsulated phase change material particles.

15. The assembly of claim 13, wherein said opposing surfaces have an orientation selected from the group consisting of parallel and inclined.

16. The assembly of claim 13, wherein said opposing surfaces have a profile selected from the group consisting of corrugated and irregular.

17. The assembly of claim 1, mounted on at least one inner surface of an enclosed space or container.

18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein an at least one centimeter spacing is maintained between said assembly and said at least one inner surface.

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