Thermal Response of Mortar Panels with Different Forms of Macro-Encapsulated Phase Change Materials: A Finite Element Study

Sih Ying Kong, Xu Yang, Suvash Chandra Paul, Leong Sing Wong and Branko Šavija
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Sih Ying Kong: School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia
Xu Yang: Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
Suvash Chandra Paul: School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia
Leong Sing Wong: Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Malaysia
Branko Šavija: Microlab, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628CN Delft, The Netherlands

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: This paper presents a numerical investigation of thermal response of mortar panels, incorporating macro-encapsulated paraffin in different forms. Two types of macro capsules were fabricated and tested in this study using an instrumented hot plate device. The experimental results show that macro encapsulated paraffin reduced the temperature and increased time lag in the mortar panels due to the latent heat capacity of paraffin. Finite element models adopting the effective heat capacity method to model phase change effects were able to capture the overall thermal response of panels incorporated with paraffin well. Then, a parametric study was conducted using the validated finite element (FE) modelling technique to investigate the effects of different forms of macro capsules, the quantity of paraffin and the position of macro capsules. It was found that the tube and sphere macro capsules showed similar thermal responses, while the plate shaped capsules may cause a non-uniform temperature distribution in mortar panels. The quantity and position of paraffin have significant effects on the thermal response of the mortal panels. A higher paraffin content results in a significantly longer temperature lag and a lower temperature during the phase transition of paraffin. Furthermore, placing the paraffin away from the heating face can cause a longer temperature lag on the other face, which is desirable for building façade applications.

Keywords: phase change materials; macro capsules; mortar; finite element (FE) analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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