The Effect of Type and Location of a Phase Change Material (PCM) Layer in a Building Wall on Energy Consumption using Numerical Simulation

Abstract

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) have been the subject of many researches in recent years due to the storage and release of energy at low temperature ranges. PCMs store or releasing a large amount of energy at a constant temperature range leads to saving energy. In this paper, the numerical modelling of a multilayer composite wall including PCM located on the southern side of a building is carried out using an implicit method. The data correspond the fifteenth day of each month in Tehran. The governing equations are discretized by the implicit Crank Nicolson method and solved by iteration method using MATLAB software. Finally, the location and volume fraction of PCM in the wall of the building are studied to achieve maximum efficiency. The results show that the effect of latent and sensible heat results in a reduction in the input heat flux and thermal load to the building. The optimum location for the PCM layer is the middle layer of the composite wall to reduce the heat transfer rate inside the building. In addition, it is found that the PCM volume fraction in gypsum does not have a significant effect on the thermal performance of the multi-layer composite wall. Hence, low volume fraction reduces the costs without affecting the thermal performance of the building.

Keywords

• building
• composite wall
• fluid volume fraction
• implicit method
• latent heat
• pcm