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Air conditioning with thermal storage in building elements modified with phase-change materials.

Author(s) : PRYMON M., SCHNOTALE J.

Summary

Air conditioning of residential and office buildings significantly contributes to electrical consumption and peak power demand, particularly in summertime. Thermal storage combined with night ventilation can be used to reduce energy consumption and peak-power demand as well as to downsize the refrigerating capacity of an air conditioning system. Energy efficiency and thermal capacity of such passive cooling systems based on thermal energy storage in building structure can be significantly improved by implementation of phase-change material (PCM) in building elements such as wall covering material (gypsum board, plaster) or ventilated ceiling made of modified rib-and-slab tiles. In the paper, a concept air conditioning system based on night ventilation and thermal storage in modified rib-and-slab tiles is presented. Microencapsulated PCM was utilized in order to increase the thermal capacity of the building elements. Numerical simulation was carried out as a preliminary study. A complex heat transfer and air flow model for a typical office room with ventilated ceiling was developed using computational fluid dynamic software. The thermal properties of the building material modified by PCM were obtained from inverse analyses. The numerical analysis was verified by laboratory measurement done in a calorimetric chamber where the thermal performance of modified by PCM and reference materials were tested. Test results indicated that the air-conditioning system investigated can improve the thermal performance of an office and/or residential buildings by lowering the overall energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions associated with air conditioning operation. In a reference case study, an air-conditioning system for an office space with ceiling construction modified by PCM, to enhance thermal storage, demonstrated significant reduction of heat loads and energy consumption.

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Pages: ICR07-E1-392

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Details

  • Original title: Air conditioning with thermal storage in building elements modified with phase-change materials.
  • Record ID : 2007-2769
  • Languages: English
  • Source: ICR 2007. Refrigeration Creates the Future. Proceedings of the 22nd IIR International Congress of Refrigeration.
  • Publication date: 2007/08/21

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