Title: Phase change materials: corroborates to temperature reduction for thermal comfort in buildings

Authors: Susheel Singh Bhandari; Maneesh S. Bhandari; Devaki Nandan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Technology, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar-263145, Uttarakhand, India ' Division of Genetics and Tree Improvement, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun – 248195, Uttarakhand, India ' Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, College of Technology, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar-263145, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract: Rapidly growing urbanisation leading to energy consumption demand, has raised serious concerns over the depletion of energy resources and the environmental impacts. The most efficient way of reducing energy consumption accompanying heating and cooling loads of residential and non-residential buildings is through incorporating phase change materials (PCMs) of suitable melting temperature in building envelopes. The study reports recent reviews on PCMs tested across different climatic conditions of the world. Afterwards, we experimentally investigate the combination of PCMs, HS24 and OM29 having melting temperature of 24°C and 29°C, embedded in walls and ceilings of prototype wooden boxes. The thermally mapped two PCMs were tested under real conditions for peak summer days and found suitable for the scorching climate conditions of Pantnagar (Uttarakhand). The results indicate that the maximum average indoor air temperature reduction was 2.18°C with the use of PCMs. Further, the PCMs incorporation reduces 25% of the air conditioning (AC) cooling load of the building in summer conditions and thus, helps in conserving energy. It was concluded that the temperature reduction between 2°C-9.5°C might be possible in different climatic conditions based on the present experimentation and the available literature on PCMs.

Keywords: phase change materials; PCMs; temperature reduction; cooling load envelopes; overheating; energy consumption.

DOI: 10.1504/IER.2022.125024

Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 2022 Vol.22 No.2, pp.118 - 142

Received: 25 Feb 2022
Accepted: 21 May 2022

Published online: 22 Aug 2022 *

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