Summer thermal performance study on pipe-embedded PCM composite wall in existing buildings

doi:10.52396/JUST-2021-0114

Abstract

Abstract: Pipe-embedded building envelope is a heavyweight thermo-activated building system (TABS) that has its pipe circuits inside the building envelope, which has been seldom studied in existing buildings. In this context, the pipe-embedded PCM composite wall (PEPCW) in which the pipe-embedded interlayer is relocated to the outside of the load-bearing layer and replaced by macro-encapsulation-based pipe-embedded PCM panel is proposed to address the retrofitting challenges.In this paper, the summer thermal performance and energy saving potential of PEPCW are evaluated through a validated mathematical model. The simulation tests verify the effectiveness of PEPCW in cooling load reduction, and the corresponding amplitude value of interior surface temperature and heat flux can be decreased by 1.1 ℃ and 9.9 W·m^-2, respectively. Besides, the parametric tests indicate that the pipe interval has a more obvious influence than PCM thickness, and the value of 300/30 mm (pipe interval/PCM thickness) is recommended. Furthermore, the effectiveness of PEPCW is proved to be satisfactory in the three different cities (i.e., Tianjin, Nanjing, and Guangzhou), and the maximum heat gain reduction (i.e., 39.30 kWh·m^-2) is observed in hot summer and warm winter region (i.e., Guangzhou). In addition, the influence of solar absorbance on conditioned space at different orientations can be remarkably reduced through PEPCW, and the reduction in the three sunny sides are relatively higher than the dark side (i.e., north). Overall, the proposed PEPCW presents a satisfactory thermal behavior in the cooling season and could contribute to the progress of energy saving retrofit in the vast existing buildings.

Key words: thermal performance, TABS, PCM, mathematical model, existing buildings

CLC Number:

TU111.4

CHEN Sarula, CHANG Tianxin, YANG Yang, PAN Chao, WU Yunfa. Summer thermal performance study on pipe-embedded PCM composite wall in existing buildings[J]. Journal of University of Science and Technology of China, 2021, 51(11): 840-856.

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