IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v218y2023ics0960148123011850.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancing building wall thermal performance with phase change material and insulation: A comparative and synergistic assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Tunçbilek, Ekrem
  • Arıcı, Müslüm
  • Krajčík, Michal
  • Li, Dong
  • Nižetić, Sandro
  • Papadopoulos, Agis M.

Abstract

The energy-saving effect of phase change materials (PCMs) and conventional thermal insulations has traditionally been considered separately, although a purposeful combination of the two could increase energy-savings. Therefore, this study investigated the energy benefits of PCM and conventional thermal insulation applied separately or in combination in a building external wall. A numerical model was developed and validated with analytical solution and experimental data. In the comparative analysis, PCM located on the interior side of the wall outperformed insulation for layer thicknesses ≤ LPCM= 16 mm. In the best case, PCM saved 38.2% more energy than insulation at a layer thickness of LINS= 6 mm. A parameter (ψ) defining the ratio of LPCM to LPCM + LINS was introduced. The synergistic effect evaluation revealed that using a composite of PCM and insulation (C5 configuration, ψ = 0.05) conserved up to 7.3% of energy compared to only insulation application (ψ = 0). Besides, configuration C6 with ψ = 0.15 provided 6.4% more energy saving than ψ = 0. Furthermore, the combined designs with 0 < ψ ≤ 0.6 outperformed ψ = 0 for C5, C6, and C10 configurations. Overall, a marginal positive effect on the energy saving was observed for the combined design compared to insulation only. Latent heat activation was critical for obtaining improved thermal performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Tunçbilek, Ekrem & Arıcı, Müslüm & Krajčík, Michal & Li, Dong & Nižetić, Sandro & Papadopoulos, Agis M., 2023. "Enhancing building wall thermal performance with phase change material and insulation: A comparative and synergistic assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:218:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123011850
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148123011850
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2023.119270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Kyoung Ok & Medina, Mario A. & Raith, Erik & Sun, Xiaoqin, 2015. "Assessing the integration of a thin phase change material (PCM) layer in a residential building wall for heat transfer reduction and management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 699-706.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yaraş, Ali & Bayram, Muhammed & Ustaoğlu, Abid & Erdoğmuş, Ertuğrul & Hekimoğlu, Gökhan & Sarı, Ahmet & Gencel, Osman & Tyagi, V.V. & Ozbakkaloglu, Togay, 2024. "Advancing thermal control in buildings with innovative cementitious mortar and recycled expanded glass/n-octadecane phase change material composites," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mingli Li & Guoqing Gui & Zhibin Lin & Long Jiang & Hong Pan & Xingyu Wang, 2018. "Numerical Thermal Characterization and Performance Metrics of Building Envelopes Containing Phase Change Materials for Energy-Efficient Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-23, July.
    2. Ikutegbe, Charles A. & Farid, Mohammed M., 2020. "Application of phase change material foam composites in the built environment: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Sun, Xiaoqin & Medina, Mario A. & Lee, Kyoung Ok & Jin, Xing, 2018. "Laboratory assessment of residential building walls containing pipe-encapsulated phase change materials for thermal management," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 383-391.
    4. Zhang, Yuan & Sun, Xiaoqin & Medina, Mario A., 2024. "Experimental assessment of concrete masonry units integrated with insulation and phase change material: A wall-pattern study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    5. Ahmed Hassan & Mohammad Shakeel Laghari & Yasir Rashid, 2016. "Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Materials: A Review of Encapsulation, Safety and Thermal Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-32, October.
    6. Enghok Leang & Pierre Tittelein & Laurent Zalewski & Stéphane Lassue, 2020. "Impact of a Composite Trombe Wall Incorporating Phase Change Materials on the Thermal Behavior of an Individual House with Low Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-32, September.
    7. Cui, Hongzhi & Tang, Waiching & Qin, Qinghua & Xing, Feng & Liao, Wenyu & Wen, Haibo, 2017. "Development of structural-functional integrated energy storage concrete with innovative macro-encapsulated PCM by hollow steel ball," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 107-118.
    8. Zheng, Senlin & Qiu, Zining & He, Caiwei & Wang, Xianling & Wang, Xupeng & Wang, Zhangyuan & Zhao, Xudong & Shittu, Samson, 2022. "Research on heat transfer mechanism and performance of a novel adaptive enclosure structure based on micro-channel heat pipe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    9. Teggar, Mohamed & Laouer, Abdelghani & Benhorma, Amani & Goudjil, Houssem & Arıcı, Müslüm & Ismail, Kamal AR & Mekhilef, Saad & Mezaache, El Hacene & Tahouri, Tahar, 2023. "Perspective role of phase change materials for energy efficiency in Algeria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    10. Ana Vaz Sá & Miguel Azenha & A.S. Guimarães & J.M.P.Q. Delgado, 2020. "FEM Applied to Building Physics: Modeling Solar Radiation and Heat Transfer of PCM Enhanced Test Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, May.
    11. Yan, Tian & Xu, Xinhua & Gao, Jiajia & Luo, Yongqiang & Yu, Jinghua, 2020. "Performance evaluation of a PCM-embedded wall integrated with a nocturnal sky radiator," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    12. Zeyad Amin Al-Absi & Mohd Hafizal Mohd Isa & Mazran Ismail, 2020. "Phase Change Materials (PCMs) and Their Optimum Position in Building Walls," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-25, February.
    13. Patel, Bhaskar & Rathore, Pushpendra Kumar Singh & Gupta, Naveen Kumar & Sikarwar, Basant Singh & Sharma, R.K. & Kumar, Rajan & Pandey, A.K., 2023. "Location optimization of phase change material for thermal energy storage in concrete block for development of energy efficient buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    14. Wijesuriya, Sajith & Brandt, Matthew & Tabares-Velasco, Paulo Cesar, 2018. "Parametric analysis of a residential building with phase change material (PCM)-enhanced drywall, precooling, and variable electric rates in a hot and dry climate," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 497-514.
    15. Qv, Dehu & Ni, Long & Yao, Yang & Hu, Wenju, 2015. "Reliability verification of a solar–air source heat pump system with PCM energy storage in operating strategy transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 46-55.
    16. Wei, Lien Chin & Malen, Jonathan A., 2016. "Amplified charge and discharge rates in phase change materials for energy storage using spatially-enhanced thermal conductivity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 224-231.
    17. Hlanze, Philani & Jiang, Zhimin & Cai, Jie & Shen, Bo, 2023. "Model-based predictive control of multi-stage air-source heat pumps integrated with phase change material-embedded ceilings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    18. Luo, Yongqiang & Zhang, Ling & Liu, Zhongbing & Wu, Jing & Zhang, Yelin & Wu, Zhenghong & He, Xihua, 2017. "Performance analysis of a self-adaptive building integrated photovoltaic thermoelectric wall system in hot summer and cold winter zone of China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 584-600.
    19. Barzin, Reza & Chen, John J.J. & Young, Brent R. & Farid, Mohammed M, 2016. "Application of weather forecast in conjunction with price-based method for PCM solar passive buildings – An experimental study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 9-18.
    20. Mohammad S. Bagazi & Ammar A. Melaibari & Ahmed B. Khoshaim & Nidal H. Abu-Hamdeh & Abdulmohsen O. Alsaiari & Hani Abulkhair, 2021. "Using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) in a Hot and Humid Climate to Reduce Heat Gain and Energy Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-17, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:218:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123011850. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.