Analysis of PCM Wallboards Design Parameters using Dynamic Energy Simulation

A phase-change material is a substance with a high heat of fusion which, melting and freezing at a certain temperature, is capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy. Heat is absorbed or released when the material changes from solid to liquid. Therefore, PCMs are classified as latent heat storage (LHS) units. The purpose of this study is to analyze PCM wallboard design parameters using dynamic energy simulation. Among the factors of PCM, melting temperature, latent heat, phase change range, thermal conductivity are very important element to maximize thermal energy storage. In order to analyze these factors, EnergyPlus which is building energy simulation provided by department of energy from the U.S is used. heat balance algorithm of energy simulation is conduction finite difference and enthalpy-temperature function is used for analyzing latent heat of PCM. The results show that in the case of melting temperature, the thermal energy storage could be improved when the melting temperature is equal to indoor surface temperature. It seems that when the phase change range is wide, PCM can store heat at a wide temperature, but the performance of heat storage is languished.