SOLAR THERMAL CONTROL OF BUILDING INTEGRATED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS: AN EXPERIMENTAL SURVEY

A. Mourid, M. Faraji, M. El Alami, M. Najam, F. Berroug

Abstract: In the present paper, we study experimentally the thermal behavior of phase change material (PCM) for thermal control of indoor applications. The experimental setup consists of two full scale identical concrete cavities, situated in Faculty of Sciences Aïn Chock in Casablanca- Morocco (33°36N, 07°36W). The first cavity incorporates paraffinic phase change material with melting temperature of 22 °C and second cavity is built with alveolar bricks. The test cells are equipped by set of thermocouples and heat flux meters connected to data logger. Thermal analysis for the two cubicles was conducted. The results show that inner temperature swings decreases remarkably in the cavity with PCM with temperature minima 3 °C upper to the case without PCM. On the other hand, there is time shift between PCM cavity and the reference cavity temperature oscillations. The integration of the phase change material on the roof of the building reduces the temperature of internal walls as it has good thermal inertia. When PCM panel covered the roof, solar heat transmission is reduced. This significantly reduces the ambient temperature of the cell. This demonstrates the ability of PCM to increase the thermal comfort of buildings.

Keywords: PCM, Thermal Comfort, Building, Passive Solar Heating, Heat Storage. Melting, Solidification

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0502032