Thermal properties of composite PCM wallboard in low-temperature hot Water radiant system

低温热水墙体辐射供暖技术因其节能、舒适及对供暖温度（热源品位）要求低等优势而越来越得到广泛应用。在研究相变墙体辐射供暖系统的基础上,针对相变墙体层蓄热效率低的问题,提出采用一种新的复合相变墙体板。并建立相应复合相变墙体的传热模型,利用数值模拟软件对复合相变墙体的蓄放热过程进行分析,对比分析了有复合相变层和没有相变层时室内供暖系统的区别,同时研究了相变温度、相变层厚度等参数对复合相变墙体表面平均温度、表面热流密度的影响,得到了它们对复合相变墙体的传热过程的影响规律。研究结果可为提高供暖系统的舒适度提供理论依据,并为发展低品位能源利用提供技术支持。     

Thermal dynamics of wallboard with latent heat storage

Wallboard impregnated with phase change material (PCM) will provide thermal storage that is distributed throughout a building, enabling passive solar design and off-peak cooling with frame construction. This paper examines the thermal dynamics of PCM wallboard that is subjected to the diurnal variation of room temperature, but is not directly illuminated by the sun. The purpose of this work is to provide guidelines useful in selecting an optimal PCM and in estimating the benefits of PCM architectural products. The energy stored during a daily cycle depends upon a) the melt temperature of the PCM; b) the temperature range over which melt occurs; and c) the latent capacity per unit area of wallboard. Situations with the wallboard on an interior partition or on the inside of the building envelope are investigated separately. The following findings are presented. The maximum diurnal energy storage occurs at a value of the PCM melt temperature that is close to the average room temperature in most circumstances. Diurnal energy storage decreases if the phase change transition occurs over a range of temperatures. The diurnal storage achieved in practice may be limited to the range 300–400 kJ/m², even if the wallboard has a greater latent capacity. The implications of these findings for test room experiments are discussed.     

我国不同气候地区夏季相变墙房间热性能模拟和评价

利用我们提出的分析相变墙房间热性能的理论模型，并藉该文献提出的两个评价房间夏季过热不舒适程度指标——“累计日室内温度不舒适度”IDCT和“累计日室内综合温度不舒适度”IDC，分析了采用相变墙建筑适用的气候条件，并通过数值方法模拟和评价了相变墙房间在我国不同气候地区的使用效果，说明了相变墙建筑在我国不同地区使用的优点和局限性。     

Optimization of a phase change material wallboard for building use

In construction, the use of phase change materials (PCM) allows the storage/release of energy from the solar radiation and/or internal loads. The application of such materials for lightweight construction (e.g., a wood house) makes it possible to improve thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption. A wallboard composed of a new PCM material is investigated in this paper to enhance the thermal behavior of a lightweight internal partition wall. The paper focuses on the optimization of phase change material thickness. The in-house software CODYMUR is used to optimize the PCM wallboard by the means of numerical simulations. The results show that an optimal PCM thickness exists. The optimal PCM thickness value is then calculated for use in construction.     

Composite salt-hydrate concrete system for building energy storage

The heat storage capacity and structural stability at multiple thermal cycling of the composite PCM concrete system that consists of sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate absorbed into porous concrete are investigated. The experimental results obtained for thermophysical and structural behaviors of the PCM composite system specify its limitations and applicability to phase-change thermal storage wallboard.     

夏季"空调"型相变墙热设计方法

建立了分析夏季结合夜间通风的相变墙房间热性能的理论模型，提出了评价房间夏季过热不舒适程度的“累计日室内温度不舒适度”IDCT和“累计日室内综合温度不舒适度”IDC两个指标。对于给定的气象条件和给定的相变墙房间，讨论了夏季“空调”型相变墙的优化设计方法，并以伊宁地区为例进行了分析和计算。     

Thermal characteristics of shape-stabilized phase change material wallboard with periodical outside temperature waves

