A Review of Recent Improvements, Developments, and Effects of Using Phase-Change Materials in Buildings to Store Thermal Energy

Abstract

When it comes to guaranteeing appropriate performance for buildings in terms of energy efficiency, the building envelope is a crucial component that must be presented. When a substance goes through a phase transition and either gives out or absorbs an amount of energy to provide useful heat or cooling, it is called a phase-change material, or PCM for short. Transitions often take place between the matter’s solid and liquid states. Buildings use PCMs for a variety of purposes, including thermal comfort, energy conservation, managing the temperature of building materials, reducing cooling/heating loads, efficiency, and thermal load shifting. Improved solutions are applied using new method and approach investigations. Undoubtedly, researching and applying PCM use in building applications can help create buildings that are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, while also increasing thermal comfort and consuming less energy. It provides a possible answer to the problems posed by climate change, rising energy demand in the built environment, and energy use optimisation. However, it is true that no particular research has yet been conducted to thoroughly analyse the linked PCM applications in the building industry. Thus, the principal tactics are addressed in this paper to determine current and efficient methods for employing PCMs in buildings to store thermal energy. By gathering around 50 instances from the open literature, this study conducts a thorough assessment of the up-to-date studies between 2016 and 2023 that used PCMs as thermal energy storage in building applications. As a result, this review aims to critically evaluate the PCM integration in buildings for thermal energy storage, identify a number of issues that require more research, and draw some important conclusions from the body of literature. Specifically, the building envelope roof and external wall uses of PCMs are highlighted in this research. Applications, general and desired characteristics, and PCM types and their thermal behaviour are described. In comparison to a traditional heat storage tank that simply contains water, this review indicates that a water storage tank containing 15% PCM improves heat storage by 70%. Also, less than 7 °C of internal air temperature was reduced by the PCMs in the walls, which avoided summer warming. Finally, using PCM for space cooling resulted in substantial energy savings across the various seasons.

Harnessing Nanomaterials for Enhanced Energy Efficiency in Transpired Solar Collectors: A Review of Their Integration in Phase-Change Materials

“…While sensible heat storage is widely used in practical applications, latent heat storage, such as phase-change materials (PCMs), offers substantially higher energy storage density. PCMs exhibit minimal temperature variation during both charging and discharging processes, making them highly efficient for thermal energy storage [24][25][26]. The next sections will provide a qualitative description of common methods and techniques for PCM usage inside TSCs, as well as for the use of nanomaterials to enhance PCM performance.…”

“…While sensible heat storage is widely used in practical applications, latent heat storage, such as phase-change materials (PCMs), offers substantially higher energy storage density. PCMs exhibit minimal temperature variation during both charging and discharging processes, making them highly efficient for thermal energy storage [24][25][26].…”

Scopes for Improvements in Energy Conservation and Thermomechanical Performance of Building Blocks in the Kingdom of Bahrain: A Literature Review

“…If established energy efficiency practices are adopted, global building energy demand could decrease by one-third by 2050 [5]. Efforts towards this end are underway globally, resulting in the development of sustainable materials and technologies, such as phase change materials, green building materials, and advanced insulation materials [6]. Energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies focusing on HVAC systems, lighting, and building walls [7,8], and building-integrated photovoltaic systems are also being developed [9].…”

Impregnation of Activated Carbon with Organic Phase-Change Material

“…For example, it is costly to overcome challenges such as variable energy density and unpredictable generation frequency. Rather than building large-scale power generation facilities with high initial investment and low energy efficiency, thermal storage systems are attracting attention [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Among them, thermal storage systems utilizing phase-change materials (PCMs) are particularly promising, offering non-polluting, sustainable solutions with high thermal storage density [ 8 , 9 ].…”