Thermal management analysis of PCM integration in building using a novel performance parameter - PCM effectiveness index

Abstract

Integration of phase change material (PCM) in walls and roof of a building is done to augment human comfort at places where variation of local diurnal temperature of ambient air is extensive. An exhaustive tool to study on year-round thermal effect due to solar radiation falling on a building is generally required to identify the correct PCM and the portion of a year that warrants better thermal management. The transient behavior associated with PCM heat transfer through building roof and walls vary in accordance with location and orientation of the building and the prevailing seasons. Hence, it becomes necessary to carry out a detailed analysis with the integration of PCM layers and to collect information with suitable theoretical approach as experimental study on energy performance of a building is time-consuming and expensive. In this paper, a three-dimensional building model has been developed and analyzed using ANSYS FLUENT for performing CFD analysis for comparing two identical buildings with and without PCM located at Chennai. PCM was integrated in roof and walls of the building and analysis was carried out for different days of the year. A novel concept of PCM effectiveness index is introduced to measure the thermal performance due to PCM integration in building. This novel concept is useful for building engineers to measure the effectiveness of PCM integration and to select the correct PCM for thermal management in buildings at any location and time of the year.

Systematic literature review of software tools for modeling heat transfer in phase change materials for building applications

“…Among selected studies most used ANSYS Fluent module, only two reported using ANSYS CFX. Regarding the time scale of modelling only one publication described simulation over one year period [10], most of others used smaller time scale -a day [11]- [13], a week [14], a month [15]- [20]. Other 15 publication used a time scale less than a day.…”

“…8 of studies explored PCM in HVAC systems -ventilation systems [11], [12], [26]- [28], [34], [35], [42], heat exchangers [20], [25], [30]- [33], [36], [38] and other elements [20]; other 31 publications focused on walls [10], [13], [15], [17], [19], [21]- [24], [37], [39], [40], [43], [44], roofs [14], [18], [29], [37], floors [24], windows ( [41]). In 20 studies models were validated using experimental data [10]- [12], [14], [16], [17], [20], [22], [25]- [27], [29], [31], [32], [34]- [38], [40], 1 used analytical validation [45], 4 based validation on findings in other studies in scient...…”

“…In terms of model scale -most (23) of the selected studies analysed PCM enriched systems in small scale [2], [3], [8], [12]- [29], followed by room size models (10) [10], [13]- [16], [18], [19], [39]- [41]. The various model scales, from small-scale laboratory settings to room-sized simulations, correspond to the complexity of building envelopes.…”

Performance Assessment of Two Different Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage in Building Envelopes

“…Thermal management analysis of PCM integration in building using a novel performance parameter-PCM effectiveness index [13] Year Room Wall, roof Numerical analysis of nanomaterial-based sustainable latent heat thermal energy storage system by improving thermal characteristics of phase change material [14] Seconds Element Wall, floor Simulation of a Trombe wall with a number of semicircular fins placed on the absorber plate for heating a room in the presence of nano-PCM [15] Hour Room Wall Numerical thermal evaluation of laminated binary microencapsulated phase change material drywall systems [16] Month Room Wall…”

Integration of PCM as an external wall layer in reducing excessive heat of building walls

“…The PCM performance in wall panels was evaluated using the method adopted from Selvaraju et al [46], as described in equations ( 1) and ( 2). The energy performance evaluated for a wall panel under Malaysia weather conditions is given in table 8.…”