Thermal characteristics of shape-stabilized phase change material (SSPCM) wallboard with sinusoidal temperature wave on the outer surface were investigated numerically and compared with traditional building materials such as brick, foam concrete and expanded polystyrene (EPS). One-dimensional enthalpy equation under convective boundary conditions was solved using fully implicit finite-difference scheme. The simulation results showed that the SSPCM wallboard presents distinct characteristics from other ordinary building materials. Phase transition keeping time of inner surface and decrement factor were applied to analyze the effects of PCM thermophysical properties (melting temperature, heat of fusion, phase transition zone and thermal conductivity), inner surface convective heat transfer coefficient and thickness of SSPCM wallboard. It was found that melting temperature is one important factor which influences both the phase transition keeping time and the decrement factor; for a certain outside temperature wave, there exist critical values of latent heat of fusion and thickness of SSPCM above which the phase transition keeping time or the decrement factor are scarcely influenced; thermal conductivity of PCM and inner surface convective coefficient have little effect on the phase transition keeping time but significantly influence the decrement factor; and the phase transition zone leads to small fluctuations of the original flat segment of inner surface temperature line. The results aim to be useful for the selection of SSPCMs and their applications in passive solar buildings.     

Polyethylene glycol (PEG)/diatomite composite as a novel form-stable phase change material for thermal energy storage

This paper deals with the preparation, characterization, and determination of thermal energy storage properties of polyethylene glycol (PEG)/diatomite composite as a novel form-stable composite phase change material (PCM). The composite PCM was prepared by incorporating PEG in the pores of diatomite. The PEG could be retained by 50 wt% into pores of the diatomite without the leakage of melted PEG from the composite. The composite PCM was characterized by using SEM and FT-IR analysis technique. Thermal properties of the composite PCM were determined by DSC analysis. DSC results showed that the melting temperature and latent heat of the composite PCM are 27.70 °C and 87.09 J/g, respectively. Thermal cycling test was conducted to determine the thermal reliability of the composite PCM and the results showed that the composite PCM had good thermal reliability and chemical stability. TG analysis showed that the impregnated PEG into the diatomite had good thermal stability. Thermal conductivity of the composite PCM was improved by adding expanded graphite in different mass fractions. Thermal energy storage performance of the composite PCM was also tested.     

Thermal analysis of a direct-gain room with shape-stabilized PCM plates

The thermal performance of a south-facing direct-gain room with shape-stabilized phase change material (SSPCM) plates has been analysed using an enthalpy model. Effects of the following factors on room air temperature are investigated: the thermophysical properties of the SSPCM (melting temperature, heat of fusion and thermal conductivity), inner surface convective heat transfer coefficient, location and thickness of the SSPCM plate, wall structure (external thermal insulation and wallboard material) etc. The results show that: (1) for the present conditions, the optimal melting temperature is about 20 °C and the heat of fusion should not be less than 90 kJ kg⁻¹; (2) it is the inner surface convection, rather than the internal conduction resistance of SSPCM, that limits the latent thermal storage; (3) the effect of PCM plates located at the inner surface of interior wall is superior to that of exterior wall (the south wall); (4) external thermal insulation of the exterior wall obviously influences the operating effect and period of the SSPCM plates and the indoor temperature in winter; (5) the SSPCM plates create a heavyweight response to lightweight constructions with an increase of the minimum room temperature at night by up to 3 °C for the case studied; (6) the SSPCM plates really absorb and store the solar energy during the daytime and discharge it later and improve the indoor thermal comfort degree at nighttime.     

Control aspects of latent heat storage and recovery in concrete

This paper presents the results of macro scale tests that compare the thermal storage performance of ordinary concrete blocks with those that have been impregnated with two phase change materials (PCM). One is a commercial Butyl Stearate (Emerest 2326), and the other is a commercial Paraffin (Unicere 55). The comparative characteristics of these PCM – concrete combinations were examined. Also, the effect of air velocity was studied in respect to the control of the rates of heat storage and discharge. This research is an extension of the laboratory scale work in this area, which were carried out in recent years.     

