Effect of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Integrated into a Concrete Block on Heat Gain Prevention in a Hot Climate
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Selection of Experimental Parameters
2.2. Selection of the Time for Experimentation
2.3. Methodology
3. Results
3.1. Weather Data
3.2. Temperature Drop
3.3. Reduction in Heat Gain
3.4. Research Limitations
- (1)
- The experiments were carried out in the peak summer conditions and are limited to 14 days only. Although the prevalent weather in Al Ain is hot, there are months that are mild to cool. Therefore, the net heat gain prevented in the peak of summer is expected to drop when aggregated for the whole year.
- (2)
- The experiments were conducted without studying leakage of the PCM over repeated cycles at the time scale of a year. This will be an important consideration for future research.
- (3)
- Natural or forced convection heat removal from the air cavity is not incorporated in the research, undermining the PCM re-solidification.
- (4)
- The scale of the experiment is very small and would be less representative of a building.
- (5)
- The authors plan to address all the stated limitations in future research.
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
A | Surface area of the concrete block (m2) |
CV | Coefficient of variation (%) |
G | Global solar radiation intensity incident on the surface (W/m2) |
hc | Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m2·K) |
HVAC | Heating, ventilation & air conditioning |
m | Mass of the concrete block (kg) |
PCM | Phase change material |
Q | Heat transfer rate (W/m2) |
Qin | Incident solar energy (Wh/m2) |
SD | Population standard deviation |
T | Temperature (°C) |
t | time (h) |
vw | Wind speed (m/s) |
Subscripts | |
α | Reference block A |
β | Block B |
γ | Block C |
f | Front surface |
b | Back surface |
i | Indoor air |
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Properties | Melting Point (°C) | Congealing Point (°C) | Latent Heat (KJ/kg) | Specific Heat Capacity (KJ/kg·K) | Heat Conductivity (W/m·K) | Density (kg/m3) | Volume Expansion | Flash Point (°C) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PCM-RT42 [35] | 38–42 | 42–37 | 145% ± 7.5% | 2 | 0.2 | 880 s 760 l | 12.5% | 186 |
Polystyrene | 240 | NA | NA | 1.3–1.5 | 0.032 | NA | NA | 350 |
Epoxy Resin | 130 | NA | NA | 1 | 1.26 | 2.09 | 34 × 10−6/K | 350 |
Days | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Mean | SD 1* | CV 2* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | Total (Wh/day) | 717 | 713 | 679 | 713 | 740 | 722 | 704 | 727 | 709 | 705 | 727 | 717 | 719 | 711 | 709 | 14 | 1.9% |
Max. (Wm−2) | 944 | 917 | 907 | 922 | 980 | 950 | 919 | 975 | 907 | 914 | 958 | 950 | 939 | 934 | 944 | 23 | 2.5% | |
vw (m/s) | Max. | 7.2 | 6.1 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 4.1 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 1.1 | 21.4% |
Avg. | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 21.8% | |
Tamb (°C) | Max. | 50.7 | 50.6 | 51.1 | 48.9 | 48.8 | 48.2 | 48.8 | 50.7 | 50.6 | 50.6 | 49.7 | 49.1 | 49.7 | 51.0 | 49.6 | 0.9 | 1.9% |
Min. | 31.9 | 32.3 | 31.5 | 30.9 | 31.1 | 31.2 | 33.1 | 33.0 | 32.9 | 33.1 | 34.0 | 33.9 | 33.7 | 33.2 | 32.4 | 1.0 | 3.2% | |
Avg. | 40.6 | 40.5 | 39.7 | 38.5 | 38.5 | 38.2 | 40.0 | 41.2 | 40.8 | 41.1 | 40.9 | 40.3 | 40.3 | 41.2 | 39.7 | 1.0 | 2.5% | |
Tαf (°C) | Max. | 58.0 | 58.2 | 58.1 | 56.8 | 56.5 | 56.4 | 56.6 | 59.3 | 57.7 | 58.9 | 58.0 | 57.0 | 57.9 | 59.9 | 58.1 | 1.0 | 1.8% |
Avg. | 42.6 | 43.1 | 42.7 | 41.5 | 41.3 | 41.4 | 42.6 | 43.5 | 43.2 | 43.9 | 43.7 | 43.0 | 42.9 | 43.7 | 42.6 | 0.8 | 1.9% | |
Tβf (°C) | Max. | 55.9 | 55.8 | 56.1 | 54.3 | 54.0 | 53.8 | 54.3 | 57.1 | 55.5 | 56.9 | 56.2 | 55.0 | 55.6 | 57.8 | 55.8 | 1.2 | 2.1% |
