Abstract
Phase change materials (PCMs) have a large number of applications for thermal energy storage (TES) and temperature reduction in buildings due to their thermal characteristics and latent heat storage capabilities. The thermal mass of typical brick walls can be substantially increased using a suitable PCM primarily based on phase change temperature and heat of fusion for different weather conditions in summer and winter. This study proposed a novel dual-layer PCM configuration for brick walls to maintain human comfort for hot and cold climatic conditions in Islamabad, Pakistan. Numerical simulations were performed using Ansys Fluent for dual PCMs layered within a brick wall for June and January with melting temperatures of 29 °C and 13 °C. This study examined and discussed the charging and discharging cycles of PCMs over an extended period (one month) to establish whether the efficacy of PCMs is hindered due to difficulties in discharging. The results show that the combined use of both PCMs stated above provides better human comfort with reduced energy requirements in Islamabad throughout the year than using a single PCM (29 °C) for summer or winter (13 °C) alone.
Highlights
Detailed and analysis was conducted for configurations with and without Phase change materials (PCMs) to investigate their heat storage potential different climatic conditions
Detailed analysis wasinconducted for configurations with and without PCM
TPCM-A and TPCM-B are the temperatures of the PCM interiors located at at distinct points in the geometry
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Phase change materials (PCMs) are potentially used for heat storage and release and in a vast range of applications such as commercial buildings [2], solar PV [3], and free cooling [4]. As they utilize heat to change their phase, for example, solid–liquid or vice versa, their melting or solidification is constant. Lab-scale experimental testing was undertaken to evaluate the thermal response of two layers of PCM integrated with concrete It underwent a charging and discharging cycle for 24 h and validated the results with the CFD methodology used for simulations throughout this study. The simulation study validated by these experimental results examined and discussed the charging and discharging cycles of PCMs over an extended period (one month) to establish whether the efficacy of PCMs is hindered due to difficulties in discharging
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