Experimental research on thermal characteristics of PCM thermal energy storage units

To explore thermal management integration in electric vehicles (EVs), a phase change materials (PCMs) thermal energy storage unit using flat tubes and corrugated fins is designed. The investigation focuses on the thermal characteristics of the PCM unit, such as the temperature variation, heat capacity, and heat transfer time, etc. Meanwhile, the heat storage and release process will be influenced by different inlet temperature, liquid flow rate, melting point of the PCM, and the combination order of the units. Under the same inlet temperature and flow rate condition, the PCM unit with higher melting point enters the latent heat storage stage slowly and enters the phase change melting release stage quickly. Furthermore, the heat storage and release rates increase with increasing liquid flow rates, but the effects are diminishing in the middle and later periods. The multiple PCM units with different melting temperatures are cascaded to help recycle low-grade heat energy with different temperature classes and exhibit well heat storage and release rates.     

Heat pipe with PCM for electronic cooling

This article experimentally investigates the thermal performances of a heat pipe with phase change material for electronic cooling. The adiabatic section of heat pipe is covered by a storage container with phase change material (PCM), which can store and release thermal energy depending upon the heating powers of evaporator and fan speeds of condenser. Experimental investigations are conducted to obtain the system temperature distributions from the charge, discharge and simultaneous charge/discharge performance tests. The parameters in this study include three kinds of PCMs, different filling PCM volumes, fan speeds, and heating powers in the PCM cooling module. The cooling module with tricosane as PCM can save 46% of the fan power consumption compared with the traditional heat pipe.     

Thermal property measurement and heat transfer analysis of acetamide and acetamide/expanded graphite composite phase change material for solar heat storage

As a phase change material (PCM), acetamide (AC) can be a potential candidate for energy storage application in the active solar systems. Its utilization is however hampered by poor thermal conductivity. In this work, AC/expanded graphite (EG) composite PCM with 10 wt% (mass fraction) EG as the effective heat transfer promoter was prepared; its thermal properties were studied and compared with those of pure AC. Transient hot-wire tests showed that the addition of 10 wt% EG led to about five-fold increase in thermal conductivity. Investigations using a differential scanning calorimeter revealed that the melting/freezing points shifted from 66.95/42.46 °C for pure AC to 65.91/65.52 °C for AC/EG composite, and the latent heat decreased from 194.92 to 163.71 kJ kg⁻¹. In addition, heat storage and retrieval tests in a latent thermal energy storage unit showed that the heat storage and retrieval durations were reduced by 45% and 78%, respectively. Further numerical investigations demonstrated that the less improvement in heat transfer rate during the storage process could be attributed to the weakened natural convection in liquid (melted) AC because of the presence of EG.     

Applied research on hot water heating wallboard with phase-change material

In this paper, the hot water heating wallboard with phase-change material (PCM) was prepared. PCM was added into the wallboard. Intermittent heating mode was used in the experiment. Heat transfer performance of the wallboards was tested and numerically simulated by ANSYS software. The results showed that the temperature and heat flow on the surface of the PCM wallboard (PCMW) were lower than that of the common wallboard without PCM in the heating process. And the decreasing in the temperature and heat flow of the PCMW was lower than that of the common wallboard. The experimental and simulated results were identical in most cases. PCMW can remain a certain heat flow on the inner surface, so it can control the fluctuation of indoor temperature, and enhanced the comfort of indoor climate. Different influence factors and optimal design of the hot water heating phase-change wallboard were analysed.     

Influence of additives on thermal conductivity of shape-stabilized phase change material

Shape-stabilized phase change material (PCM) is a kind of novel thermal energy storage material. Its thermal conductivity is low, which limits its application in many conditions. In this paper, additives with high thermal conductivities were doped in it to improve its thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity was measured by a thermal probe at room temperature. The experimental results show that the thermal conductivity of the shape-stabilized PCM can be improved greatly by adding exfoliated graphite. An empirical equation was developed for calculating the effective thermal conductivity of the shape-stabilized PCM with different mass fraction of graphite additive. By using the so-called numerical element method, a theoretical equation was obtained for predicting the effective thermal conductivity, which agrees well with the experimental results. The empirical equation and the theoretical prediction are useful for “designing” and controlling the thermal conductivity of the shape-stabilized PCM.     