Avg. | 42.3 | 42.7 | 42.4 | 41.0 | 40.8 | 40.8 | 42.3 | 43.1 | 42.7 | 43.4 | 43.3 | 42.5 | 42.5 | 43.2 | 42.1 | 0.9 | 2.1% | |
Diff. | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 8.3% | |
Tγf (°C) | Max. | 55.6 | 55.4 | 56.4 | 54.2 | 54.5 | 53.8 | 54.9 | 56.8 | 56.5 | 57.7 | 56.7 | 56.4 | 56.3 | 58.6 | 56.2 | 1.3 | 2.3% |
Avg. | 42.1 | 42.4 | 41.8 | 40.7 | 40.5 | 40.5 | 42.0 | 42.9 | 42.6 | 43.4 | 43.2 | 42.4 | 42.3 | 43.4 | 41.9 | 1.0 | 2.3% | |
Diff | 4.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 10.2% | |
Tαb (°C) | Max. | 52.4 | 52.7 | 52.8 | 51.5 | 50.7 | 50.9 | 51.1 | 53.2 | 52.0 | 53.4 | 52.7 | 51.4 | 52.1 | 54.3 | 52.5 | 1.0 | 1.9% |
Avg. | 41.6 | 41.9 | 41.4 | 40.2 | 40.1 | 40.0 | 41.5 | 42.5 | 42.1 | 42.6 | 42.7 | 41.9 | 41.8 | 42.6 | 41.1 | 0.9 | 2.2% | |
Tβb (°C) | Max. | 50.7 | 50.4 | 51.0 | 49.2 | 48.4 | 48.3 | 48.6 | 51.2 | 50.2 | 50.9 | 50.3 | 49.3 | 49.7 | 51.4 | 49.9 | 1.0 | 2.0% |
Avg. | 40.5 | 40.8 | 40.1 | 38.8 | 38.8 | 38.6 | 40.3 | 41.4 | 41.1 | 41.5 | 41.3 | 40.6 | 40.6 | 41.4 | 40 | 1.0 | 2.4% | |
Diff. | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 9.3% | |
Tγb (°C) | Max. | 48.3 | 48.3 | 48.0 | 46.5 | 45.9 | 45.4 | 46.3 | 47.9 | 47.6 | 47.3 | 47.3 | 47.0 | 47.3 | 49.1 | 47.2 | 1.0 | 2.1% |
Avg. | 41.5 | 41.7 | 41.0 | 39.7 | 39.6 | 39.2 | 40.7 | 41.6 | 41.1 | 41.3 | 41.6 | 41.0 | 41.2 | 42.1 | 40.6 | 0.8 | 2% | |
Diff | 4.5 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 0.5 | 9.7% | |
Tαi (°C) | Max. | 51.6 | 51.3 | 51.9 | 50.4 | 49.5 | 49.6 | 50.0 | 52.7 | 51.6 | 52.2 | 51.6 | 50.6 | 50.8 | 53.1 | 51.3 | 1.1 | 2.1% |
Avg. | 40.9 | 41.1 | 40.5 | 39.4 | 39.3 | 39.2 | 40.7 | 41.8 | 41.6 | 42.0 | 41.9 | 41.1 | 41.1 | 41.9 | 40.6 | 0.9 | 2.3% | |
Tβi (°C) | Max. | 50.8 | 50.6 | 51.1 | 49.4 | 48.4 | 48.3 | 48.7 | 51.2 | 50.4 | 51.1 | 50.3 | 49.4 | 49.6 | 51.3 | 49.8 | 1.0 | 2.0% |
Avg. | 40.4 | 40.7 | 40.0 | 38.7 | 38.7 | 38.5 | 40.1 | 41.3 | 41.0 | 41.3 | 41.2 | 40.5 | 40.5 | 41.3 | 39.9 | 1.0 | 2.4% | |
Diff. | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 15.5% | |
Tγi (°C) | Max. | 49.4 | 49.3 | 49.0 | 47.7 | 46.8 | 46.5 | 47.3 | 49.2 | 48.6 | 48.2 | 48.3 | 47.9 | 48.0 | 49.6 | 48 | 1.0 | 2.0% |
Avg. | 40.9 | 41.2 | 40.4 | 39.1 | 39.0 | 38.8 | 40.3 | 41.4 | 41.1 | 41.3 | 41.4 | 40.7 | 40.8 | 41.6 | 40.2 | 0.9 | 2.3% | |
Diff | 3.3 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 10.2% |
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Hasan, A.; Al-Sallal, K.A.; Alnoman, H.; Rashid, Y.; Abdelbaqi, S. Effect of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Integrated into a Concrete Block on Heat Gain Prevention in a Hot Climate. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1009. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8101009
Hasan A, Al-Sallal KA, Alnoman H, Rashid Y, Abdelbaqi S. Effect of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Integrated into a Concrete Block on Heat Gain Prevention in a Hot Climate. Sustainability. 2016; 8(10):1009. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8101009
Chicago/Turabian StyleHasan, Ahmad, Khaled A. Al-Sallal, Hamza Alnoman, Yasir Rashid, and Shaimaa Abdelbaqi. 2016. "Effect of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Integrated into a Concrete Block on Heat Gain Prevention in a Hot Climate" Sustainability 8, no. 10: 1009. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8101009
APA StyleHasan, A., Al-Sallal, K. A., Alnoman, H., Rashid, Y., & Abdelbaqi, S. (2016). Effect of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Integrated into a Concrete Block on Heat Gain Prevention in a Hot Climate. Sustainability, 8(10), 1009. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8101009