A new heat and cold storage system to enhance the thermal autonomy of residential buildings

Abstract

We integrated 18 kg of PCM in 80 cells of a plate heat exchanger which were placed between a water charge and an air discharge circuit fed by the air renewal. The 0.1 m3 thermal battery can replace radiators to heat and cool, store heat and cold and perform air renewal independently for each room. The narrow PCM cells and the relatively large temperature difference between the PCM with fusion temperature of 25°C and the renewed air allowed to achieve average discharge powers of 300W and 440W for heating and cooling respectively. The integrated total heat and cold storage capacities were found to be 1.5 kWh and 1.8 kWh respectively. By replacing each radiator of a house with such a battery substantial thermal storage can be achieved. The liquid thermal battery, cooled with outdoor air of 17°C, completely solidified in less than 7h. This means that cool summer nights can charge the PCM to cool the room the following day.