Simulation of an integrated PCM–wallboard system

Heat transfer barriers and other practical difficulties do currently hamper the development and application of (phase change materials) PCM–wallboard systems. In this study thermal performance of randomly mixed PCM and laminated PCM–wallboard systems have been numerically evaluated and results compared. The laminated system displayed up to 50% increment in heat flux enhancement and about 18% increase in heat transfer rates. Consequently, the laminated PCM–wallboard system has greater potential for heating and cooling application in buildings than the randomly mixed system. Experimental validation and investigation into manufacturing techniques are however needed to establish the commercial viability. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal cycle testing of calcium chloride hexahydrate as a possible PCM for latent heat storage

In order to study the changes in latent heat of fusion and melting temperature of calcium chloride hexahydrate (CaCl₂·6H₂O) inorganic salt as a latent heat storage material, a thousand accelerated thermal cycle tests have been conducted. The effect of thermal cycling and the reliability in terms of the changing of the melting temperature using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is determined. It has been noticed that the CaCl₂·6H₂O melts between a stable range of temperature and has shown small variations in the latent heat of fusion during the thermal cycling process. Thus, it can be a promising phase change material (PCM) for heating and cooling applications for various building/storage systems.     

On the heat transfer rate reduction of structural insulated panels (SIPs) outfitted with phase change materials (PCMs)

This paper presents a study on the integration of two building technologies into one new unified form for application in residential and small commercial and industrial buildings. Structural insulated panel (SIP) technology was utilized as a structural vehicle, and also for thermal insulation, and phase change materials (PCMs) provided distributed thermal mass. This new type of wall panel was termed phase change material structural insulated panel (PCMSIP). The research conducted during this study provided the foundations for the development of this type of thermally enhanced wall panels and evaluated their thermal performance, based on heat transfer rate reduction, under full weather conditions. On average, the peak heat flux reductions produced by the PCMSIPs in combination with 10% and 20% PCM were 37% and 62%, respectively. The average reductions in daily heat transfer across the PCMSIPs were 33% and 38% for concentrations of 10% and 20% PCM, respectively. The percent PCM concentration was based on the weight of the interior wallboard.     

Preparation of capric acid/halloysite nanotube composite as form-stable phase change material for thermal energy storage

A novel form-stable composite as phase change material (PCM) for thermal energy storage was prepared by absorbing capric acid (CA) into halloysite nanotube (HNT). The composite PCM was characterized by TEM, FT-IR and DSC analysis techniques. The composite can contain capric acid as high as 60 wt% and maintain its original shape perfectly without any CA leakage after subjected to 50 melt-freeze cycles. The melting temperature and latent heat of composite (CA/HNT: 60/40 wt%) were determined as 29.34 °C and 75.52 J/g by DSC. Graphite (G) was added into the composite to improve thermal storage performance and the thermal storage and release rates were increased by 1.8 times and 1.7 times compared with the composite without graphite, respectively. Due to its high adsorption capacity of CA, high heat storage capacity, good thermal stability, low cost and simple preparation method, the composite can be considered as cost-effective latent heat storage material for practical applications such as solar energy storage, building energy conservation and agricultural greenhouse in the near future.     

Review on phase change material emulsions and microencapsulated phase change material slurries: Materials, heat transfer studies and applications

Phase change materials (PCM) in the form of slurries have had an increasingly important role as heat transfer fluids and as thermal energy storage media. Although it is a recent technology in the field of thermal energy storage with phase change materials, the volume of literature begins to be significant. This investigation carries out a compilation of information on two latent thermal fluids: PCM emulsions and microencapsulated PCM slurries (mPCM slurries). This review presents tables containing information on the different PCM emulsions and mPCM slurries studied by different researchers, as well as commercially available products. Thermophysical and rheological properties are analyzed, making a special effort to analyze heat transfer phenomena, concluding with the enumeration of application examples available in literature.