SPRINGER BRIEFS IN

APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

João M. P. Q. Delgado
Joana C. Martinho · Ana Vaz Sá
Ana S. Guimarães · Vitor Abrantes

Thermal Energy
Storage with Phase
Change Materials
A Literature Review
of Applications for
Buildings Materials
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João M. P. Q. Delgado Joana C. Martinho
•

Ana Vaz Sá Ana S. Guimarães

•

Vitor Abrantes

Thermal Energy Storage

with Phase Change Materials
A Literature Review of Applications
for Buildings Materials

123
João M. P. Q. Delgado Ana S. Guimarães
Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
CONSTRUCT-LFC CONSTRUCT-LFC
University of Porto University of Porto
Porto, Portugal Porto, Portugal

Joana C. Martinho Vitor Abrantes

Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
CONSTRUCT-GEQUALTEC CONSTRUCT-GEQUALTEC
University of Porto University of Porto
Porto, Portugal Porto, Portugal

Ana Vaz Sá
Faculty of Engineering,
CONSTRUCT-GEQUALTEC
University of Porto
Porto, Portugal

ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic)

SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology
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https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97499-6

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Preface

Thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) offers a high thermal
storage density with a moderate temperature variation. Building materials with
incorporated phase change materials (PCMs) have been found to reduce signifi-
cantly indoor temperature fluctuations while maintaining desirable thermal comfort
sensation.
This review provides an update on various methods that have been investigated
by previous researchers to incorporate PCMs into the building structures. The main
objective is to optimize these methods by integrating PCM with surrounding wall
(gypsum board and interior plaster products), Trombe walls, ceramic floor tiles,
concrete elements (walls and pavements), windows, concrete or brick masonry,
underfloor heating, ceilings, thermal insulation and furniture and indoor appliances.
Based on phase change state, PCMs fall into three groups: solid–solid PCMs,
solid–liquid PCMs and liquid–gas PCMs. Among them, the solid–liquid PCMs are
proper for thermal energy storage. The solid–liquid PCMs include organic PCMs,
inorganic PCMs and eutectics.
The process of selecting an appropriate PCM is very complicated but crucial for
thermal energy storage. The potential PCM should have a suitable melting tem-
perature, desirable heat of fusion and thermal conductivity specified by the practical
application. Thus, the methods of measuring the thermal properties of PCMs are
very important.
Suitable PCMs and a right incorporation method with building material and
latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) can be economically efficient for
heating and cooling buildings. However, several problems need to be tackled before
LHTES can reliably and practically be applied.

Porto, Portugal Joana C. Martinho

Ana Vaz Sá
Ana S. Guimarães
Vitor Abrantes
João M. P. Q. Delgado

v
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1 Sensible Heat Storage (SHS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.2 Latent Heat Storage (LHS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.3 Thermochemical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Classification of PCMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.1 Non-commercial/Commercial Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.2 Organic/Inorganic/Eutectic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 Measurement of Thermal Properties of PCMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.1 Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.2 Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.3 T-History Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2.4 Methods Appraisal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3 Thermal Stability of PCMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4 Heat Transfer Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5 Impregnation of PCMs into Construction Materials . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.5.1 Direct Incorporation or Impregnation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.5.2 Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.3 Shape-Stabilized PCMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.5.4 Containers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.6 Potential PCMs for Building Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

vii
viii Contents

3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance . . . . . . . . . . 35

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 Gypsum Board and Interior Plaster Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3 Ceramic Floor Tiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
3.4 Concrete Elements (Walls and Pavements) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.5 Trombe Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.6 Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.7 Concrete or Brick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.8 Underfloor Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.9 Ceilings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.10 Thermal Insulation Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.11 Furniture and Indoor Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.12 Safety Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.1 Further Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 1
Introduction

A PCM is a substance composed for molecules. The principle of the PCM is simple.
As the temperature increases, the material changes phase from solid to liquid. The
reaction being endothermic, the PCM absorbs the heat. Similarly, when the temper-
ature decreases, the material changes phase from liquid to solid (see Fig. 1.1). The
reaction being exothermic, the PCM desorbs the heat [1].
This kind of material has the capacity of storing and releasing amounts of energy
in the form of latent heat; latent heat storage can be achieved through the phase
changes. The PCM uses the latent heat of phase change to control temperatures
within a specific range.
The energy used to alter the phase of the material, given that the phase change
temperature is around the desired comfort room temperature, will lead to a more
stable and comfortable indoor climate as well as cut-peak cooling and heating
loads [2].

Fig. 1.1 Water melting cycle

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1

J. M. Delgado et al., Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials,
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97499-6_1
2 1 Introduction

In this chapter, it was presented references of some concepts, definitions and a

survey of the different types of PCM.

1.1 Definition

Material properties in general depend on boundary conditions like pressure, tempera-

ture and relative humidity. The common materials used in construction, like concrete,
brick, stone, glass, wood, ceramic, have a set of properties that give them greater or
lesser heat storage capability and heat storage restitution to the surroundings.
Thermophysical properties are those which give information about the amount of
energy that such materials and composites can store. But the characterization of the
thermophysical properties is not always easy and for composites many times cannot
be carried out with conventional laboratory equipment, mostly due to the sample size
[3]. The main criteria that oversee the selection of PCMs are [4]:
• Possess a melting point in the desired operating temperature range (temperature
range of application) to assure useful heat storage and extraction. Building appli-
cation temperatures range from 15 °C (cold storage) to 70 °C (heat storage);
• Possess high latent heat of fusion per unit mass, so that a smaller amount of material
stores a given amount of energy;
• High specific heat to provide additional significant sensible heat storage effects;
• High thermal conductivity, so that the temperature gradients for charging and
discharging the storage material are small;
• Small volume changes during phase transition, so that a simple container and heat
exchanger geometry can be used (less than 10%);
• Exhibit little or no sub-cooling during freezing/melting cycle;
• Possess chemical stability, no chemical decomposition and corrosion resistance to
construction materials;
• Contain non-poisonous, non-flammable and non-explosive elements/compounds;
• Available in large quantities at low cost.
It is now time to introduce some important concepts related to calorimetry, the
part of science that studies energy exchanges in the form of heat between bodies and
systems. The concepts of thermal conductivity, specific heat and specific volumetric
heat, thermal diffusivity, latent heat or phase change and enthalpy will be addressed.
Thermal conductivity, λ in WmK, describes the transport of energy, in form of
heat, through a body of mass as the result of a temperature gradient. According to
the second law of thermodynamics, heat always flows in the direction of the lower
temperature. For example, let us focus on two very different materials needed to
build a wall, concrete and thermal insulation. This material’s coexistence provides
strength and stability to the building skeleton and at the same time makes it less
vulnerable to thermal amplitudes occurring during the day; the amount of heat, per
unit time, passes through a thickness unit of material (m), when a temperature unit
difference is established between two flat and parallel faces (1 °C or 1 K). Consulting
1.1 Definition 3

Table 1.1 Thermal conductivity, density, specific heat, specific volumetric heat of some building
materials
Material Thermal Density (ρ) Specific heat Specific
conductivity (λ) [kg/m3 ] (cp ) [kJ/(kgK)] volumetric heat
[W/(mK)] [kJ/(m3 K)]
Water (T  10 °C) 0.600 1000 4.181 4181
Air (T  20 °C) 0.025 1.230 1.012 1.245
Concrete 1.650 2000–2300 0.880 1760–2024
2.000 2300–2600 1.040 2392–2704
Ceramic (roof tiles, 0.600 1400–1600 0.840 1176–1344
bricks, tiles)
Mortar (traditional 1.300 1800–2000 1.000 1800–2000
plasters) 1.800 >2000 1.046 >2092
Metals (steel) 50.00 7800 0.450–0.512 3510–3994
Wood (dense woods) 0.230 750.0–820.0 1.500–2.500 1125–2050
Calcareous stones 1.400 1800–1990 0.810 1458–1612
Granite 2.800 2500–2700 0.790 1975–2133
Thermal insulation 15.00–20.00
EPS 0.040 25.00–40.00 1.550 15.83–21.10
XPS 0.037 90.00–140.00 1.045 26.13–41.80
ICB 0.045 0.170 15.30–23.80
Glass (quartz glass) 1.400 2200 0.840 1848

the ITE50 [5], it was found that for concrete λ  2 WmK and for thermal insulation
λ  0.04 WmK, so the difference in conductivity values between these materials
indicates that the heat flow through the thermal insulation is fifty times lower than
the heat flow that crosses the concrete element for the same superficial area [6].
The specific heat, cp in units J/kgK, is the amount of heat per unit mass (constant
pressure) required to raise the temperature by one degree Celsius. The capacity of the
material to storage energy is usually represented by the specific volumetric heat—C,
which results from the product of the density by the material’s specific heat, ρ · cp ,
and the units in which it is expressed are in J/m3 K [1]. Thermal diffusivity, αT express
in m2 /s, is a material-specific property for characterizing unsteady heat conduction.
This value describes how quickly a material reacts to a change in temperature. The
metals are materials with a high thermal diffusivity, and they have a fast response
to surrounding thermic changes, for example against materials such as expanded
polystyrene (XPS), cork and others, which, because of low αT , can be used as a
thermal insulation.
Table 1.1 presents some common materials used in building construction, rep-
resented according to their thermic conductivity, density, specific heat and specific
volumetric heat [1].
4 1 Introduction

It is important to take into account that although heat storage capacity (that results
from the product, ρ · cp ) and restitution to stored heat, which is thermic diffusivity,
are intrinsic characteristics of the materials, their properties are not constant. In the
presence of water, temperature fluctuations or the simply the physical state in which
the materials are found can change their properties.
It is well known that all materials interact with the environment; however, most
of them lack the capability to alter its own properties according to the environment
characteristics in which they are applied. Phase change materials (PCMs), as the
name itself advocates, possess the capability to alter its own state as function of
the environmental temperature the same does not occur in other traditional building
materials [7].
So PCMs are latent heat storage materials, and they use chemical bonds to store
and release the heat. The thermal energy transfer occurs when a material changes
from solid to liquid, or liquid to solid. This is called a change state or phase. PCMs,
having melting temperature between 20 and 32 °C, were used/recommended for
thermal storage in conjunction with both active solar storage for heating and cooling
in buildings and passive storage, where the heat or cold stored is automatically
released when indoor or outdoor temperature rises [8].
Changing of material phase can be classified into four states: solid–solid, solid–liq-
uid, gas–solid and gas–liquid. A phase can be defined as an amount of fully homoge-
neous material (solid, liquid or gaseous). In each phase can exist at various pressures
and temperatures or using the terminology of thermodynamics in several states. The
solid phase (a) is characterized by strong molecular cohesion giving stable shape;
the liquid phase (b) is an intermediate state; and the gaseous phase (c) by the weak
molecular cohesion and therefore without form.
If we consider a given body of water, we recognize that it can exist in various
forms. If it is initially liquid may became steam after heating or a solid when cooled.
Now consider a given mass of ice, the temperature and pressure known.
According to Coelho [9], when we supply the heat to the ice at constant pressure,
the specific volume increases slightly and the temperature rises to 0 °C, at which
point ice melts while the temperature remains constant (at 0 °C). At this point, by
melting point, all the heat supplied is used to give the change of phase, from solid to
liquid. The total amount of heat, or energy, needed to the complete melting fusion of
the ice in water is approximately 334 kJ/kg. When all ice is melted, any additional
heat transfer causes an increase in the temperature of the liquid (up to 100 °C boiling
temperature in the transition from liquid to gaseous). The energy supplied to the
water at 0 °C (at the melt temperature) only is restored after the temperature has
decreased of water to ice, in an exothermic reaction.
With the illustration of the chart (see Fig. 1.2) below is intended to synthesize
the water phases. It represents the energy (in the form of heat) used by water, in
the various states, to increase its temperature, allowing to observe that there is a
large heat quantity associated with phase changes. In this process, phase change, the
amount of energy generated is called “phase shift enthalpy” or only “enthalpy”.
The amount of energy required to raise the water temperature from 1 °C to 80 °C is
approximately equal to the amount of heat used to melt the ice in water. The amount
1.1 Definition 5

Fig. 1.2 Water phases

of heat associated with the phase change and the amount of heat associated with
specific heat cp of the material are distinguished by latent heat and sensible heat,
respectively.
So one of the most important forms of energy storage is thermal energy storage
and is applications are very wide, from heating and cooling using waste or solar
energy to high-temperature energy storage power production and industrial process.
Thermal energy storage (TES) can be stored as a change in internal energy of a
material as thermochemical, latent heat and sensible heat or a combination of these.
It is important to refer that the concepts of latent heat and sensible heat have a
more distinction in this work than the concept thermochemical; a brief reference is
described below.

1.1.1 Sensible Heat Storage (SHS)

Sensible heat storage (SHS) method is carried out by adding energy to a material in
order to increase its temperature, without changing its phase [10]. The quantity of
stored heat depends on the following variables: temperature change, material heat
capacity and the amount of storing material. In the SHS method, a solid or a liquid
material is used as a storage medium [11], i.e. the medium can be water, bricks, sand,
rock beds, oil or soil. Thousands of materials have been identified that are suitable for
the use of thermal energy storage. Together with a container an input/output device
is attached to it to provide thermal energy for any intended application.
As example, SHS is used as heat storage to provide hot water for houses and
offices. Water as storage material has the advantages of being inexpensive and readily
available, of having excellent heat transfer characteristics. In solar heating systems,
6 1 Introduction

water is still used for heat storage in liquid-based systems, while a rock bed is used
for air-based systems [12]. For low- and high-temperature thermal energy storage,
solid materials such as metals, rocks, sand, concrete and bricks can also be used [10].
Fernandez et al. [13] have proposed a proper method of selecting the best material
to be used for long- and short-term sensible energy storage in order to minimize
cost and take into account the availability and environmental aspects such as carbon
footprint.
The different storage medium (liquid or solid) presents several advantages and
disadvantages. For example, water is widely available and an inexpensive sensible
energy storage medium; however, at low- or high-temperature applications, it is
limited by the melting and freezing points. To avoid freezing and corrosion problems,
chemical additives may be added [14].

