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In the current study, a phase change material (PCM) contained in an insulated concrete block is tested in extremely hot weather in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to evaluate its cooling performance. An insulated chamber is constructed behind the block containing PCM to mimic a scaled down indoor space. The effect of placement of the PCM layer on heat gain indoors is studied at two locations: adjacent to the outer as well as the inner concrete layer. The inclusion of PCM reduced heat gain through concrete blocks compared to blocks without PCM, yielding a drop in cooling load indoors. The placement of PCM and insulation layers adjacent to indoors exhibited better cooling performance compared to that adjacent to the outdoors. In the best case, a temperature drop of 8.5% and a time lag of 2.6 h are achieved in peak indoor temperature, rendering a reduction of 44% in the heat gain. In the tested hot climate, the higher ambient temperature and the lower wind speed hampered heat dissipation and PCM re-solidification by natural ventilation. The findings recommend employing a mechanical ventilation in hot climates to enhance regeneration of the PCM to solid state for its optimal performance.

This paper thermo-physically characterizes salt hydrate, paraffin wax and milk fat as phase change materials (PCMs). The three PCMs are compared in terms of improving heat sink (HS) performance for cooling electronic packaging. An experimental study is carried out on commercially available finned HS with and without PCM under natural ventilation (NV) and forced ventilation (FV) at different heat loads (4 W to 10 W). The results indicate that integration of all of the PCMs into the HS improves its cooling performance; however, milk fat lags behind the other two PCMs in terms of cooling produced. A three-dimensional pressure-based conjugate heat transfer model has been developed and validated with experimental results. The model predicts the parametric influence of PCM melting range, thermal conductivity and density on HS thermal management performance. The HS cooling performance improves with increased density and conductivity while it deteriorates with the wider melting range of the PCMs.

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