Utilization of an Air-PCM Heat Exchanger in Passive Cooling of Buildings: A Simulation Study on the Energy Saving Potential in Different European Climates

Energies

Martin Zálešák¹  Pavel Charvát¹  Lubomír Klimeš² 

[1] Department of Thermodynamics and Environmental Engineering, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic;Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory—SPIL, NETME Centre, Brno University of Technology, Technická 2896/2, 61669 Brno, Czech Republic;

关键词: energy conservation;    latent heat thermal energy storage;    phase change materials;    passive cooling;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en12061133

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The energy saving potential (ESP) of passive cooling of buildings with the use of an air-PCMheat exchanger (cold storage unit) was investigated through numerical simulations. One of the goals of the study was to identify the phase change temperature of a PCM that would provide the highest energy saving potential under the specific climate and operating conditions. The considered air-PCM heat exchanger contained 100 aluminum panels filled with a PCM. The PCM had a thermal storage capacity of 200 kJ/kg in the phase change temperature range of 4 ${}^{\circ }$ C. The air-PCM heat exchanger was used to cool down the outdoor air supplied to a building during the day, and the heat accumulated in the PCM was rejected to the outdoors at night. The simulations were conducted for 16 locations in Europe with the investigated time period from 1 May–30 September. The outdoor temperature set point of 20 ${}^{\circ }$ C was used for the utilization of stored cold. In the case of the location with the highest ESP, the scenarios with the temperature set point and without the set point (which provides maximum theoretical ESP) were compared under various air flow rates. The average utilization rate of the heat of fusion did not exceed 50% in any of the investigated scenarios.

【 授权许可】

Unknown