1.1.2 Latent Heat Storage (LHS)

Latent heat storage (LHS) is based on the heat release or heat absorption during phase
change of a storage material from solid to liquid or liquid to gas or vice versa [15].
There is a visible advantage of PCMs (paraffin wax, salt hydrates and fused salts)
over sensible heat storage materials [11, 16]. LHS, compared to SHS, offers higher
density of energy storage with near-zero temperature changes. However, difficulties
usually arise in real due to the low density change, thermal conductivity, sub-cooling
of the phase change materials, stability of properties under extended cycling and
sometimes phase segregation [12]. Phase change materials are specifically used in
latent heat energy storage systems, and thus, PCM can also be called latent heat
storage material. The thermal energy transfer of PCM occurs during the charging
or discharging (melting or solidification) process at which the state or phase of the
material changes from liquid to solid or from solid to liquid. At the start of the
heating of the material, the PCM temperature rises as it absorbs the thermal energy.
When the material reaches a specific temperature range, it will start to melt as the
material begins to experience a phase transition from solid to liquid state. However,
unlike sensible heat storage materials, during the phase transition process, the PCM
releases or absorbs heat at a constant or nearly constant temperature. Many authors
have experimented with different types of PCMs subdividing them into organic,
inorganic and eutectic types. However, the majority of the phase change material
does not possess the recommended properties for an ideal thermal energy medium,
and thus, thermal enhancers are used to improve any disadvantages that the medium
may have. Extensive discussions for each class of phase change material properties
can be referred from [15, 17].
1.1 Definition 7

1.1.3 Thermochemical

In thermochemical energy storage system, the energy is stored after a breaking or

dissociation reaction of chemical bonds at the molecular level which releases energy
and then recovered in a reversible chemical reaction. Similar to the other type of ther-
mal energy storage systems, thermochemical heat storage system may also undergo
charging, storing and discharging processes. Figure 1.3 illustrates the reversible pro-
cesses of a thermochemical heat storage system [18]. Additionally, thermochemical
heat storage may undergo various processes which include reversible chemical and
photochemical reactions, water release from zeolites and hydrates and fuel produc-
tion. The advantage of this method is that the system is more compact due to the
higher energy densities compared to SHS and LHS [11]. Furthermore, the system
suffers little or no heat loss during the storing period where the two components,
A and B, are stored separately at ambient temperature. Hence, this type of thermal
energy storage is more suitable for long-term energy storage, i.e. seasonal storage. In
order to select the most suitable candidate for thermochemical heat storage material,
several key factors may be used as a rough guideline. These key factors are (i) cost,
(ii) ability to sustain large number of charging, storing and discharging cycles, (iii)
availability of the material, (iv) non-toxic and non-flammable, (v) corrosiveness, (vi)
reaction rate and temperature range, (vii) energy storage density and (viii) good heat
transfer characteristics and flow properties.
When using PCMs for TES, the most important material property is the heat stor-
age capability, usually given as the enthalpy as a function of temperature; PCMs
have a strong change in enthalpy in a narrow temperature range [19]. In an idealized
case, the enthalpy changes suddenly at a phase change temperature. The heat stored
is then called latent heat, whereas heat stored with a temperature change is called
sensible heat. However, many PCMs change phase in a temperature range, and this

Fig. 1.3 Charging,

discharging and storing
processes of a
thermochemical heat storage
system
8 1 Introduction

must be taken into account when applying such PCM in a real application. In addi-
tion, heating and cooling processes often show different thermal behaviour, called
hysteresis. This includes sub-cooling, which means that for the material to change
to the lower temperature phase (in a solid–liquid phase change the solid phase), a
certain temperature lower than the phase change temperature has to be reached to
start the phase change. At this temperature, the nucleation temperature, T nuc , a small
nucleus of the lower temperature phase forms. Sub-cooling is very common when
using the phase change between solid and liquid [19].
Ice is the best-known PCM used by humans with many and very different types
of applications, and for generations, inhabitants of northern Arctic regions have
been using ice for thermal stabilization of their dwellings. Igloos are the first-known
application of the phase change latent heat in building structures. For example, the
igloo is an ingenious invention and very effective in keeping Arctic people warm.
Igloos are relatively easy to construct and made from materials found in abundance,
snow and ice which serve simultaneously as building structural components, thermal
insulation, and thermal radiation shield and energy storage. Blocks of ice are formed
into the dome shape, joined together by snow. To prevent excessive amount of snow
and cold wind from coming into the igloo, a sunken entrance is constructed, along
with a raised sleeping platform covered with fur for comfort and warmth. Internal
igloo temperature circulates between 9 and 15 °C, when occupied, even during harsh
arctic winters where the outside temperatures can drop to −45 °C [20].

1.2 Classification of PCMs

1.2.1 Non-commercial/Commercial Materials

The selection of an appropriate PCM for any application requires the PCM to have
melting temperature within the practical range of application. Several application
areas have been proposed for PCMs studied. Table 1.2 presents some companies that
commercially produce over 100 PCMs.
In addition to these, several PCMs have been proposed or studied by different
researchers. A detailed list of PCMs studied or proposed for study can be found in
[21–25].

1.2.2 Organic/Inorganic/Eutectic Materials

There are several materials that can be used as PCMs. A common way to distin-
guish PCMs is by dividing them into organic, inorganic and eutectic PCMs. These
categories are further divided based on the various components of the PCMs (see
Fig. 1.4).
1.2 Classification of PCMs 9

Table 1.2 Commercial PCM manufacturers in the world

Manufacturer PCM temperature Number of PCMs
range listed
RUBITHERM (www.rubitherm.eu) −3 to 100 °C 29
Cristopia (http://www.cristopia.com) −33 to 27 °C 12
TEAP (www.teappcm.com) −50 to 78 °C 22
Doerken (www.doerken.de) −22 to 28 °C 2
Mitsubishi Chemical (www.m-chemical.co.jp) 9.5 to 118 °C 6
Climator (www.climator.com) −18 to 70 °C 9
EPS Ltd (www.epsltd.co.uk) −114 to 164 °C 61

Fig. 1.4 Phase change materials classification

Figure 1.5 shows the difference in melting enthalpy and melting temperature for
some of the most common materials used as PCMs.
From the observation of Fig. 1.5, it is possible to conclude that there are three
main groups whose melting temperature ranges are compatible with the comfort
temperature range inside a building. They are the fatty acids, paraffin, hydrated salts
and eutectic mixtures, the latter group having a higher enthalpy range of fusion.
For better understanding and a more complex interpretation of this matter, the
subgroups have been described and developed.

1.2.2.1 Organic

Organic phase change materials are divided into paraffin and non-paraffin. In general,
organic PCMs do not suffer from phase segregation and crystallize with little or no
super-cooling [26].
10 1 Introduction

Fig. 1.5 PCM’s classes

Paraffin is available in a large temperature range, with a density around 900 kg/m3 ,
opening up for use in various other areas besides building-related applications. The
latent heat is mass based, and they show no signs of phase separation after repeated
cycling through solid–liquid transitions and have a low vapour pressure (Alkan).
However, paraffin used as PCMs has some drawbacks. They have low thermal con-
ductivity (around 0.2 W/mk), and they are not compatible with plastic containers and
they are moderately flammable [27].
Non-paraffin used as PCMs includes fatty acids and their fatty acid esters and
alcohols, glycols. Fatty acids have received the most attention for use as PCMs
in buildings. An extensive review on fatty acids used for PCM purposes has been
written by Yuan et al. [28]. Their melting temperatures vary from 5 to 70 °C and
possess appreciable latent heat ranging from 45 to 210 J/g but usually around 150 J/g
(140 MJ/m3 ). They have the advantages of congruent melting, low sub-cooling and
vapour pressure, non-toxicity, good thermal and chemical stability, small volume
change, self-nucleating behaviour and biodegradability. They are also capable of
thousands of thermal (melting/freezing) cycles without any notable degradation in
thermal properties. Their high surface tension improves their capability of integration
in a porous material matrix. However, like paraffin, the major drawback of fatty acids
is their low thermal conductivity, ranging from 0.15 to 0.17 W/mk [28, 29].
Esterification of fatty acids with alcohols is a common method to shift the phase
transition temperature. It enables decreasing the melting point of fatty acids with high
thermal capacity. The production of binary and ternary PCMs by mixing fatty acids
with fatty alcohols, polyethylene oxide, oleic acid, pentadecane or other products
with low melting temperature is another possible tuning technique [28].
1.2 Classification of PCMs 11

According to Johra [3], other organic PCMs have received less attention by
researchers such as sugar alcohol. Some of the polyalcohol has latent heat almost
double than that of the other organic PCMs, but their melting point ranges from 90
to 200 °C, which is too high for building applications.
Among them, erythritol is especially noticeable with a latent heat of fusion of
339.8 J/g at 120 °C. Bio-based PCMs are organic materials produced from the
biomass: soya bean oils, coconut oils, palm oils and beef tallow. Like the other
organic product, they have an interesting latent heat with good chemical stability and
phase transition temperatures ranging from −22.77 to 77.83 °C. Nevertheless, they
suffer from the same problems as other organic materials [29].
In overall, organic PCMs have many qualities which make them suited for building
applications, but there are many organic PCMs considered flammable is a crucial
drawback for which impacts the safety aspect of organic PCMs considerably when
aimed at building applications.

1.2.2.2 Inorganic

Inorganic phase change materials of interest consist of hydrated salts and metallics.
For building applications, however, metallics are not within the desired tempera-
ture range and in addition they have severe weight penalties making the unsuited.
Hydrated salts consist of an alloy of inorganic salts and water and enable a cost-
effective PCM due to easy availability and low cost. The phase change transforma-
tion involves hydration or dehydration of the salts in a process that resembles typical
melting and freezing. The salt hydrate may either melt to a salt hydrate containing
less water or to an anhydrous form where salt and water are completely separated
[29].
The salt hydrates possess a significant storage capacity and operate phase tran-
sition at ambient temperature. Many studies focused on the calcium chloride hex-
ahydrate, sodium sulphate and magnesium chloride hexahydrate because of their
availability, moderate costs and non-flammability. Salt hydrates have a density of
around 1700 kg/m3 , which is twice higher than for paraffin. With a maximum latent
heat of around 200 J/g, their heat storage on a per volume basis is around 350 MJ/m3 ,
which is much higher than organic products.
Another significant advantage is their thermal conductivity (around 0.5 W/m K),
which is also higher compared to organic materials. However, these products become
chemically instable at high temperature. Heating cycles cause continuous dehydra-
tion of the PCM, and the heat storage capacity usually degrades over time. Moreover,
most salt hydrates melt incongruently with the formation of a lower form product.
This irreversible process is an additional drawback for their long-term performance.
The liquid phase separation and segregation can be prevented by addition of gelling
or thickening agents. Sub-cooling is another problem associated with salt hydrates.
12 1 Introduction

The phenomenon is characterized by a solidification of the product below its phase

transition temperature. It can be reduced by inducing heterogeneous nucleation in the
salt hydrates, thanks to nucleators or direct contact with an immiscible heat transfer
fluid [30].

1.2.2.3 Eutectic Mixtures

A eutectic is a minimum melting composition of two or more components, each

of which melts and freezes congruently. During the crystallization phase, a mix-
ture of the components is formed, hence acting as a single component. The com-
ponents freeze to an intimate mixture of crystals and melt simultaneously without
separation [30]. Eutectics can be mixtures of organic and/or inorganic compounds.
Hence, eutectics can be made as either organic–organic, inorganic–inorganic or
organic–inorganic mixtures [31]. This gives room for a wide variety of combina-
tions that can be tailored for specific applications. Of organic eutectic mixtures,
the most commonly tested consist of fatty acids. Some organic eutectics that have
been studied include capric acid/myristic acid [32], lauric acid/stearic acid, myristic
acid/palmitic acid and palmitic acid/stearic acid [33] and capric acid/lauric acid [34].
The most common inorganic eutectics that have been investigated consist of differ-
ent salt hydrates. The benefits of eutectic mixtures are their ability to obtain more
desired properties such as a specific melting point or a higher heat storage capacity
per unit volume. Though it has been given significant interest over the last decade by
researchers, the use of eutectic PCMs for use in (LHTS) systems is not as established
as pure compound PCMs. Hence, thermophysical properties of eutectics are still a
field for further investigations as many combinations have yet to be tested and proved.
In resume, it is possible to see that there is no a perfect product for latent heat
thermal energy storage in the temperature range 19–25 °C. Johra [3] shows that
very few of them present latent heat above 200 J/g. Organic PCMs offer better
chemical and thermal stability with congruent melting, and they exhibit little or no
sub-cooling. On the other hand, inorganic products suffer from cycling instability,
require nucleating and thickening agents to minimize sub-cooling and are highly
reactive to metal materials. Therefore, the organic PCMs (see Table 1.3) seem to be
the most appropriate for low-temperature building TES application [3].
To be a desirable material used in latent heat storage systems, the following criteria
need to be met: thermodynamic, kinetic, chemical and economic properties, which
are shown in Table 1.4.
In conclusion, this chapter presents the concept of PCM and introduces the various
types of existing PCMs, divided, in general, into organic, inorganic and eutectic
compounds. Organic compounds are seen as the most stable at thermal level.
It has been demonstrated that the principle of operation of PCMs is simple, but that
assessing their effectiveness in contributing to latent heat storage and consequently
increasing the energy performance of a building can be a challenge.
1.2 Classification of PCMs 13

Table 1.3 Comparison of the different kinds of PCMs

Classification Advantages Disadvantages
Organic PCMs 1. Availability in a large 1. Low thermal conductivity
temperature range (around 0.2W/mK)
2. High heat of fusion 2. Relative large volume change
3. No super-cooling 3. Flammability
4. Chemically stable and
recyclable
5. Good compatibility with other
materials
Inorganic PCMs 1. High heat of fusion 1. Super-cooling
2. High thermal conductivity 2. Corrosion
(around 0.5 W/mK)
3. Low volume change
4. Availability in low cost
Eutectics 1. Sharp melting temperature Lack of currently available test
2. High volumetric thermal data of thermophysical properties
storage density

