Thermal Characteristics Optimization of Phase Change Walls in Zero Energy Buildings
Author(s):
Mohamed Sultan*, Akram W. Ezzat
Affiliation(s):
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Baghdad, Iraq
Corresponding Author Email: [email protected], [email protected]
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The apportionment of thermal mass inside buildings is the consequence of constitutional and architectural resolutions and can highly affect how the building interacts to internal heat gains, solar radiation or changes in outdoor conditions. Lightweight components interact readily to changes in interior gains and solar radiation. The phase change materials, PCM using in the building material is considered as one of methods to improve the thermal properties of the construction material. PCM plays an important role in shifting the thermal load especially during their peak values and contributes to reduce this load. In the present research the effectiveness of implementing PCM in the model is studied to estimate the response of the model interior temperature to the disturbance in the surrounding temperature that simulates the climate of Iraq. An experimental test rig is built by choosing proper material for the PCM wall and ensuring the required temperatures around the wall that simulates both seasons by proper hot and cold air injection in the exterior part of the wall. Temperature distribution across the PCM wall is measured during subjecting the wall to different temperature ramp changes, while the temperature inside the model is measured versus time. The experimental approach is used to validate the mathematical model. The mathematical model for PCM wall thermal behavior is based on model interior temperature response to various surrounding temperature disturbances. The theoretical and experimental results are compared together showing a reliable agreement with maximum error of 3.5OC at peak surrounding temperature.