Novel hybrid microencapsulated phase change materials incorporated wallboard for year-long year energy storage in buildings

Abstract

Phase change materials are smart, feasible latent heat storage materials and have been incorporated into building materials to reduce energy demand and improve the thermal comfort of buildings. This study proposes a method for improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort in buildings (during both summers and winters) by developing a novel hybrid phase change material wallboard and a method to select the temperature of phase change material for different seasons (29 °C for summer, 18 °C for midseason, and 12 °C for winter). This type of hybrid phase change materials wallboard consists of three types of phase change materials with different phase-change temperatures that can be utilized efficiently in different seasons. The thermal performances of the hybrid phase change material wallboards (two combination modes: Mode1 and Mode2) were evaluated by a guarded hot plate method. The effective thermal conductivity (λ) and apparent specific heat (Cp) of these wallboards were investigated. The interior temperature variations of the two types of phase change materials wallboards were compared during heating and cooling, and it could be concluded that the Mode2 hybrid phase change materials wallboard (where phase change material was incorporated into different gypsum wallboard layers) was more suitable for real applications. The goal of this study is to investigate an appropriate method to fabricate a new hybrid phase change materials wallboard for building energy savings over different seasons.