Table 1.4 Selection criteria

Thermodynamic (1) Melting temperature in desired range
properties (2) High latent heat of fusion per unit volume
(3) High thermal conductivity
(4) High specific heat and high density
(5) Small volume changes on phase transformation and small vapour
pressure at operating temperatures to reduce the containment
problems
(6) Congruent melting
Kinetic properties (1) High nucleation rate to avoid super-cooling
(2) High rate of crystal growth to meet demands of heat
recovery from the storage system
Chemical properties (1) Complete reversible freezing/melting cycle
(2) Chemical stability
(3) No degradation after a large number of freezing/melting cycle
(4) No corrosiveness
(5) No toxic, no flammable and no explosive material
Economic properties (1) Effective cost
(2) Large-scale availabilities

The thermal properties are considered as decisive criterion for choosing the most
suitable PCM, highlighting the PCM fusion temperature as the most relevant param-
eter to make it effective in a given interior environment. Studies argue that the value
of the melting temperature should not differ by more than 3 °C relative to the average
temperature of a given space.
14 1 Introduction

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change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications. Appl. Therm. Eng. 23(3), 251–283
(2003)
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26. M.K. Rathod, J. Banerjee, Thermal stability of phase change materials used in latent heat
energy storage systems: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 246–258 (2016)
27. S.D. Sharma, D. Buddhi, R.L. Sawhney, Accelerated thermal cycle test of latent heat storage
materials. Sol. Energy 66, 483–490 (1999)
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Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 482–498 (2014)
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organic solid–liquid phase change materials and their applications in thermal energy storage.
Energy Conserv. Manage. 193–228 (2015)
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thermal energy storage in buildings: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 1675–1695 (2011)
31. E. Rodriguez-Ubinas, L. Ruiz-Valero, S. Vega, J. Neila, Applications of phase change material
in highly energy-efficient houses. Energy Build 50, 49–62 (2012)
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System, pp. 195–202 (2003)
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Chapter 2
Impregnation of PCMs in Building
Materials

2.1 Introduction

PCMs utilize the principle of latent heat thermal storage (LHTS) to absorb energy
in large quantities when there is a surplus and releasing it when there is a deficit.
Correct use of PCMs can reduce peak heating and cooling loads, i.e. reduce energy
usage, and may also allow for smaller dimensions of technical equipment for heating
and cooling. An added benefit is the ability to maintain a more comfortable indoor
environment due to smaller temperature fluctuations [1].
Thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) offers a high thermal
storage density with a moderate temperature variation and has attracted growing
attention due to its important role in achievement energy conservation in buildings
with thermal comfort [2].
Various methods have been investigated by several researches to incorporate
PCMs into building structures, and it has been found that with the help of PCMs
the indoor temperature fluctuations can be reduced significantly while maintaining
desirable thermal comfort.
Using latent heat storage in the buildings can meet the demand for thermal com-
fort and energy conservation purpose. This chapter mainly focuses on latent ther-
mal energy storage in building applications, impregnation PCMs into conventional
construction materials, current building applications and thermal performance, an
introduction to Chap. 3.

2.2 Measurement of Thermal Properties of PCMs

As already mentioned, the process of selecting a suitable PCM is very complicated

but crucial for thermal energy storage. The potential PCM should have a suitable
melting temperature, desirable heat of fusion and thermal conductivity specified by
practical application.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 17

J. M. Delgado et al., Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials,
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97499-6_2
18 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

The correct design of the building or storage system with integrated PCMs requires
correct knowledge of the thermal properties of the PCMs used. The single data
points, the phase change enthalpy at the melting temperature or the heat of fusion do
not describe phase change materials properties with accuracy to perform dynamic
simulations of a building or a compartment containing PCM [3].
Remembering, the phase change occurs in a temperature range and not at constant
temperature level, and therefore, specific heat capacity or enthalpy of this type of
material has to be known as a function temperature.
There are many existing measurement techniques, among which differential scan-
ning calorimetry (DSC) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) are most commonly
used, nevertheless another measurement technique will be mentioned T-history
method.

2.2.1 Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

One of the most important properties is the enthalpy–temperature relationship,

h(T ). When this relationship is determined using conventional differential scan-
ning calorimetry (DSC) with standard methods and procedures, results for PCM are
often wrong. The enthalpy values from heating/cooling are systematically shifted
to higher/lower temperatures. This temperature shift originates from a temperature
gradient inside the PCM and depends on the heating/cooling rate and sample mass
[4]. There are different possibilities to use a DSC in thermal analysis of PCM, but
the most common used are the dynamic method and the step method [5].
The most widely used scanning mode consists of heating and cooling segments at
constant rates (dynamic method). A typical temperature program and corresponding
signal are shown in Fig. 2.1.

Fig. 2.1 Typical heat flow and temperature evolution during a a dynamic DSC measurement
with constant heating rate and b during DSC measurement with the step method, here shown for
heating [5]
2.2 Measurement of Thermal Properties of PCMs 19

So, after a graphic interpretation, the peaks indicate strong thermal effects of the
sample at the corresponding temperatures.
According to Cabeza et al. [4], the dynamic method is commonly used for the
determination of melting enthalpies. For heat storage applications, the interesting
value is the sum of both latent and sensible heat. In this case, good sensitivity also
for small signals is necessary. This is achieved using the heat flow rate calibration.
For the determination of enthalpy, a dynamic program is executed three times:
• first, with the empty crucible to generate the baseline;
• second, with a standard material (usually sapphire) in the same crucible to generate
the standard line;
• third, with the sample in the same crucible to generate the sample line.
From the heat flux, the specific heat as a function of temperature can be obtained
with the DSC software using the baseline, the sapphire and the sample heat–flux
signal, and the enthalpy is determined by integration.
Pomianowski et al. [3] point out that measurement with different heating rates and
that different sample masses gave results that differ considerably from each other and
the dynamic mode is not the proper approach can be found and instead of the dynamic
mode, an isothermal step mode or T-history method should be used. In the article,
it is also mentioned that DSC in general is not suitable for heterogeneous materials,
and the shortcomings and some sensitivity analysis of dynamic DSC measurements
are discussed and presented in [6].
Another measurement routine is the step method. Here, the heating or cooling
is not continuous, but small heating ramps are followed by periods in which the
temperature is kept constant to allow the sample to reach thermal equilibrium. The
resulting temperature program has small steps, and the signal created is a sequence
of different peaks [4].
A typical temperature program and resulting signal is shown in Fig. 2.1. Different
peaks indicate different amounts of heat transferred in the respective temperature
interval. In the step method, the evaluation considers only peak areas, and the exact
shape of the baseline has no influence on the resulting enthalpy–temperature rela-
tionship.
The main limitation of DSC is the conditions the sample must fulfil: it should
be small, pure and homogeneous. This is a huge limitation because there are many
samples that cannot achieve homogeneous conditions since they are a composite
materials or a mixture of different components.
Feng et al. [7] summarized the impact of misinterpreted effective capacity function
on the simulated thermal storage and releasing effect of the PCM floor. It was found
that for the same PCM, the detected results were significantly incongruent. Repeated
DSC tests were arranged to discover the influence of heating rate and sample mass on
the detected PCM parameters. Errors with 33–883% deviation for phase transition
range of PCM were discovered for the improperly arranged tests. These parameters
20 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

were used in the PCM floor simulation, and a maximum difference of 20% was
observed for the floor surface temperature, which greatly influenced the prediction
of the simulation. The research shows the importance of setting standard DSC tests
and ascertaining right PCM parameters in simulations related to PCM system design.

2.2.2 Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA)

In DTA test, the heat applied to the sample and the reference remains the same (rather
than the temperature in DSC test). The phase change and other thermal properties
can then be tested through the temperature difference between the sample and the
reference.

2.2.3 T-History Method

Zhang and Jiang [8] analysed the limitations of conventional methods including
conventional calorimetry, DSC and DTA, and then put forward a new method called
T-history method to determine the melting temperature, degree of super-cooling,
heat of fusion, specific heat and thermal conductivity of PCMs. They made the
measurement of some PCMs through this method and found a desirable agreement
between their test results and experimental date available in the literature. Hong
et al. [9] modified T-history method by improving some improper assumptions in
the method by Zhang and Jiang [8]. Peck et al. [10] also improved this measurement
method by setting the test tube horizontally which can minimize the temperature
difference along the longitudinal direction of the test tube to get more accurate data
from T-history method.
T-history method is based on an air enclosure where temperature is constant and
two samples are introduced at a different temperature from the temperature in the air
enclosure. During the heating or cooling process, three temperatures are registered,
that of the ambient (air enclosure), and those of the two samples. The two samples
are one reference substance whose thermal properties are known (frequently water),
and one PCM whose thermal properties should be determined with the results of the
test.
Marín et al. [11] made improvements in order to obtain enthalpy versus temper-
ature curves. They based their improvements on finite increments method.
Other properties can be studied like sub-cooling and hysteresis analysing the
enthalpy–temperature curves. Detailed information about methodology of verifica-
tion of a T-history installation proposed by University of Zaragoza in collaboration
with ZAE Bayern is given by Lázaro et al. [12]. Finally, updates of this methodology
can be found in the review published by Solé et al. [13].
2.2 Measurement of Thermal Properties of PCMs 21

2.2.4 Methods Appraisal

The difference between the methods DSC and DTA is that in the first, the energy
supplied to the sample and the reference is always the same, with temperature dif-
ferences between them (sample and reference) occurring whenever a reaction occurs
in the sample [14].
The main advantages of the T-history method compared to DSC are [4]:
• precision in energy and temperature measurement;
• sample mass and heating and cooling rate similar to application;
• other properties can be studied like sub-cooling and hysteresis analysing the
enthalpy vs. temperature curves.
Although DSC with isothermal step mode and T-history methods are well-
developed, they share the same shortcoming—the sample tested has to be homo-
geneous. In the recent publication [15], a new experimental set-up and various cal-
culation methods to determine the specific heat capacity of inhomogeneous concrete
with micro-encapsulated-PCM were suggested. In another publication [16], using
experimental data from [15], authors go one step further and compare three different
optimization algorithms to define which one is the most effective.

2.3 Thermal Stability of PCMs

For successful large-scale application of PCMs into the building sector, it is crucial
that the PCM and PCM-container system can withstand cycling over an extended
period of time without showing signs of degradation [1].
There are two main factors which oversee the long-term stability of PCM storage
materials: poor stability of the materials, e.g. super-cooling and phase segregation,
and corrosion between the PCM and the container system [17, 18].
The long-term stability of the PCMs is required by the practical applications of
latent heat storage, and therefore, there should not be major changes in thermal
properties of PCMs after undergoing a great number of thermal cycles. Thermal
cycling tests to check the stability of PCMs in latent heat storage systems were carried
out for organics, salt hydrates and salt hydrate mixtures by many researchers [19–23].
Some potential PCMs were identified to have good stability and thermophysical
properties.
Shukla et al. [18] carried out the thermal cycling tests for some organic and
inorganic PCMs selected based on thermal, chemical and kinetic criteria, presented
on Chap. 1, and their results showed that organic PCMs tend to have better thermal
stabilities than inorganic PCMs.
Accelerated ageing tests on stearic acid and paraffin wax, both organic PCMs, have
been conducted by Sharma et al. [22]. Both stearic acid and paraffin wax performed
well and showed no regular degradation of their melting point over 1500 thermal
22 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

cycles. However, of the fatty acids, palmitic acid and myristic acid showed to have
the best long-term stability [24], which may make them more suited for building
applications compared with other fatty acids.
A comprehensive review on the thermal stability of organic, inorganic and eutec-
tic PCMs has recently been given by Rathod and Banerjee [25]. This work covers the
investigations on thermal stability of PCMs done over the past few decades. Paraffin
has shown good thermal stability. For fatty acids, the purity plays an important role.
Industrial grade fatty acids may experience changes in its thermal behaviour over
time and should be tested by accelerated ageing. Of inorganic PCMs, salt hydrates
are the most widely studied. Most studies have shown that the thermal stability of salt
hydrates is poor due to phase separation and super-cooling. However, the thermal sta-
bility may be improved to a certain extent by introducing gelled or thickened mixtures
and suitable nucleating materials. In general, new building materials, components
and structures should be examined by accelerated climate ageing [26]; the PCMs are
no exception. Furthermore, a robustness assessment may also be performed [27].
Tyagi and Buddi [28] conducted the thermal cycling test for calcium chloride
hexahydrate and found minor changes in the melting temperature and heat of fusion,
only about 1–1.5 °C and 4% average variation, respectively, during the 1000 thermal
cycles. They recommend the calcium chloride hexahydrate be a promising PCM for
applications.

2.4 Heat Transfer Enhancement

Most PCMs suffer from the common problem of low thermal conductivities, being
around 0.2 W/m K for paraffin wax and 0.5 W/m K for hydrated salts and eutec-
tics, which prolong the charging and discharging periods. Various techniques have
been proposed to enhance the thermal conductivities of the PCMs, such as filling
high-conductivity particles into PCMs [6], incorporating porous matrix materials
into PCMs [29–36], inserting fibrous materials [35], as well as macro- and micro-
encapsulating the PCMs [36, 37].
Bugaje [38] reported that the phase change time is one of the most important design
parameters in latent heat storage systems and found adding aluminium additives
into paraffin wax can significantly reduce the phase change time in heating and
cooling processes. However, this method results in weight increasing and high cost
of the system. Metal foams manufactured by sintering method, have many desirable
characteristics such as low density, large specific surface area, high specific strength-
to-density ratio as well as high thermal conductivity. All these desirable properties
offered by metal foams make them to be promising in heat transfer enhancement for
PCMs.
Boomsma et al. [39] found using open-cell metal foams in compact heat exchang-
ers generated thermal resistances twice and three times lower than the best commer-
cially available heat exchanger tested. Thermal transport in high porosity open-cell
metal foams was experimentally and numerically investigated by [40, 41], in which
2.4 Heat Transfer Enhancement 23

it is found that the effective thermal conductivity increases rapidly as temperature

increases and porosity decreases.
Tian and Zhao [42] conducted a numerical and experimental investigation of
heat transfer in PCMs enhanced by metal foams, and their experiment showed a
significant increase of heat transfer rate. Their numerical simulations employed two-
equation non-thermal equilibrium model to account for coupled heat conduction
and natural convection, and a good agreement with experimental data was achieved.
They reported that metal foams suppress natural convection while promoting heat
conduction significantly, with the overall heat transfer rate still being higher than the
pure PCMs.
Py et al. [43] impregnated paraffin wax in a graphite matrix by employing capillary
forces, and a high thermal conductivity and stable power output were observed. Fukai
et al. [44] found carbon fibres improved the heat exchange rate during the charge
and discharge processes even when the volume fractions of carbon fibres were only
about 1%. Zhou et al. [2] carried out relevant experiments to compare the effects
of metal foams and graphite materials on heat transfer enhancement, and the results
indicate that both metal foams and expanded graphite can enhance heat transfer rate
in thermal storage system, with metal foams showing a much better performance
than expanded graphite.

