Abstract
The management of energy consumption in the building sector is of crucial concern for modern societies. Fossil fuels’ reduced availability, along with the environmental implications they cause, emphasize the necessity for the development of new technologies using renewable energy resources. Taking into account the growing resource shortages, as well as the ongoing deterioration of the environment, the building energy performance improvement using phase change materials (PCMs) is considered as a solution that could balance the energy supply together with the corresponding demand. Thermal energy storage systems with PCMs have been investigated for several building applications as they constitute a promising and sustainable method for reduction of fuel and electrical energy consumption, while maintaining a comfortable environment in the building envelope. These compounds can be incorporated into building construction materials and provide passive thermal sufficiency, or they can be used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, domestic hot water applications, etc. This study presents the principles of latent heat thermal energy storage systems with PCMs. Furthermore, the materials that can be used as PCMs, together with the most effective methods for improving their thermal performance, as well as various passive applications in the building sector, are also highlighted. Finally, special attention is given to the encapsulated PCMs that are composed of the core material, which is the PCM, and the shell material, which can be inorganic or organic, and their utilization inside constructional materials.
Highlights
The contemporary societies have enhanced energy needs, leading to an increasingly intensive research for the development of energy storage technologies
Thermal energy storage system is a type of a sustainable energy storage system that is based on the utilization of materials that can store thermal energy when increasing their temperature and release it when the temperature is reduced
A thermal energy storage system is a type of a sustainable energy storage system that is based on the utilization of materials that can store thermal energy when increasing their temperature and release it when the temperature is reduced
Summary
The contemporary societies have enhanced energy needs, leading to an increasingly intensive research for the development of energy storage technologies. Systems of TES using phase change materials (PCMs) find numerous applications for providing and maintaining a comfortable environment of the building envelope, without consumption of electrical energy or fuel [5]. The energy storage capacity of SHS systems depends on the specific heat capacity of the material, the quantity of the material and the temperature change gradient. In case of sensible heat storage (SHS) systems, storing of energy is induced utilization of the heat capacity gained by temperature increment of the material. Solid-phase materials used for SHS can be metals or nonmetals Metals such as aluminum, copper, iron, and metal alloys have high thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity, though their high cost limits their application. Nonmetallic materials that can be used for SHS are rocks, concrete, marbles, bricks, granite, etc., but the disadvantage of all of these materials lies in their low thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity [6,8]
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