Combined experimental and numerical evaluation of a prototype nano-PCM enhanced wallboard

Kaushik Biswas, Jue Lu, Parviz Soroushian, Som Shrestha

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

206 Scopus citations

Abstract

In the United States, forty-eight (48) percent of the residential end-use energy consumption is spent on space heating and air conditioning. Reducing envelope-generated heating and cooling loads through application of phase change materials (PCMs) in building envelopes can enhance the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce energy consumption. Experimental testing and numerical modeling of PCM-enhanced envelope components are two important aspects of the evaluation of their energy benefits. An innovative phase change material (nano-PCM) was developed with PCM supported by expanded graphite (interconnected) nanosheets, which are highly conductive and allow enhanced thermal storage and energy distribution. The nano-PCM is shape-stable for convenient incorporation into lightweight building components. A wall with cellulose cavity insulation and a prototype PCM-enhanced interior wallboard was built and tested in a natural exposure test (NET) facility in a hot-humid climate location. The test wall contained the PCM wallboard and a regular gypsum wallboard, for a side-by-side annual comparison study. Further, numerical modeling of the wall containing the nano-PCM wallboard was performed to determine its actual impact on wall-generated heating and cooling loads. The model was first validated using experimental data, and then used for annual simulations using typical meteorological year (TMY3) weather data. This article presents the measured performance and numerical analysis evaluating the energy-saving potential of the nano-PCM-enhanced wallboard.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)517-529
Number of pages13
JournalApplied Energy
Volume131
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 15 2014

Funding

The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the funding support for this work from the Department of Energy Small Business Innovation and Strategies Program (Recovery Act) Award No. DE-SC0003309 . The authors are also thankful to Jerald Atchley and Phillip Childs of ORNL for their contributions in installing and instrumenting the test wall, data gathering and troubleshooting, Dr. Pedro Otaduy (formerly of ORNL) for his guidance with COMSOL modeling, and Dr. Keith Rice (ORNL) for the energy efficiency ratio trend calculations.

Keywords

  • Finite element analysis
  • Nano-PCM
  • PCM modeling
  • PCM wallboard
  • Phase change materials

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