2.5 Impregnation of PCMs into Construction Materials

Various means of PCM incorporation have been investigated in the literature. Hawes
et al. [45] considered three most promising methods of PCM incorporation: direct
incorporation or impregnation, immersion and encapsulation.
Zhou et al. [2] refers that the melting and freezing temperatures of PCMs varied
slightly when being incorporated in building materials. In addition, PCM can be
used in the form of a single laminated board and combined with other envelope
components [29, 31].

2.5.1 Direct Incorporation or Impregnation

It is the simplest and the most economical method in which liquid or powdered
PCM is directly added to building materials such as gypsum, concrete or plaster
during production. No extra equipment is required in this method, but leakage and
incompatible with construction materials may be the biggest problems [2].
An example of this method is a laboratory-scale energy storage gypsum wallboard
produced by the direct incorporation of 21–22% commercial grade butyl stearate (BS)
at the mixing stage of conventional gypsum board production [46].
Figure 2.2 shows Ferreira [47] experiment in which the concrete samples were
impregnated in paraffin (RT24).
24 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

Fig. 2.2 Impregnation of

RT24

2.5.1.1 Immersion

In this method, the porous building material (such as gypsum board, brick or concrete
block) is dipped into the hot melted PCM, which is absorbed into the pores by
capillary action (when a porous material, such as a brick or a wick, is brought into
contact with a liquid, it will start absorbing the liquid at a rate which decreases over
time, when considering evaporation, liquid penetration will reach a limit dependent
on parameters of temperature, relative humidity and permeability) [48].
The porous material is removed from the liquid PCM and allowed to cool, and
the PCM remains in the pores of the building material [34]. The great advantage of
this method is that it enables one to convert ordinary wallboard to PCM wallboard as
required, since impregnation can be carried out at practically any time and place [33].
Hawes and Feldman [35] examined the mechanisms of absorption and established
a means of developing and using absorption constants for PCM in concrete to achieve
diffusion of the desired amount of PCM. However, as Schossig et al. [36] pointed
out, leakage may be a problem over a period of many years for this method.

2.5.2 Encapsulation

To escape the adverse effects of PCMs on the construction material, phase change
materials can be encapsulated before incorporation. There are two principal means
of encapsulation: macro-encapsulation and micro-encapsulation [17].

2.5.2.1 Macro-encapsulation

The technology with PCMs encapsulated in a container, for example, tubes, spheres
or panels, is called macro-encapsulation. The RUBITHERM produces a kind of PCM
panels called CSM modules which were made from aluminium with an efficient anti-
corrosion coating, shown in Fig. 2.3 [49].
2.5 Impregnation of PCMs into Construction Materials 25

Fig. 2.3 CSM panel

containing the PCM

They can fit many commercial PCMs. With macro-encapsulated PCMs, the leak-
age problem can be avoided and the function of the construction structure can be
less affected. It has the disadvantages of poor thermal conductivity, tendency of
solidification at the edges and complicated integration to the building materials [48].
Via macro-encapsulation, Zhang et al. [50] developed and tested a frame wall that
integrated highly crystalline paraffin PCM. Results showed that the wall reduced
peak heat fluxes by as much as 38%.
However, macro-encapsulation has the disadvantage of needing protection from
destruction and requires much more work to be integrated into the building structure,
and is thus expensive.

2.5.2.2 Micro-encapsulation

Nowadays, micro-encapsulated PCMs have been used in thermal energy storage of

buildings. Micro-encapsulation is a technology in which PCM particles are enclosed
in a thin, sealed and high-molecular-weight polymeric film maintaining the shape
and preventing PCM from leakage during the phase change process (see Fig. 2.4).
It is much easier and more economic to incorporate the micro-encapsulated PCMs
into construction materials [48].
Hawlader et al. [51] conducted thermal analyses and thermal cycle tests on micro-
encapsulated paraffin and found that the micro-encapsulated paraffin still kept its
geometrical profile and heat capacity after 1000 cycles. Their investigation captures
the influence of different parameters on the characteristics and performance of a
micro-encapsulated PCM in terms of encapsulation efficiency, and energy storage
and release capacity. Results obtained from a DSC show that micro-capsules pre-
pared either by coacervation or by the spray-drying methods have a thermal energy
26 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

Fig. 2.4 Image of PCM micro-capsules in gypsum plaster. The PCM micro-capsules with an aver-
age diameter of 8 µm are homogeneously dispersed between the gypsum crystals [36]

storage/release capacity of about 145–240 kJ/kg. Hence, micro-encapsulated paraffin

wax shows a good potential as a solar energy storage material.
Some researchers think that the micro-encapsulated PCMs incorporated in the
buildings structures may affect the mechanical strength of the structure [52]. Cabeza
et al. [53] designed two concrete cubicles with the same shape and size, one with
micro-encapsulated PCMs called Mopcon concrete and the other one without PCMs
respectively, in order to find the possibility of using micro-encapsulated PCMs in
construction materials to achieve sizable energy conservation without significantly
decreasing the mechanical strength of the concrete structures at the same time. They
found Mopcon concrete reached a compressive strength over 25 MPa and a tensile
splitting strength over 6 MPa which had already met the requirements in general
structural purpose. However, the applications of micro-encapsulated PCMs still need
further investigation in the aspect of safety, such as fire retardation capability etc.
Recently, National Gypsum produced a kind of wallboard panels with Micronal
PCM produced by BASF. This kind of panels is called National Gypsum Thermal-
CORE Panel, shown in Fig. 2.5. The melting point and latent capacity are 23 °C and
22 BTU/ft2 , respectively.
One of the most widely studied and disclosed constructive solutions are the use of
micro-encapsulated PCMs in gypsum plasterboard [14]. This and other constructive
solutions with PCM are developed in Chap. 3.
2.5 Impregnation of PCMs into Construction Materials 27

Fig. 2.5 a Gypsum wallboard with Micronal PCM (from BASF); b thermalCORE phase change
drywall (from National Gypsum)

Fig. 2.6 Photos of the shape-stabilized PCM. a Photo of the plate and b electronic microscopic
picture by scanning electric microscope (SEM) HITACHI S-450 [16]

2.5.3 Shape-Stabilized PCMs

In recent years, a kind of novel compound PCM, the so-called shape-stabilized PCM
(SSPCM, see Fig. 2.6), has been attracting the interest of researchers [54–60]. It
consists of paraffin as dispersed PCM and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or
other material as supporting material.
Since the mass percentage of paraffin can be as much as 80% or so, the total stored
energy is comparable with that of traditional PCMs.
So, shape-stabilized PCM is attracting increasing attention due to their large appar-
ent specific heat, suitable thermal conductivity, the ability to keep the shape of PCM
stabilized in phase change process, as well as a good performance of multiple thermal
cycles over a long period [56–58]. Zhang et al. [54] considered the shape-stabilized
PCM and found that it can make the thermal storage system simpler as it does not
need special devices or containers to encapsulate the PCM. Based on the above ben-
efits of this shape-stabilized PCM, they also proposed its potential application in
28 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

efficient buildings used as inner linings, such as inner wall, ceiling and floor. Zhou
et al. [55] simulated the thermal performance of a middle direct-gain room with
the shape-stabilized PCM plates as inner linings and examined several influencing
factors to thermal performance such as melting temperature, heat of fusion, location
and board thickness of the shape-stabilized PCM. Their results indicated the PCM
plates were advantageous in direct-gain passive solar houses.

2.5.4 Containers

The conventional construction materials, such as gypsum board, concrete, brick and
plaster, can be used to hold PCMs. Some other panels, such as PVC panels, CSM
panels, plastic and aluminium foils, can also be used to encapsulated PCMs. This
subject is developed in Chap. 3.

2.6 Potential PCMs for Building Applications

As we know, many factors influence the indoor air temperature of a building. These
include climate conditions (outdoor temperature, wind velocity, solar radiation and
others), building structure and the building material´s thermophysical properties (wall
thickness, area ratio of window to wall, thermal conductivity and specific heat of wall
material), indoor heat source, air change rate per hour and auxiliary heating/cooling
installations [48].
Zhang et al. [61] show that the difference between the indoor temperature and the
comfort range determines the heating and cooling load when there is no space heating
and cooling. Therefore, the heating and cooling load will decrease with decreasing
this temperature difference. For a certain building placed in a specific region, the
building structure parameters such as wall thickness, area ratio of window to wall,
cubage of the room, are known, however the outdoor temperature and solar energy
change with the different hour and day during the entire year. Then, with a certain
interior heat source, the natural room temperature (i.e. the room temperature without
any active cooling or heating) depends on the material thermophysical properties
(thermal conductivity, λ, and specific volumetric heat, C (the product of the density
by the material’s specific heat, ρ · cp ).
If there are certain building materials whose λ and ρ · cp values can make the
given room meet the condition I win  I sum ≈ 0, (being I win , integrated discomfort
level for indoor temperature in winter and I sum , integrated discomfort level for indoor
temperature in summer), we can call these materials ideal building materials. This
means that the indoor temperature will be in the comfort range all year round without
auxiliary heating or cooling. [62], also, shows the comparison between the ideal
material (in reality, it is very difficult to find this kind of material) and concrete
buildings.
2.6 Potential PCMs for Building Applications 29

The application of PCMs in building can have two different goals. first, using
natural heat, that is solar energy, for heating or night cold for cooling; second, using
artificial heat or cold sources. In any case, storage of heat or cold is necessary to
match availability and demand with respect to time and also with respect power.
Basically, there are three different ways to heating or cooling a building. They are:
• PCMs in building walls;
• PCMs in other building components other than walls;
• PCMs in heat and cold storage units.
The first two options are passive systems, where the heat or cold stored is automat-
ically realized when indoor or outdoor temperature rises or falls beyond the melting
point. The last one is an active system, where the stored heat or cold is in containment
thermally separated from the building by insulation, so the heat or cold is only used
on demand not automatically. Some authors classified passive systems applications
in the building envelope into two main categories, PCM “integrated” and PCM as
“component”. The main difference between them is that component can be man-
ufactured before the building being constructed and have a particular design. For
example, blinds with integrated PCM are considered as component [63].
Moreover, Kalnæs and Jelle [1] presented many examples of integration of phase
change materials for passive systems, exploring possible areas and materials where
PCM can be usefully incorporated. Pomianowski et al. [3] presented various con-
struction materials of the building (gypsum and wallboards, concrete, bricks) which
where blended or combined with PCM in passive systems. Zhue et al. [64] presented
an extensive list of PCM passive systems investigated experimentally with impor-
tant results. Different possibilities of the use of PCM and their application in the
American Solar Decathlon, including the descriptions of the systems and the factors
that affect their performance, as well as results of simulations and experimentation
were presented by Rodriguez-Ubinas et al. [65]. Soares et al. [66] also explored
PCM application in passive systems and investigated the effect of these systems on
the energy performance of buildings. Examples of passive system applications are
presented and developed in the Chap. 3.
As mentioned above, PCMs incorporated in building envelopes (PCM walls, PCM
roof or ceiling and PCM floor) used for passive solar heating in winter can increase
thermal capacity of light building envelopes, thus reducing and delaying the peak
heat load and reducing room temperature fluctuation. Several PCM applications in
buildings such as passive solar heating, active heating and night cooling are shown
in Fig. 2.7 [61].
So, PCMs can provide high latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) density
over the narrow range of temperatures typically encountered in buildings. Therefore,
they are taken into account for application.
Thermal comfort can be defined by the operating temperature that varies by the
time of the year. The ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and
Air-Conditioning Engineers) has listed suggested temperatures and air flow rates in
different types of buildings and environmental circumstances. Normally, the sug-
30 2 Impregnation of PCMs in Building Materials

Fig. 2.7 Forms and effects of PCM building envelope [67]

gested room temperature is 23.5–25.5 °C in the summer and 21.0–23.0 °C in the

winter. In the building applications, the PCMs with a phase change temperature
(18–30 °C) are preferred to meet the need of thermal comfort [2].
As is well known, inorganic PCMs, typically hydrated salts have some attractive
properties such as a higher energy storage density, a higher thermal conductivity,
being non-flammable, being inexpensive and readily available. However, they also
have some obvious disadvantages such as being corrosive, being incompatible with
some building materials and needing supporting containers. Some organic PCMs are
getting more and more attention due to the avoidance of the problems inherent with
inorganic PCMs. They have little super-cooling and segregation, and are compati-
ble with and suitable for absorption in various building materials, though, they are
flammable and have volume changes and low heat conductivity, which are concerns
in many recent studies [45]. Eutectic or non-eutectic mixtures of organic or inorganic
PCMs could be used to deliver the desired melting point required. Shape-stabilized
are being applied in building envelopes due to their good thermal performance over a
long period, and form stability during heat melting and solidification, which remark-
ably distinguishes them from common organic PCMs. Also, shape-stabilized PCMs
can be easily compounded with common building materials for their shape stability
and then can be manufactured into various composite building materials.
2.6 Potential PCMs for Building Applications 31

In conclusion, with the above methods, extensive advances have been made on
the thermal performance of PCM applications in buildings such as PCM walls, PCM
ceiling, PCM floor with electric heating and night ventilation.
When selecting PCMs, their phase change temperature should be close to the
average room temperature and appropriate values should be required for latent heat
and thermal conductivity. Other properties such as fire characteristics and long-term
stability should also be considered for organic and inorganic PCMs, respectively.
PCMs can be integrated by direct incorporation, immersion, and encapsulation or
as a single laminated panel. SSPCM is a promising encapsulation method due to
the effectiveness in reducing the danger of leakage as well as its relatively low cost.
Thermal analyses showed that PCM walls, floor and ceiling, etc., can be effective in
shifting heating and cooling load from peak electricity periods to off-peak periods,
or storing solar radiation for use during sunless hours.

