Design of a prefabricated concrete slab with PCM inside the hollows

In the recent years, the integration of heat storage systems inside building components has been applied for heating and cooling purposes. The implementation of the thermal energy storage inside the building is used to manage and smooth the peak demand. An innovative constructive system including heat storage has been designed to reduce the energy consumption of the HVAC systems, during both heating and cooling periods. It consists of a prefabricated concrete slab with macro-encapsulated PCM inside its hollows. An installation of air ducts allows the air to be forced through the inside of the slab and therefore enhancing the heat exchange with the PCM. The operational mode during summer lies in solidifying the PCM during the night time and using the cold stored as a cooling supply during the day. Moreover, a solar air collector is installed for the winter mode, where the heat from the solar radiation is used to melt the PCM and cover part of the heating demand. The objective of this study is to analyse the benefits of this new system and to quantify its potential in reducing the energy consumed both for heating and cooling.The work partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2011-28269-C03-01 and ULLE10-4E-1305

In situ thermal and acoustic performance and environmental impact of the introduction of a shape-stabilized PCM layer for building applications

Energy consumption in buildings accounts for up to 34% of total energy demand in developed countries. Thermal energy storage (TES) through phase change materials (PCM) is considered as a promising solution for this energetic problem in buildings. The material used in this paper is an own-developed shape stabilized PCM with a polymeric matrix and 12% paraffin PCM, and it includes a waste from the recycling steel process known as electrical arc furnace dust (EAFD), which provides acoustic insulation performance capability. This dense sheet material was installed and experimentally tested. Ambient temperature, humidity, and wall temperatures were measured and the thermal behaviour and acoustic properties were registered. Finally, because of the nature of the waste used, a leaching test was also carried out. The thermal profiles show that the inclusion of PCM decreases the indoor ambient temperature up to 3 ºC; the acoustic measurements performed in situ demonstrate that the new dense sheet material is able to acoustically insulate up to 4 dB more than the reference cubicle; and the leaching test results show that the material developed incorporating PCM and EAFD must be considered a nonhazardous material

Solar absorption in a ventilated facade with PCM. Experimental results

1st International Conference on Solar Heating and Coolingfor Buildings and Industry (SHC 2012)The paper investigates experimentally the thermal performance of a ventilated double skin facade (DSF) with phase change material (PCM) in its air channel, during the heating season in the Mediterranean climate. Two identical house-like cubicles located in Puigverd de Lleida (Spain) were monitored during winter 2012, and in one of them, a ventilated facade with PCM was located in the south wall. The ventilated facade can operate under mechanical or natural ventilation mode and its thermal control depends on the weather conditions and the energetic demand of the building. The experimental results conclude that even though the use of the ventilated facade with PCM improves significantly the thermal behaviour of the whole building (working as a heat supplier in free floating tests, and reducing significantly the electrical consumption of the HVAC systems), these improvements might be increased if a thermal control is used.This work was supported by the “Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía” by means of the project “MECLIDE-Soluciones estructurales con materiales especiales para la climatización diferida de edificios” with the colaboration of DETEA. The work was partially funded by the Spanish government (ENE2011-28269-C03-02) and the European Union (COST Action COST TU0802), and in collaboration with DETEA. The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group (2009 SGR 534)