Thermal energy storage with phase change materials in building envelopes

Authors

  • Luisa F. Cabeza
  • Marc Medrano
  • Cecilia Castellón
  • Albert Castell
  • Cristian Solé
  • Joan Roca
  • Miquel Nogués

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCM) have been viable for thermal storage in buildings since before 1980. With the advent of gypsum board, plaster, concrete or other wall covering materials containing PCM, thermal storage can be part of the building structure even for lightweight buildings. New microencapsulation techniques offer many possibilities in building applications. The work we present here uses an innovative concrete that contains a commercial microencapsulated PCM with a melting point of 26ºC and a phase change enthalpy of 110 kJ/kg. First we introduced the microencapsulated PCM into the concrete, and then we constructed a small house-sized cubicle from this new PCM-concrete. A second cubicle with the exact same characteristics and orientation, but built from standard concrete, was located next to the first as a reference system. We tested the behaviour of the cubicles in 2005 and 2006. Later, a Trombe wall was added to the cubicles to study its effect during autumn and winter.

Published

2008-09-17

Issue

Section

Research articles