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Chapter 3
PCM Current Applications and Thermal
Performance

3.1 Introduction

The use of phase change materials (PCM) in the buildings is a possibility to achieve
the reduction of energy dependency as it allows the use of latent heat storage to
increase the thermal inertia without significantly increasing the building weight.
It was explained in the previous chapters that PCM-enhanced materials function as
lightweight thermal mass components of buildings and contribute to reducing energy
use in buildings and to the development of “net-zero-energy” buildings through their
ability to reduce energy consumption for space conditioning and peak loads [1].
The use of PCM, to ensure the thermal inertia, in addition to the use of thermal
insulation and shading systems, allows the reduction of the winter heat losses and
summer heat gains. The use of solar gains, night cooling and off-peak electricity
will reduce the evening temperature fluctuations and peak temperatures, increasing
comfort conditions inside buildings. These measures will lower both annual energy
consumption and the maximum power consumption, saving energy and running
costs, for both heating and cooling seasons, both in residential or office buildings
and have potential for application in retrofit projects [1–3].
The phase change in the PCM takes place over a small temperature span; thus,
large amounts of energy can be stored by small temperature change in the PCM [2].
This means that PCM will not absorb any heat from the air until it has reached the
desired temperature range; thus, only excess heat will be stored. PCM can be used
to store or extract heat without substantial change in temperature. Hence, it can be
used for temperature stabilization in a building. The main advantage of PCM is that,
depending on the PCM type, it can store about 3–4 times more heat per volume than
sensible heat in solids and liquids at an approximate temperature of 20 °C [4].
Between all phase change materials possible applications in buildings, the most
interesting is its incorporation in construction materials altering their materials ther-
mal properties. The PCM may be used for thermal storage of passive solar heating

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 35

J. M. Delgado et al., Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials,
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97499-6_3
36 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

being integrated in the floor, walls or ceilings, as well as being an integrating part of
the most complex energetic system, such as heat pumps and solar panels [5].
When selecting a PCM, the average room temperature should be close to the
melting/freezing range of the material. Moreover, the day temperature and solar
radiation fluctuations should allow the material phase change. Then many factors
influence the choice of the PCM: weather, building structure and thermophysical
properties [6].
That’s why experiments must be carried out to effectively assess the use of PCM.
This is one of many examples given in this chapter, Scalat el al. [7] conducted a
full-scale thermal storage tests in a room lined with PCM (Emerest 2326) wallboard
and the results show its efficient function as a thermal storage medium, the human
comfort can be maintained for longer periods using PCM wallboard, after the heating
or cooling system was stopped.
In this chapter, we will summarize current building applications and their per-
formance analyses always with references to different authors. These are the PCM
building applications:
• Gypsum board and interior plaster products;
• Ceramic floor tiles;
• Concrete elements (walls and pavements);
• Trombe walls;
• Windows;
• Concrete or brick;
• Underfloor heating;
• Ceilings;
• Thermal insulation materials;
• Furniture and indoor appliances.

3.2 Gypsum Board and Interior Plaster Products

Through the last years, various researchers have studied and developed a vast variety
of this type of materials. The main purpose of integrating PCM into lightweight
construction materials is to increase their thermal mass. As a result, such products
could be used to decrease temperature fluctuations in existing and renovated buildings
as well new lightweight buildings.
PCM has been successfully incorporated into wall materials such as gypsum
wallboard and concrete to enhance the thermal energy storage capacity of buildings
with particular interest in passive solar applications, peak load shifting [5]. It is also
the most studied, general and suitable solution for implementing PCM into buildings.
Figure 3.1 shows PCM gypsum board.
The wallboards are cheap and widely used in a variety of applications, making
them very suitable for PCM encapsulation. However, the principles of latent heat
storage can be applied to any appropriate building materials. Kedl and Stovall [8]
3.2 Gypsum Board and Interior Plaster Products 37

Fig. 3.1 PCM-enhanced

gypsum board [11]

and Salyer and Sircar [9] used paraffin wax impregnated wallboard for passive solar
application. The immersion process for filling the wallboards with wax was success-
fully scaled up from small samples to full-size sheets. Processes where by this PCM
could be incorporated into plasterboard either by post-manufacturing imbibing of
liquid PCM into the pore space of the plasterboard or by addition in the wet stage of
plasterboard manufacture were successfully demonstrated [10].
Peippo et al. [12] were one of the first to discuss the use of PCM walls for short-
term heat storage in direct-gain passive solar applications. The PCM considered
was fatty acid. Approximate formulae were presented for optimum phase change
temperature and thickness of the PCM wall. And direct energy savings of 5–20%
were expected.
In Feldman et al.’s [13] experiment, a tenfold increase of energy storing capability
was obtained by the direct incorporation of 21–22% commercial grade BS at the
mixing stage of conventional gypsum board production. Feldman et al. [13–15]
carried out extensive research on the use and stability of organic compounds for
latent heat storage, including fatty acids (capric, lauric, palmitic and stearic), butyl
stearate, dodecanol and polyethylene glycol 600. In addition to the studies of their
properties, research was also carried out on materials, which act as PCM absorbers.
Shapiro et al. [16] investigated methods for impregnating gypsum wallboard and
other architectural materials with PCM. Different types of PCMs and their charac-
teristics were described. The manufacturing techniques, thermal performance and
applications of gypsum wallboard and concrete block, which were impregnated with
PCMs. Shapiro [17] showed several PCMs to be suitable for introduction into gypsum
wallboard with possible thermal storage applications for the Florida climate. These
materials were mixtures of methyl-esters, namely methyl palmitate, methyl stearate
and mixtures of short chain fatty acids (capric and lauric acids). Although these
materials had relatively high latent heat capacity, the temperature ranges required in
achieving the thermal storage did not fall sufficiently within the range of comfort for
buildings in hot climates.
Various materials were considered, including different types of concrete and gyp-
sum. The utilization of latent heat storage over a comfortable indoor temperature
38 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

range in buildings can result in an increase in the thermal storage capacity in the range
of 10–130%. The PCM gypsum board was made by soaking conventional gypsum
board in liquid butyl stearate, a PCM with phase change range of 16–20.8 °C. The
PCM gypsum board contained about 25% by weight proportion of butyl stearate. Its
thermal properties were measured with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). In
another study, investigation of the thermal performance and estimation of the benefits
from the application of PCM gypsum board in passive solar buildings in terms of the
reduction of room overheating and energy savings were done by Hawes et al. [18].
During the 1980s, several forms of bulk encapsulated PCM were marketed for
active and passive solar applications, including direct gain. However, the surface
area of most encapsulated commercial PCM products was inadequate to deliver heat
to the building passively after the PCM was melted by direct solar radiation. In
contrast, the walls and ceilings of building offer large areas for passive heat transfer
[10]. Neeper [9] in his study concluded that gypsum wallboard impregnated with
PCM could be installed in place of ordinary wallboard during new construction
or rehabilitation of a building, thereby adding the regarding thermal storage for
passive solar heating as well as creating opportunity for ventilate cooling and time-
shifting of mechanical cooling loads. Little or no additional cost would be suffered
for installation of PCM wallboard in place of ordinary wallboard. Neeper [19] found
that the thermal storage provided by PCM wallboard would be sufficient to enable
a large solar heating fraction with direct gain. Neeper [20] examined the thermal
dynamics of a gypsum wallboard impregnated by fatty acids and paraffin waxes
as PCMs subjected to the diurnal variation of room temperature but not directly
illuminated by the sun. He found that the diurnal storage achieved in practice may
be limited to the range 300–400 kJ/m2 , even if the wallboard has a greater latent
capacity. A wide phase transition range would provide less than optimal storage, but
would be consistent with application of the same PCM to either interior partitions
or to the envelope of the building. The melting temperatures of these PCMs were
adjusted by using mixture of ingredients. He examined three parameters of PCMs
wallboards that may influence the energy that can be passively absorbed and released
during a daily cycle: (a) the melt temperature of the PCM; (b) the temperature range
over which melt occurs; and (c) the latent capacity per unit area of wallboard.
Heim and Clarke [21] conducted numerical simulations for a multi-zone, highly
glazed and naturally ventilated passive solar building. PCM-impregnated gypsum
plasterboard was used as an internal room lining. The results show that solar energy
stored in the PCM–gypsum panels can reduce the heating energy demand by up to
90% at times during the heating season.
Several authors investigated methods for impregnating gypsum and other PCMs
[22–30]. Limited analytical studies of PCM wallboard have been conducted, but few
general rules pertaining to the thermal dynamics of PCM wallboard are available
[10]. It was documented that in gypsum materials can be combined up to 45% by
weight of PCM when reinforcing the structure with some additives and up to 60%
by weight in wallboard composites.
Voelker et al. [31] have developed the gypsum board with integrated micro-
encapsulated PCM and mineral aggregates and have added some admixtures to
3.2 Gypsum Board and Interior Plaster Products 39

improve working properties of the board. The incorporated PCM had a melting range
between 25 and 28 °C. The sensible and latent heat of the material was measured
with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) with a constant heat and cooling rate of
2 K/min. The thermal conductivity of PCM-modified gypsum was determined with
use of a laser flash instrument.
The developed PCM boards were tested in the special lightweight chambers. The
two identical test chambers were built next to each other, and in the first one, walls
were covered with PCM plaster boards and in the second one with ordinary plaster
boards. The thickness of the gypsum board was varied between 1 and 3 cm. The test
series were carried out under controlled variable conditions. It was discovered that
during warm days, a reduction of the peak temperature of about 3 K in comparison to
the room without PCM could be achieved. On the other hand, temperature in the test
chamber was allowed to fluctuate from very low to very high temperatures (approx-
imately 14–35 °C). In real building conditions, such high-temperature amplitude
would not be acceptable and therefore also utilization of the latent heat of PCM in
the gypsum boards would be decreased. Additionally, authors do not elaborate on
obtained PCM to gypsum ratio in the developed gypsum boards.
Kuznik et al. [32] investigated a renovation project in the south of Lyon, France
using PCM wallboards. By testing a room in the same building that was renovated
without PCM and then comparing it to the room with PCM, they concluded that the
PCM increased the indoor thermal comfort, but it appeared unable to use its latent
heat storage capacity for a number of durations due to the incomplete discharge
overnight.
Kuznik et al. [33], experimental tests on composite PCM product ENERGAIN®
from Dupont de Nemours Society that contained 60% of micro-encapsulated paraffin
and rest was copolymer can be found. The thermal conductivity has been measured
using a guarded hotplate apparatus, and in the liquid state, it was at 0.22 W/mK and
in the solid at 0.18 W/mK. The enthalpy of the composite PCM has been measured
using DSC method at heating–cooling rate of 0.05 K/min. Melting peak temperature
was obtained at 22.2 °C and freezing peak at 17.8 °C. Composite boards were tested
in the specially designed full-scale test room MINIBAT. The test room was equipped
with thermal guard surrounding room where the temperature was stabilized at certain
temperature of 20.5 °C. The test cell was also equipped with a solar simulator located
in the climatic chamber that was attached to the test chamber to simulate external
thermal condition. The climatic chamber was separated from the test room with a
glass. The temperature inside the climatic chamber could vary between −10 and
40 °C and could be dynamically controlled so that any temperature evolution can be
generated. In the investigation, three types of test were conducted:
• A summer day: temperature in the climatic chamber varied between 15 and 30 °C,
there was night cooling to improve PCM storage/release effect;
• A mid-season day: temperature in the climatic chamber varied between 10 and
18 °C;
40 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

