An Explicit Finite Element Method for Thermal Simulations of Buildings with Phase Change Materials

Hongxia Zhou, Åke Fransson and Thomas Olofsson
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Hongxia Zhou: Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
Åke Fransson: Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
Thomas Olofsson: Department of Applied Physics and Electronics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: The thermal performance of building envelopes is essential for building thermal comfort and the reduction of building energy requirements. Phase change materials (PCMs) implemented in building envelopes can improve thermal performance. An explicit finite element method (ex-FEM) has been developed based on a previous study to investigate the heat transfer performance through building walls with installed PCMs. For verification, we introduce an electrical circuit analogy (ECA) method. For model validation, at first, COMSOL is used. For comparison, data were collected from experiments using a small hotbox, part of the sides are covered by PCMs with different configurations. This work shows how the ex-FEM model can predict the wall’s temperature profile with and without incorporated PCM. With the implementation of PCMs, the work problematizes unpredictable influences for modeling. In addition, the study introduces results from simulations of sequencing of PCM layers in wall construction.

Keywords: phase change materials (PCMs); thermal performance; ex-FEM; COMSOL (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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