Studies on Heat Transfer Augmentation of

Phase Change Materials for Building

Cooling Applications
Guided By: Dr. N Lakshmi
Narasimhan
1. Goutham L
2. Inti Sandeep
3. Dularish K A

Introduction
Phase

Change materials are used in heat

storage systems due to their latent heat storage
capacity. At high temperature, PCMs absorb heat
equal to their latent heat capacity, they melt
into liquid. Whereas at lower temperature, they
solidify liberating heat stored. Melting process is
also known as charging period and solidifying
process is also known as discharging period.
Phase Change materials could help us to find a
way to store heat energy when its available in
excess and utilize it, so that it paves a way for
the creation of energy efficient environmental
friendly buildings.

Objectives
To

study on the heat transfer

characteristics of Phase Change
materials when incorporated in
building materials.
To build an experimental setup
and conduct studies for feasibility
of application for a particular
climatic condition.

Motivation
The

rising demand for energy in

buildings and increasing
environmental consciousness
necessitates exploration of energyefficient methods and effective
utilization of energy.
Close to 40% of all energies produced
get consumed in household buildings,
hence they present an opportunity for
reducing energy consumption.

Challenges
Selection

of PCM: There are a wide variety of PCMs

ranging from organic paraffin and non paraffin to
inorganic PCMs each having distinct advantages and
disadvantages. They also vary in their operating
temperatures and latent heat storage value so, for a
specific climatic condition, PCM has to be selected such
that they complete their charge-discharge cycles.
Incorporation: Various choices are available such as
mixing of micro-encapsulated/ macro-encapsulated PCM
which are done during the production of building
materials. Alternatively Phase Change Frame Wall can be
built, again each method has its own advantages and
disadvantages.
Numerical Modeling: Due to the presence of phase
change phenomenon, its challenging to solve numerically.

Summary of Literature
Survey
Journals

Authors

Content

Energy and Buildings

N.Soares, J J Coasta, A.R.

Gasper [2013]

Review of passive PCM

latent heat thermal
energy storage systems
towards buildings
efficiency

Energy and Buildings

V.V Tyagi, D. Buddhi,

Richa Gothari, S. K Tyagi
[2012]

Phase Change Material

based thermal
management system for
cool energy storage
application in building:
An experimental study

Energy and Buildings

Ruben Baetens, Bjorn

Petter Jelle, Arild
Gustavsen [2010]

Phase Change materials

for building
applications : A state of
the art review

Renewable and
sustainable energy
reviews

Antoni Gil, Marc Medrano

, Ingrid Martorell, Ana
Lazaro, Pablo Dolado
[2010]

State of the art on high

temperature thermal
energy storage for
power generation.
Concepts, materials and
modellization

Methodology
Experimental

setup: A rectangular box made up of

plywood/gypsum board is to be created within which a
wall enhanced by encapsulated PCMs is built. Insulation
around the entire cubicle is to be provided with glass
wool.
Material Used: Encapsulated PCM is mixed with
concrete in a determined amounts. The multi-phase
mixture is known as PCM-Concrete. In case of difficulty,
separate pipe is provided in the walls and encapsulated
PCMs are placed inside. This type of wall is known as
Phase-Change frame wall (PCFW).
Heat Source: A number of electric bulbs are positioned
around a side of wall for varying heat flux.
Recording: The thermal properties are recorded for
varying composition of mixtures using thermocouples.

Current status
We have started to learn Ansys workbench and have
attempted a simple problem consisting of a single brick in
Transient thermal.
However, we would like to study melting and solidification
phenomenon which is possible in Ansys Fluent.
We are in the learning stages.
We are planning to start constructing the cubicle within a
week.

Expected Outcome

We are planning to build a cubicle like the one above in the

picture and conduct experiments on PCM incorporated building
materials placed inside. Material with which it is to be made is
not finalized yet but it should necessarily be insulated with
materials like glass wool.

Thank You