• A winter day: temperature in the climatic chamber varied between 5 and 15 °C,
heating system in the test room was turned on when temperature in the room
dropped below 20 °C.
For all tested cases, the solar flux is preserved as the same. The experiment was
conducted in a comparative manner for the test room with PCM and without PCM
boards on the walls. Based on the results obtained, authors concluded that PCM
composite is an interesting solution for the building application to enhance the human
thermal comfort due to three reasons:
• The PCM included in the walls reduced the overheating effect, and energy stored
was released to the room when temperature was minimum;
• The wall surface temperature peaks were flattened;
• The stratification of air temperature in the room with PCM was not observed as it
was for room without PCM.
Still the allowed temperature fluctuations for the tests were very high. For example,
for a summer day the air temperature was allowed to fluctuate between approximately
19 and 32 °C for the room without PCM and from 19 to 29 °C for the room with PCM.
Based on that, it can be concluded that if the test rooms were equipped with some
additional measures to reduce temperature fluctuations, for example solar shadings,
the utilization of PCM in the room would be smaller and also the improvement with
regards to the room without PCM would drop.
Athienitis et al. [34] performed an experimental and numerical simulation study
in a full-scale outdoor test room with PCM gypsum board as inside wall lining. The
PCM gypsum board used contained about 25% by weight proportion of BS. An
explicit finite-difference model was developed to simulate the transient heat transfer
process in the walls. It was shown that utilization of the PCM gypsum board may
reduce the maximum room temperature by about 4 °C during the day and can reduce
the heating load at night significantly.
In Schossig et al. [35], measurements of a full-size room equipped with micro-
encapsulated-PCM plaster boards are presented. Prior to the full-scale measurements,
some small-scale experiments with specially designed plate apparatus to test wall
samples have been conducted. A small sample of 50 × 50 cm2 area was pressed
between two copper plates, which can be heated and cooled independently. The ther-
mal performance of the wall samples with PCM was tested for the constant heat
flux on both sides of the sample, and temperature in the middle of the sample was
registered. It was discovered that for the samples with PCM temperature instead
of rising linearly begins to deflect within PCM melting temperature range. Con-
secutively, the full-scale measurements have been conducted in the specially built
lightweight test rooms. One room was equipped with the ordinary reference plaster
and the other with the PCM plaster. Both rooms were facing south. In the article, it
was not written how much of internal area was covered with gypsum and where the
plaster boards were located. Within the project, two different PCM products were
tested: dispersion-based plaster with 40% weight PCM and 6 mm thickness and gyp-
sum plaster with 20% weight PCM and 15 mm thickness. The experimental study
3.2 Gypsum Board and Interior Plaster Products 41

indicated that PCM gypsum helped to decrease high- and low-temperature peaks.
Over period of 3 weeks, the reference room was warmer than 28 °C for about 50 h
while the PCM room was only 5 h above 28 °C. Authors pointed out that micro-
encapsulated PCM has the advantage of easy application and there is no danger of
leakage like with macro-encapsulated PCM.
Gypsum products as construction materials can be improved by improving their
physical, mechanical, thermal, and sound insulation properties. Jeong et al. [36] con-
ducted a study manufactured heat storage gypsum board which contains two types of
SSPCMs. Each type of SSPCM has different phase change temperatures for target-
ing the heating and cooling seasons. Paraffinic organic PCM-based SSPCM and fatty
acid-based SSPCM were prepared by using exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP)
to solve the leakage problem, retaining their efficient thermal storage quantity and
improving the thermal conductivity. The two types of SSPCM composites (Hybrid
SSPCM) were incorporated to make heat storage gypsum board. The hybrid SSPCM
was manufactured for reducing heating and cooling load in severe season such as
winter and summer by two types of PCMs with different phase change temperature.
In this experiment, the maximum mix ratio of SSPCM was considered as 30
wt% in the light of workability and banding strength of heat storage gypsum board.
All samples were made with a composition of gypsum and 10, 20 and 30 wt% of
hybrid SSPCM, in comparison with the gypsum powder weight. For the preparation
of hybrid SSPCM gypsum board, the water ratio at 45% was selected, in comparison
with gypsum powder. The prepared hybrid SSPCM has a board shape of 100 × 100
mm × 20 mm3 (length, width and height).
Bharat Chhugani et al. [37] investigate the effectiveness of PCM wallboards in
lightweight buildings. The investigations have been carried out on two different types
of PCM wallboards, the Knauf Comfortboard-23 and DuPont Energain board. Exper-
imental results showed that PCM wallboards can provide passive cooling powers of
around 8 W/m2 under typical office room conditions. The experiments proved that
PCM wallboards can almost store twice as much heat compared to conventional
gypsum boards and can provide a passive cooling power which is comparable to a
concrete wall with a thickness of 15 cm. However, the regeneration behaviour of
PCM wallboards plays a major role in its efficiency. The results reveal that Knauf
Comfortboard-23 shows a better regeneration behaviour than the DuPont Energain
board. Still, the average regeneration rate of the Comfortboards-23 during the sum-
mer months in the offices of the Energy Efficiency Centre was found to be below
20%. The regeneration of the DuPont Energain board was nearly impossible being
1% in average.
To conclude, the realistic potential to increase dynamic heat storage capacity of
concretes by incorporation of PCM is doubtful. Firstly, the thermal mass increase is
not as high as expected and secondly, thermal conductivity decreases significantly
due to addition of PCM to concrete. As a result, the energy from the air has diffi-
culty in being transported to the inside of PCM concrete construction within daily
realistic indoor temperature variations. Moreover, maximum amount of PCM in the
concrete is not higher than 5–6% by weight (material is still workable), which means
not much latent heat capacity can be introduced to sensible heat storage capacity.
42 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

Consequently, 5–6% by weight of PCM corresponds to approximately 12–15% by

volume of concrete, which means that the share of PCM in concrete is rather high
and as a result, the price of the composite would be high due to rather high price of
PCM.

3.3 Ceramic Floor Tiles

Ceramic tiles are an extensively used material for paving, yet the incorporation of
PCMs into ceramic tiles has been rather neglected, as observed by Pomianowski
et al. [38], in their excellent review.
Cerón et al. [39] reported the production, development and experimental method,
to test its performance, of a prototype tile. Nonetheless, the design of the tile was
rather complex requiring numerous layers (top stoneware tile, metal sheet, a metal
container with PCM and a bottom thermal insulation layer). The developed tiles
were tested over a period of 60 days in one side of the solar house placed in Madrid
that had door-window towards south. It was observed that high effectiveness was
achieved for tiles close to the door-window where the direct solar radiation hits the
tiles. The contribution of the tiles in the deeper location, further from the window,
was very small. Therefore, the key conclusion was that the scheme should be limited
to the portion of the floor that can receive the direct solar radiation. It has been
considered essential to make a new prototype of tile that could be placed directly
on the framework (see Fig. 3.2) and not on a technical floor, since this is a more
usual and cheaper solution for housing. It was also considered necessary to develop
the system in such a way that it met the acoustic requirements demanded by the
Technical Building Code in Spain (CTE) [39].
The results showed that the shadows on the tile with PCM significantly alter
the thermal behaviour of the pavement, by reducing their efficiency in solar energy
storage. In order to get a high efficiency in the process of thermal storage, it is
important to avoid obstacles that cause significant shadows on the pavement that

Fig. 3.2 Prototype [39]

3.3 Ceramic Floor Tiles 43

contains PCM. The shadows caused by the aluminium frame of the window result
in a decrease of the surface temperature of the tile down to 6 °C over a period of 1 h,
with solar radiation 1000 W/m2 , and this reduces the amount of energy accumulated
in that period [39].
Hittle et al. [40] wrote an assignment which proposal consists in substitute micro-
encapsulated phase change material for much, if not all of the quartz power to make it.
He also was able to replace some of the chips without degrading the tile appearance.
The tile with PCM it was named here in after. Putting phase change material in the
floor tile dramatically increases its ability to store thermal energy. Also, the energy
is stored at a nearly constant temperature. One application is the use of the tile in
sunroom floors where it can absorb solar energy during the day and release it at night
to reduce mechanical heating. Because agglomerate floor tiles have exceptional wear
resistance properties, they are often marketed to institutional clients that have high
traffic areas. He came to the conclusion that these tiles have structural properties
that are not quite as good as agglomerate tiles without PCMs, but are significantly
better than fired clay tiles often used in residential applications. Each prototype tile
contains quartz chips and powder, polyester resin and encapsulated paraffin wax.
Tiles were made with varying amounts of quartz powder, encapsulated wax and
resin. The amount of quartz chips will be held constant to ensure structural integrity
of the tile. Resin will be varied from 5 to 10% of the total mixture. Proportions of
encapsulated wax and quartz powder will be directly dependent on each other. The
ideal case would be a tile containing all phase change material and no quartz powder.
One of the standard agglomerate floor tiles manufactured today consists of quart
chips, quartz powder (filler), dyes and a polyester binder. Components are mixed
in a giant cement mixer. The mix, appearing and feeling much like damp sand, is
placed in a vibrating vacuum assembly to remove all air and to compress the material.
Next, the portions of material are heated to cause catalysis. Later, pieces are cut and
polished to produce the desired tiles.
In a very intricate paper, the production of novel PCM-ceramic tiles for indoor
temperature control was described and developed by Novais et al. [41]. The PCM
was directly incorporated into lightweight porcelain stoneware ceramic tiles, without
the need for other materials or containers. The incorporation of PCM in ceramic
tiles increases buildings’ thermal inertia and reduces the indoor space temperature
variation by up to 22%. The tiles combine a dense top-layer with a porous bottom-
layer. The novelty of this investigation is the development of ceramic tiles with a
PCM that was directly included on the porous layer of the lightweight porcelain
stoneware tiles. Wood wastes (sawdust) were used as a pore forming agent, which is
an environmental friendly approach. The density of these novel ceramic tiles (below
2 g/cm3 ) allows their use not only in the floor, but also as wall coverings, which
increases the surface area inside the buildings and, therefore, the energy savings.
Two major factors control the PCM-ceramic tiles’ thermal performance: (i) PCM
load and (ii) PCM-ceramic tile thermal conductivity. Higher PCM content induces
narrower temperature fluctuations, yet reduces the PCM-ceramic tile thermal con-
ductivity. The incorporation of 5.4 wt% PCM was found to be the optimal content,
which is a rather small amount in comparison with other PCM building materials.
44 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

The results confirm the enhancement of thermal insulation with the PCM-ceramic
tiles when using a 10-min dwell: 0.9 °C reduction on the minimum temperature
and differences exceeding 1 °C on the maximum temperature. The overall indoor
space temperature amplitude decreased about 2 °C. However, the minimum temper-
ature reached inside the test cell (∼20.5 °C) is insufficient to promote the complete
solidification of the PCM, which affects its functionality as pointed out by Voelker
et al. [31]. In fact, when the PCM has sufficient time for the occurrence of complete
melting and solidification, its performance is improved. For example, with 90-min
dwell time, the temperature amplitude in the test cell coated with PCM-ceramic tiles
decreased by 2.7 °C. The enhancement of the PCM performance is ensured when its
complete melting and solidification [41].
In conclusion, PCM-ceramic tiles present remarkable potential for improving
the thermal comfort inside buildings due to their ability to reduce indoor space
temperature fluctuations. Additionally, if associated with underfloor electric systems
the energy consumption can be transferred for off-peak period providing substantial
energy savings.

3.4 Concrete Elements (Walls and Pavements)

The thermal response of concrete walls containing PCMs has been reviewed exten-
sively, and Ling et al. [42] show that among the PCM types, organic PCM and par-
ticularly paraffin wax PCM seem to be one of the most suitable latent heat storage
materials that can be used in concrete. The main reasons are the chemical stability,
inactivity in the alkaline environment of concrete, an appropriate transition tempera-
ture of about 26 °C (human thermal comfort) and low degree of super-cooling; they
are also relatively inexpensive and have desirable thermal stability. The test results
of different means of PCM incorporation in concrete showed that: Immersion: suit-
able for concrete with a relatively high porosity. The time required for immersion is
mainly controlled by (i) the absorption capacity of the porous concrete and (ii) the
temperature of the container in which the melted (liquid) PCM is filled. Basically, the
immersion process takes several hours. Impregnation: vacuum impregnation seems
to be more effective compared to the simple immersion technique. By comparing
the results of absorption behaviour of PCM in different types of porous aggregates,
expanded clay or shale aggregates are the more suitable porous materials for PCM
impregnation. Direct mixing: encapsulation of the PCM with a chemically and physi-
cally stable shell is required before it can be directly mixed into concrete. The surface
(shell) hardness of the PCM micro-capsules can be reinforced by the use of zeolite
or zeocarbon.
In brief, most experimental studies of walls or rooms exposed to outdoor condi-
tions have reported that adding PCM to building walls reduced the amplitude of the
temperature oscillations at the wall surface and time-shifted the temperature peak.
Cabeza et al. [43] constructed outdoor cubicles in Lleida, Spain, made with plain
brick, plain brick with polyurethane insulation and 1.9 mass% macro-encapsulated
3.4 Concrete Elements (Walls and Pavements) 45

PCM with a melting temperature of 27 °C, alveolar brick and alveolar brick con-
taining 3.3 mass% macro-encapsulated PCM with a melting temperature of 25 °C.
The cubicles were equipped with a heat pump to maintain an indoor temperature of
24 °C. Their electricity consumption over the course of a summer week was reduced
by up to 15 and 17% by adding PCM to the plain and alveolar brick cubicles, respec-
tively. However, as acknowledged by the authors, the performance could be further
improved by optimizing the PCM melting temperature. Such optimization would be
costly and time-consuming to perform experimentally. Moreover, it remains unclear
whether these conclusions would be valid in other parts of the world with different
climates. Rigorous numerical simulations can address these issues by assessing the
effects of the climate conditions and of design parameters of PCM composite walls
such as the melting temperature and the PCM volume fraction on the thermal load
of buildings in a rapid, systematic and rational way.

3.5 Trombe Walls

The concept of Trombe wall was patented by E.S. Morse in the nineteenth century and
developed and popularized in 1957 by Félix Trombe and Michel. In 1967, in Odeillo,
France, they built the first house using a Trombe wall [44]. Figure 3.3 illustrates the
general classification. Each configuration of Trombe wall is discussed in detail next.
Some examples of heating-based type of Trombe wall are (i) the photovoltaic
(PV) Trombe wall, which was invented by incorporating solar cells with classic
Trombe wall. The PV-Trombe wall not only provides space heating, but also generates
electricity; meanwhile it brings more aesthetic value; (ii) the cooling-based type of
Trombe wall, i.e. the ceramic evaporative cooing wall. The wall employs an external
reflective thermal insulation blinds to avoid direct solar gain.
A Trombe wall is a primary example of an indirect-gain approach. A single or
double layer of glass or plastic glazing is mounted about four inches in front of the
wall’s surface. Solar heat is collected in the space between the wall and the glazing.
The outside surface of the wall is of black colour that absorbs heat, which is then
stored in the wall’s mass. Heat is distributed from the Trombe wall to the house over

Fig. 3.3 Trombe wall classification [44]

46 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

Fig. 3.4 Schematic diagram

of PCM Trombe wall [10]

a period of several hours. When the indoor temperature falls under that of the wall’s
surface, heat begins to radiate into the room. Heat loss from the Trombe wall can
be controlled by an insulating curtain that is closed at night in the space between
the glazing and the wall. Traditionally, Trombe walls relay on sensible heat storage,
but because of the potential for greater heat storage per unit mass, the PCM Trombe
wall is an attractive concept still awaiting successful implementation [10]. Schematic
diagram of PCM Trombe wall is shown in Fig. 3.4.
Over time, modifications have been made to Trombe walls in order to improve
their efficiency. Based on the main utilizing functions of Trombe walls, they are
classified into two types: a heating-based type of Trombe wall and a cooling-based
type of Trombe wall. To increase the thermal resistance of the classic Trombe wall
and control supplies, another heating-based type of Trombe wall, which is known as
composite Trombe wall or Trombe–Michel wall, was developed.
During the last decades, several modifications have been developed from the
basic design of a classical Trombe wall and composite Trombe–Michel wall [45–48].
Zalewski et al. [49] performed an experimental study of a small-scale composite solar
wall where PCM was inserted into the wall in the form of brick-shaped package. The
PCM used is a mixture of hydrated salts (water + CaCl2 + KCl + additives) with
melting point of 27 °C. They concluded that the solar gains are released with a time
lag which indicates the advantage of this composite solar wall. They also pointed
out that the efficiency of the solar wall could be improved by limiting losses to the
outside and increasing exchanges in the cavity.
The Trombe–Michel solar wall or composite solar wall is a variant of the classic
Trombe wall with the aim to contribute to the thermal comfort in buildings using
solar energy. The main idea of the Trombe–Michel wall is to use the component as a
part of building envelope that stores energy from solar radiation during the day and
releases it as heat, indoor at night or in a cloudy period [50]. The thermal energy
recovered by this type of wall passes through the storage element by conduction
transfer and then by natural convection in a ventilated air gap.
In conventional non-PCM applications, the storage capacity increases weight and
volume of passive solar systems, which makes difficult their merge with, common
today, lightweight construction methods and limits integration into the existing build-
ings. To alleviate this problem, conventional heavyweight thermal mass is replaced
by PCM. For a given amount of heat storage, the phase change units require less
space than water walls or mass Trombe walls and are much lighter in weight. These
3.5 Trombe Walls 47

are, therefore, much convenient to make use of in retrofit applications of buildings.

