Natural Airconditioning System in Buildings Using Phase Change Material (PCM) And Gypsum Wallboard

Abstract

Research interest into the application of phase change materials (PCM) as energy storage materials in buildings has gathered momentum over recent years. PCMs utilizing latent heat produced during phase change transformation processes do attain higher energy density with small temperature difference than other storage media using sensible heat. One potential concept being pursued for minimizing cooling and heating loads is the integrated PCM wallboard system. This system is based on randomly mixing PCMs into wallboards. This study evaluates the concept of laminated-PCMs as integral part of wallboard system in building fabric. This novel approach of integrating PCMs promotes rapid transfer of latent heat, sharp response to indoor temperature, and minimizes multidimensional mode of heat transfer. It also facilitates production and recycling methods of wallboards. The investigation into the thermal performance of the laminated wallboard system was done numerically and experimentally. Through series of heat transfer simulations and under different sets of properties and conditions, the surface temperature variations were obtained. The temperature variations were then used to calculate the heat flux and the total amount of heat transferred in and out of the wallboard. For the purpose of comparison, simulations will be carried out for randomly mixed PCMs during heat storage and discharge processes