Enhancing building wall thermal performance with phase change material and insulation: A comparative and synergistic assessment

Ekrem Tunçbilek, Müslüm Arıcı, Michal Krajčík, Dong Li, Sandro Nižetić and Agis M. Papadopoulos

Renewable Energy, 2023, vol. 218, issue C

Abstract: The energy-saving effect of phase change materials (PCMs) and conventional thermal insulations has traditionally been considered separately, although a purposeful combination of the two could increase energy-savings. Therefore, this study investigated the energy benefits of PCM and conventional thermal insulation applied separately or in combination in a building external wall. A numerical model was developed and validated with analytical solution and experimental data. In the comparative analysis, PCM located on the interior side of the wall outperformed insulation for layer thicknesses ≤ LPCM= 16 mm. In the best case, PCM saved 38.2% more energy than insulation at a layer thickness of LINS= 6 mm. A parameter (ψ) defining the ratio of LPCM to LPCM + LINS was introduced. The synergistic effect evaluation revealed that using a composite of PCM and insulation (C5 configuration, ψ = 0.05) conserved up to 7.3% of energy compared to only insulation application (ψ = 0). Besides, configuration C6 with ψ = 0.15 provided 6.4% more energy saving than ψ = 0. Furthermore, the combined designs with 0 < ψ ≤ 0.6 outperformed ψ = 0 for C5, C6, and C10 configurations. Overall, a marginal positive effect on the energy saving was observed for the combined design compared to insulation only. Latent heat activation was critical for obtaining improved thermal performance.

Keywords: Buildings; Energy saving; Phase change material; Thermal insulation; Latent heat activation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:218:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123011850

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119270

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