Salt hydrates and hydrocarbons were used as PCMs in the Trombe wall [10].
A large number of experimental and theoretical assessments have been conducted
to investigate the energy performance and long-term reliability of the PCM-based
Trombe wall heat storage components. It was found that the thermal performances of
the Trombe wall depend on various parameters such as the size of air gap and vents,
wall area and orientation, wall thickness, glazing, insulation and operation strategy
[44]. In terms of the selection of Trombe wall materials, a study was carried out by
Stazi et al. [51] during both the pre-use phase and use phase of Trombe wall on three
wall materials: concrete, brick and aerated concrete. Considering both pre-use and
use phases, the best overall performance was obtained using the wall with aerated
concrete blocks that combines a production cycle with low environmental impacts
and high energy performances in the use phase.
Onishi et al. [52] numerically investigated the effects of PCM as a heat storing
material on the performance of a hybrid heating system with a computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) code. Simulated results indicated the effectiveness of PCM and
suggested the possibility of developing low-energy houses with the hybrid system
introduced in this study. The transparent insulation materials (TIM)–phase change
material (PCM) wall system also showed the higher efficiency of solar radiation
utilization and decreased heat losses by using corresponding PCMs [53, 54].
So, initially, hydrated slats have been sampled for this purpose. Telkes [55–57]
proposed the inclusion of PCMs in walls, partitions, ceilings and floors to serve as
temperature regulators. The PCMs have been used to replace masonry in a Trombe
wall and worked on a construction similar to the Trombe wall, using Glauber’s salt
behind a polyhedral glazing. Her work was only a first-order theoretical analysis
demonstrating the potential for energy and space savings.
Askew [58] used a collector panel made of a thin slab of paraffin wax and mounted
behind the double glazing of the building and found that the thermal efficiencies are
comparable with the conventional flat plate collectors. Farouk and Guceri [11] studied
the usefulness of the PCM wall installed in a building for night-time home heating
using Glauber’s salt mixture and SUNOCO P-116 wax. It was observed that if the
PCM wall is designed properly, it eliminates some of the undesirable features of the
masonry walls with comparable results.
In experiments performed by Swet [59], Ghoneim et al. [60] and Chandra et al.
[61], a Glauber’s salt was utilized as well (sodium sulphate decahydrate with melting
point 32.1 °C) as a phase change material in a south-facing Trombe wall. Experi-
mental and theoretical tests were conducted to investigate the reliability of PCMs as
a Trombe wall. They reported that Trombe wall with PCM of smaller thickness was
more desirable in comparison to an ordinary masonry wall for providing efficient
thermal energy storage (TES).
Knowles [62] presented numerical results as well as approximate simple stationary
state formula with the purpose of establishing guidelines for the design of low-mass,
high-efficiency walls. One conclusion was that thermal resistance of the wall should
be as low as possible. Exploration of binary and ternary composite of metals, masonry
and phase change materials was studied. Compared with concrete, paraffin–metal
48 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

mixtures were found to offer a 90% reduction in storage mass and a 20% increase in
efficiency.
Bourdeau and Jaffrin [63] and Bourdeau et al. [64] simulated and tested a Trombe
wall using chliarolithe (CaCl2 · 6H2 O) as a PCM heat storage. A numerical model
demonstrated that a 3.5-cm wall using PCM could replace a 15-cm-thick conventional
wall made of concrete. In a following project, Bourdeau [65] studied the behaviour
of Trombe wall made of polyethylene containers placed on a wood shelf behind
a double glazing. These experimental results were used to validate the numerical
model, which demonstrated that a Trombe wall with latent heat storage was more
efficient than conventional concrete walls. This research indicated that the optimum
thickness of a PCM wall was of a factor 4 thinner than an equivalent concrete wall.
In addition, Benson et al. [66] carried an analysis on polyalcohols used as PCM.
They also performed numerical analysis on PCM-enhanced Trombe walls compared
to conventional concrete structures. They found an optimum melting temperature for
PCM which was close to 27 °C. Numerical analysis demonstrated that an increase
in thermal diffusivity can be beneficial to the thermal performances of PCM solar
walls. Accordingly, laboratory tests demonstrated that diffusivity can be increased
by a factor of five through the addition of 2% of graphite, which should lead to about
30% improvement in performance. They concluded that a Trombe wall containing
PCM could be four times thinner and a factor nine lighter than its equivalence made
of concrete.
Buddhi and Sharma [67] measured the transmittance of solar radiation through
phase change material at different temperatures and thickness. Stearic acid was used
as a phase change material. They found that transmittance of the phase change mate-
rial was more than the glass for the same thickness and suggested a new application
of phase change material in windows/walls as a transparent insulating material.
Stritih and Novak [68] presented a solar wall for building ventilation, which
absorb solar energy into black paraffin wax (melting point, 25–30 °C). The stored
heat was used for heating the air for the ventilation of the house. The efficiency of the
absorption was found to be 79%. The result of the simulation showed that the panel
dictates the amount of stored heat as sensible or latent and that the melting point of
the PCM has an influence on the output air temperature. The analysis for the heating
season gave the optimum thickness of 50 mm and the melting point a few degrees
above the room temperature.
Sun and Wang [69] studied the energy-saving characteristics in winter, using
an experimental room. They explored a new system: passive solar collector–stor-
age wall contained PCMs on both sides surface. The heat transfer performance
and energy-saving characteristics were investigated theoretically and experimen-
tally. Paraffin/expanded perlite/graphite PCMs was added into collector mortar layer
and interior mortar layer to storage energy. Phase change temperature and latent heat
are 19.45 °C and 128.46 J/g, respectively. A part of solar energy transmits into the
room through air channel and vents to improve indoor temperature, a part of solar
energy store in the collector mortar layer through PCMs and the rest solar energy
is conducted slowly through massive wall to the room by radiation and convection.
The advantage of passive solar collector–storage wall system with PCMs is storing
3.5 Trombe Walls 49

more heat from sun during the day and releasing it into the building during the night.
The results indicate that the new passive solar collector–storage wall system with
PCMs can promote indoor air thermal circulation and decrease indoor air temperature
fluctuations. Its good heat storage capacity can apparently improve indoor thermal
environment.
Fiorito [70] selected five cities of different climate zones in Australia and mod-
elled the effect of PCMs (n-paraffin and wax) integrated in collector–storage walls.
The simulation results showed that PCM improved the thermal inertia of lightweight
constructions and its position and melting temperature need to be optimized accord-
ing to the corresponding climate conditions.
Kara and Kurnuc [71] applied novel triple glazing for PCM wall (33 wt% paraffin
granules in the plasterboard) to prevent overheating in summer, and their experi-
mental results indicated that the wall including PCM (GR35) with relatively lower
melting temperature t m  34 °C presents better performance than that including
PCM (GR41) with t m  45 °C while both could provide 14% of annual heat load of
the test room.
Li and Liu [72] experimentally investigated the thermal performance of a PCM
(paraffin, t m  41 °C)-based solar chimney under three different heat fluxes on the
absorber surface and found that 700 W/m2 of heat flux drives the highest air flow
rate (0.04 kg/s) while 500 W/m2 generates the highest average outlet temperature
(20.5 °C). They also reported that phase change periods are nearly 13 h:50 min for
all cases investigated.
In Zhou et al. [44] a test was carried out for a whole day with charging period
of 6.5 h and discharging period of 17.5 h, respectively. Wall and air temperatures as
well as air velocity in the gap were measured for analysis. The results showed that
the PCM surface temperature increases first rapidly, then slowly and rapidly again
during the charging process, which in turn corresponds with the three storage stages:
sensible heat (solid), latent heat (melting) and sensible heat (liquid), respectively; the
indoor temperature was found to be above 22 °C during the whole discharging period
(17.5 h) under present conditions, which indicates that the indoor thermal comfort
could be kept for a long time by using PCM in collector–storage wall system.
Hu et al. [73] achieves the main conclusion, the larger Trombe wall area means
the more high efficiency. However, it is limited the total south wall area, that is, it
is related to (α), the ratio of the Trombe wall’s area to the total wall area. Massive
wall materials and thickness contribute importantly to the efficiency of the wall’s heat
storage and release capacity. Any material characterized by high storage capacity can
be used to construct Trombe walls. However, the use of lightweight materials with
high storage capacity in a relatively small volume is more preferable, such as PCM.
With regard to the wall thickness, 30–40-cm concrete Trombe walls have performed
well in many geographical locations. In addition, thermal insulation on massive
wall is considered a remedy for the deficiency of a classic Trombe wall. Glazing
properties, such as the materials and the number of glazing layers significantly affect
the performance of Trombe walls.
However, the selection of glazing depends on many variables including the lon-
gitude and latitude of the project. Normally, low double glazing is recommended.
50 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

Channel depth mainly contributes to the flow resistance. It is not only related to height
of Trombe wall but also depend on the dimension of inlet and outlet. In addition,
the structural safety should be considered when design the channel depth because an
excessive depth of channel will results in an insufficient thickness of massive wall.
Shading devices, such as overhang, roller shutter and venetian blinds, can control the
performance of Trombe wall and address some of the shortcomings: overheating in
hot summer and heat loss in winter night. Similar to thermal insulation on massive
wall, proper insulation of building envelope has performed well.
Due to solar radiation can strike the indoor floor or its adjacent walls directly
through a window, the design of windows should be considered including the size
and position (relative to the Trombe wall). Solar radiation level has an important
influence in generating air movement in a Trombe wall channel.
Generally, Trombe wall efficiency increases with increasing of solar radiation.
Moreover, for a building with Trombe walls located in the north hemisphere, the
south-facing facade (with 45° variations) seems to be the most effective orientation
in capturing the solar gain. The wind speed and direction are related to the heat loss
coefficient and wind pressure. The Trombe wall tends to perform better if the wind
speed is small, and in this direction, further investigation should be carried out in the
future.

3.6 Windows

The glazed areas and the shading devices have a significant role over the energy build-
ing consumption, and so many research studies and prototypes have been developed
in the last years to increase the thermal and the energy efficiency of this boundary.
The improvement of the thermal performance through the glazing area of the building
can be accomplished resourcing to new materials, geometries and new techniques to
produce solutions with higher energy efficiency [74]. New approaches, as the build-
ing orientation and the use of natural resources, as wind and solar radiation could
decrease the energy needs and improve the energy transfer of these boundaries.
From the thermal perspective, PCM windows work like the optically transparent
or translucent Trombe walls. They usually consist of a single or multilayer glaz-
ing panel made of conventional glass, integrated with a layer of a transparent or
translucent PCM product. Figure 3.5 shows the different configuration options of
semi-transparent PCM solar fenestration.
Nowadays, the building design frequently includes large translucent areas, mainly
in offices and commercial buildings. However, the use of large facade glazing areas
could lead to thermal and visual discomfort of indoor space and their occupants
[75]. Windows represent a part of the building that is considered to lead to higher
energy consumption. In warm climates dominated by cooling loads, excessive solar
heat gain lead to an increased need for mechanical cooling. In cold climates, large
parts of the energy escape through glazed facades, leading to a need for mechanical
heating [76].
3.6 Windows 51

Fig. 3.5 Different configuration options of semi-transparent PCM solar fenestration: a semi-
transparent Trombe wall containing PCM heat sink; b translucent Trombe wall with PCM heat
sink and translucent insulation; c solar fenestration system using PCM heat sink and selective
prismatic glass

