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Description
Building energy consumption has increased significantly due to rising global temperatures, making passive thermal comfort strategies one of the most promising approaches for reducing building energy consumption. In this study, the increase in energy consumption is mitigated using organic Phase Change Materials (PCMs) in roof construction, which enables maintaining thermal comfort with reduced air-conditioning energy consumption and shifting the peak cooling loads. This goal is achieved through modelling and experiments.
Numerical simulations were conducted to determine the suitable PCM thickness with convenient melting and solidification points for the Egyptian atmospheric conditions. In Egypt, the roof temperature can reach 50-55°C in summer, so the selected PCM material is a paraffin wax–oil blend.
For the experimental tests, two prototype wooden boxes are used to simulate the room in study. A room is constructed to simulate the room with traditional roof without passive insulation, while the second one has PCM/gypsum capsule added above the traditional roof. Temperatures and heat transfer rates are measured through data acquisition (DAQ) system to calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient of the roof with/without the PCM and the heat capacity value for both.
The experimental work shows that the PCM layer provides an average temperature difference of 15.5°C between the temperature inside and outside of the wooden box, while the box without the PCM layer had only an average difference of 6°C. While the effective overall heat transfer coefficient is 3.1 W/m²·K for the room without PCM to around 1.7 W/m²·K for the room with PCM capsule.
| Topic Area | Smart Energy Storage, Integration and Utilization |
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