ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,429,231, issued on Sept. 30, was assigned to UT-BATTELLE LLC (Oak Ridge, Tenn.).

"Density controlled phase-changing material (PCM) spheres for increased heating power and optimal delivery temperature in hot-water tanks" was invented by Joseph D. Rendall (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), Kashif Nawaz (Knoxville, Tenn.), William E. Asher (Chicago), Ahmed F. Elatar (Knoxville, Tenn.), Jian Sun (Knoxville, Tenn.), Jamieson Brechtl (Knoxville, Tenn.), Xiaoli Liu (Knoxville, Tenn.), Keju An (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Mingkan Zhang (Knoxville, Tenn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A medium for energy storage includes a plurality of capsules. Each capsule contain...