Phase change material to reduce cooling load of buildings in hot climate

Mahmoud Haggag, Ahmed Hassan, Shaimaa Abdelbaqi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Due to the hot climate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the external ambient temperature may reach 50oC in the summer season, almost 75% of the total energy is consumed in air-conditioning (AC). A significant improvement in the AC systems performance during hot summer time aligned with energy conservation could be achieved by pre-cooling of the air entering the condensers. Inclusion of Phase Change Material (PCM) as thermal energy storage (TES) have been widely used as one of the environmentally friendly energy saving materials due to its high energy density. The absorption/releasing of heat by PCM during its phase change, provides a latent heating/cooling for the surrounding. Numerous systems have implemented PCM based-TES for cooling purposes, such as thermally activated building systems (TABS), suspended ceilings, external facades or in the ventilation system. This study examines PCM based air pre-cooling concept and evaluates its performance in extremely hot climate of UAE. The drop in the outlet air temperature of the duct system quantifies the cooling effect. A paraffin based PCM with melting range of 30–33°C integrated in containers placed in the test chamber mimic the air conditioning duct system, and its cooling effect is monitored. A Conjugate heat transfer model employing enthalpy-based formulation is developed to predict the optimized PCM container size and optimum airflow rate validated with experimental data. Single and series columns of PCM containers subjected to different levels of supplied air velocity at range of 1 m/s - 4m/s are evaluated. Employing series of PCM enclosures at low air velocity of 1m/s enhanced the pre-cooling performance and reduced the outlet air temperature to 35oC yielding a temperature drop up to 11oC.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationComposite Materials and Material Engineering III
EditorsKazuo Umemura
PublisherTrans Tech Publications Ltd
Pages416-423
Number of pages8
ISBN (Print)9783035714913
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event4th International Conference on Composite Materials and Materials Engineering, ICCMME 2019 - Tokyo, Japan
Duration: Jan 19 2019Jan 22 2019

Publication series

NameKey Engineering Materials
Volume801 KEM
ISSN (Print)1013-9826
ISSN (Electronic)1662-9795

Conference

Conference4th International Conference on Composite Materials and Materials Engineering, ICCMME 2019
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityTokyo
Period1/19/191/22/19

Keywords

  • Air pre-cooling
  • Air-conditioning
  • Energy efficiency
  • Paraffin wax
  • Phase change material
  • UAE

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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