However, glazed facades still suffer from low thermal inertia and have no way of
storing excess heat. Transparent PCMs for use in windows represent an opportunity
that has been explored for this purpose. They provide dynamic thermal characteristics
and a source of natural lighting to the building. The energy state of these assemblies
is visualized as transparent or translucent when PCM is melted and milky when PCM
is frozen [4].
Manz et al. [54] studied a solar facade composed of transparent insulation material
and translucent PCM used both for solar heat storage and daylighting. The PCM was
hexahydrated calcium chloride (CaCl2 ·6H2 O) with 5% of additives. The numerical
model was developed for analysis of the radiative heat transfer inside the PCM-
enhanced solar window. The authors concluded that overall system performance
could be improved by changing of the PCM melting temperature from 26.5 to about
21 °C.
Another semi-transparent solar window system containing PCM has been intro-
duced by the INGLAS company form Friedrichshafen, Germany [77]. This technol-
ogy combines design principles of passive solar walls with fenestration function and
a semi-transparent heat reservoir. As a result, this solar window efficiently transfers
solar light and absorbs the heat developed in the process. The absorbed heat is stored
by the heat sink utilizing organic PCM. According to manufacture, large amounts
of solar energy can be stored during daytime and released into the building at night,
when PCM cools down and solidifies.
In similar research performed in Germany, an application of semi-transparent
PCM components from Dorken has been jointly investigated by the glass company
Glaswerke Arnold and research institute ZAE Bayern. A complete system is made
of two glass sheets on the outside and a macro-encapsulated PCM on the inside [4].
As of today, only translucent PCMs have been used for PCM windows, though they
enable relatively high amounts of visible light to pass through, they do not offer the
52 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

same visibility as regular windows. PCM optical properties are changing to some
degree between the solid and liquid states.
The solar transmittance of a commercial grade PCM was tested by Jain and Sharma
[78]. For a pure PCM with a thickness of 4–30 mm, the solar transmittance was
found to be 90.7–80.3%, respectively. Due to the fact that PCMs have low thermal
conductivity, they concluded that PCMs may be interesting as a transparent thermal
insulating medium.
Goia et al. [79] compared a prototype PCM glazing system (DGU_PCM) with a
conventional double glazed (DGU_CG), insulating unit with regard to the effect on
thermal comfort in the winter, summer and mid-seasons. The two glazing systems
were measured over a six-month experimental campaign, and the data was used to
numerically evaluate an indoor office room. The thermal conditions were consider-
ably improved for most parts of the year with the PCM prototype compared to the
regular double glazing. However, on cloudy days, the two systems showed similar
properties on thermal comfort. The study also highlighted the importance of selecting
the correct melting temperature for the PCM as this could affect the system nega-
tively if not optimized. Two layers (8 mm and 6 mm) of glass compose the double
glazed unit with PCM (DGU_PCM) and the air cavity (15 mm) between the two
layers was filled with commercial paraffin (RT35). The DGU_PCM element area is
about 1 m2 (1.4 × 0.72 m2 ), inserted in an experimental test cell with 3.6 m wide,
5.4 long and 3.0 high. The PCM was introduced into the air cavity and the volume
of the PCM was 13 dm3 (E13 kg of RT35). They performed a differential scan-
ning calorimetry (DSC) analysis to characterize the thermal properties of the PCM.
According the DSC, analysing the latent heat of fusion (h) is about 145 kJ/kg
and the melting temperature about 34 °C with a temperature range of 10 °C. They
concluded that the indoor conditions reached by the application of the DGU_PCM
solution increased considerably the thermal comfort comparatively to the conven-
tional solution (DGU_CG) for the most time of the different seasons. They suggest
(i) the application of PCM with lower melting temperature for cold climates and
winter season and (ii) the application of PCM with high melting temperature for hot
climates and summer [79].
A similar study was performed by Weinläder et al. [80], comparing a double
glazing unit combined with PCM compared to a regular double glazing unit. The
test specimens were studied experimentally in an outdoor test facility, and the data
gained from the experiment was used for further simulations. The light transmittance
from this solution was found to be 0.4, giving them the ability to be used as day-
lighting elements. Compared to regular double glazing, they gave a more equalized
energy balance, achieving moderate heat gains with very low heat losses. During the
winter season, PCM windows improved the thermal comfort considerably and in the
summer, they shifted heat gains to later in the evening. However, the PCM windows
cannot be used where visual contact to the environment is desired.
Goia et al. [81] performed a full-scale test on a PCM glazing prototype. The
test was performed on a south-facing wall during summer, mid-season and winter
days in a sub-continental climate and compared to a conventional double glazing for
reference. The experiment showed that PCM glazing can reduce the energy gain in
3.6 Windows 53

the summer by more than 50%. In the winter, heat loss reduction during the day was
observed; however, this technology might not be effective if the purpose is to achieve
solar heat gains. The experiment also pointed out the importance of removing the
stored heat during the night via, e.g. night cooling, and selecting the correct phase
change temperature, if the system is to function optimally.
Grynning et al. [82] performed measurements on a state-of-the art commercial
glazing including a PCM in a large-scale climate simulator. The tested glazing was a
4-layer glazing with a prismatic glass in the outer pane, and a PCM fill in the cavity
between the inner panes. The study showed that characterization of static components
(e.g. U-value, solar heat-gain coefficient, thermal transmittance) is insufficient for
describing the performance of PCMs due to their dynamic nature.
A zero-energy office building using translucent PCMs in the window construction
has been built in Kempen, Switzerland. In this project, each second window panel
has been equipped with PCM windows. The aim for the windows is to effectively
store solar energy during the warmer parts of the day, and release thermal energy
throughout the colder periods of the day to reduce the total energy required for space
heating [83].
Alawadhi [84] investigated the possibility to implement PCMs in window shutters,
where the goal was to see if the solar heat could be absorbed before it reached the
indoor space. The results indicated that the magnitude of PCM melting temperature
and its quantity in the shutter have a significant effect on the thermal performance
of the PCM shutter. The melting point of the PCM in the shutter should be close to
the upper temperature limit of the windows during the daytime. The PCM should be
prevented from completely melting during the working hours, and its amount should
be sufficient to absorb large amount of heat during the daytime. When compared to
foam shutters, the shutters containing a PCM could lead to a reduction in heat gain
through the windows by as much as 23.29%.
In this concept, shutter-containing PCM is placed outside of window areas. During
daytime, they are opened to the outside the exterior side is exposed to solar radiation,
heat is absorbed and PCM melts. At night we close the shutter, slide the windows and
heat from the PCM radiates into the rooms. Buddhi et al. [85] studied the thermal
performance of a test cell (1 × 1 × 1 m3 ) with and without phase change material.
CG lauric acid (melting point, 49 °C) was used as a latent heat storage material. He
found that the heat storing capacity of the cell due to the presence of PCM increases
up to 4 °C for 4–5 h, which was used during night-time [10].
Mehling [86] recommended that the maximum shading temperature be delayed
by 3 h and room temperature be reduced by 2 °C with the application of the PCM
shutter.
Soares et al. [87] evaluated the potential of a PCM shutter-containing phase change
materials. In their study, numerical studies were carried out to analyse the influence
of the imposed external and internal conditions and the heat transfer coefficients of
the system performance.
Li et al. [88] conducted an experiment to investigate the dynamic thermal and
energy-saving performance of the experimental systems of two reference windows
[DW + PCM and triple-pane window (TW + PCM)]. The experiment is conducted
54 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

in summer sunny days and summer rainy days in hot summer and cold winter area of
China. The result of the dynamic thermal performance of the TW + PCM (triple-pane
window) in the sunny and rainy summer days shows that the TW + PCM have a good
performance on reducing the temperature fluctuation indoors and saving the energy
consumption.
In the sunny summer day with high outdoor air temperature and strong solar
radiation, the temperature on the interior surface of the TW + PCM is 2.7 and 5.5 °C
lower than that of the DW + PCM and TW, respectively, which means the overheating
risk is avoided effectively, and the heat transferred into room through the TW + PCM
is reduced by 16.6 and 28% compared with the DW + PCM and TW, respectively.
During the discharge period of PCM in the night, the heat released from the PCM
into the testing chamber reduces. It shows the same function with the DW + PCM on
the delay of peak temperature time. It can adjust the peak load of the air-conditioning
system and save the air-conditioning energy consumption.
In the rainy summer day with low outdoor air temperature and weak solar radiation,
the temperature on the interior surface of the TW + PCM is 0.74 and 1.65°C lower
than that of the DW + PCM and TW, respectively, and the heat transferred into room
through the TW + PCM is reduced by 14.7% and increased by 4.5% comparing with
the DW + PCM and TW, respectively. The TW + PCM play a good performance on
reducing the temperature fluctuation of the interior surface and the heat entered the
room, but it is unsatisfactory in reducing the peak heat flux of the interior surface
and delaying the peak temperature.
Changyu et al. [89] developed a mathematical model for the heat transfer that
evaluated with good agreement the effect of (i) the glass properties; (ii) the convection
heat transfer coefficient; (iii) the surfaces temperatures; and (iv) the air temperature.
The main results show that the influence of the solar radiation through the glass is
significant for the heat flux increment. If the difference of temperatures between the
surface and the air (from the inside to the outside of the room) do not exceed 2 °C, then
the total heat flux effect can be neglected. The convection heat transfer coefficient
does not affect significantly the overall heat flux. Heat transfer is improved by the
solar radiation in winter but has an adverse effect in summer.
Gomes et al. [90] determined both solar and visible properties of a glazing system
with venetian blinds using a net radiation method. They compared the numerical
results with the experimental data measured from an outdoor test cell. They concluded
that the developed model can be used to simulate different system configurations,
such as glazing and/or shading devices (including venetian blinds) and the model
can be introduced into building energy simulations and building design tools. The
numerical results were compared with the experimental data and for overcast sky
conditions. For these conditions, they got excellent fitting results, but for the clear sky
conditions the comparison of the results presented some discrepancies. A venetian
blind control strategy was used, and they conclude that is more important for southern
European regions. To help designers and users to improve the thermal and daylighting
indoor conditions they presented some design plots with information about how to
adjust the slat orientation of the venetian blinds.
3.6 Windows 55

Silva et al. [74, 91–94] developed an experimental procedure that follows a test
on a cell that was located in Aveiro, Portugal, and this region has a Mediterranean
climate. Considering the weather database available (from the weather station at
the University of Aveiro) the adequate melting temperature of the PCM was chose.
According to the selected PCM the shape of the window blade (used as a macro-
capsule) was defined and also the material. With the components of the window
shutter prepared the system was assembled and applied in the outdoor test cell. Two
compartments compose the test cell, and each has two window shutters installed
(two filled with PCM for one compartment and the others two without PCM). The
performance of a window shutter with phase change materials was experimentally
tested at fully scale. The PCM recorded to provide an extra thermal inertia for this
compartment that is recorded and pursed by the indoor air temperatures and heat flux
results attained.
The maximum indoor temperature of the compartment with the PCM shutter is
37.2°C which is 16.6°C lower than the indoor air temperatures of the reference com-
partment. Comparing the indoor temperatures over time, the reduction of temperature
can reach 90% (when the indoor air temperatures increases) and up to 35% (when the
indoor air temperatures drops). For the maximum indoor air temperature peak, the
difference between both compartments is 30–40%. However, the minimum indoor air
temperature peaks are similar, so for this situation the potential improvement of the
PCM incorporation is null, proving that other features come into play such as thermal
bridges losses, large glazing areas. Therefore, an exercise of the compatibility and
the optimization of these different features are necessary.
The maximum and minimum heat flux measured on the internal partition wall of
the reference compartment was 16 and −8 W/m2 , respectively. The compartment
with the PCM shutter presents more steady results of the heat flux and the maximum
heat flux recorded was 6.5 W/m2 and the minimum −3 W/m2 .

3.7 Concrete or Brick

Adding PCMs directly into concrete has shown some promising results through lower
thermal conductivity and an increase in thermal mass at specific temperatures. How-
ever, PCM concrete has shown some undesirable properties such as lower strength,
uncertain long-term stability and lower fire resistance [43].
Several studies have been conducted on PCM concrete and have shown positive
effect through reduced indoor temperatures in warm climates [83]. Then, two typical
construction materials, conventional and alveolar brick, were experimentally tested
by Castell et al. [95].
The free-floating experiments showed that the PCM was reduced the peak tem-
peratures up to 1 °C and smoothed out the daily fluctuations. Moreover, the electrical
energy consumption was reduced about 15% in the PCM cubicles in summer. These
energy savings resulted in a reduction of the CO2 emissions about 1–1.5 kg/year/m2 .
Later, to control and shape the PCMs, a new composite construction material that
56 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

embedded micro-encapsulated PCM in plastering mortar was developed and tested

by Sá et al. [96], indicating the peak temperature of the indoor air was reduced by
2.6 °C after the PCM mortar used. That means, when the PCMs are used in plastering
mortar, concrete, brick and cubicle, the thermal environment control performance
could be improved, as well as the structure stability of buildings unaffected.
Combining concrete structures with PCMs have been tried in several different
ways. One studied solution is to drill holes in the concrete which may then be filled
with a PCM [97].
Royon et al. [98] tested the possibility of filling the already hollow areas in a
hollow concrete floor with PCMs. The concrete was filled with paraffin PCM with a
melting temperature of 27.5 °C. This test showed that the temperature on the other
side of the hollow concrete was lower during summer conditions. Hence, such floors
can be used as a passive thermal conditioner during the summer. However, more tests
are needed with real-life climate conditions to validate the effects.
A most surprising research was aimed at developing and testing the multifunc-
tional performance of new PCM-filled structural concretes for building applications
by Cabeza et al. [43]. Such concretes were prepared by adding 5% in weight of
encapsulated phase change material for thermal energy storage applications. More-
over, the included PCMs were selected in order to identify the best capsule geometry
for structural and thermal purpose. In particular, the same paraffin PCM with melt-
ing temperature at 18 °C was selected and industrially capsulated in two ways. The
micro-capsules included about 85–90% of PCM in small capsules with diameter of
about 17–20 µm. The second configuration concerned the macro-capsuled PCM,
consisting in a sort of matrix with PCM micro-capsules inside, having a whole diam-
eter of 3–5 mm and a whole PCM concentration of 80%.

3.8 Underfloor Heating

Areas which are in direct contact with solar radiation hold large potential for storage
of thermal heat energy. Floor solutions incorporating PCMs in areas of a building
where the sun shines for large parts of the day may benefit from incorporating PCMs.
Figure 3.6 shows flat profiles filled with PCMs that were used in the floor in North
House, a competitor in the US Department of Energy’s solar decathlon.
Xu et al. [99] performed a simulation of the thermal performance of PCMs used
in a passive floor system during the winter season. The performance on the systems
was influenced by the choice of covering material, the air gap between the PCM
and covering material and the thickness of the PCM. For the simulations performed,
the thickness should not exceed 20 mm as this would not increase the influence of
the thermal storage significantly. As reported, the application of PCMs in concrete
floors resulted in a reduction of maximum floor temperatures up to 16 ± 2% and an
increase of minimum temperatures up to 7 ± 3% [100].
A hollow concrete floor panel was incorporated with PCMs by Royon et al. [101,
102]. Thermal response to a temperature variation was also investigated, showing a
3.8 Underfloor Heating 57

Fig. 3.6 Flat profiles which

can be installed underfloor to
store and release latent
thermal heat energy

decrease of the surface wall temperature amplitude and an increase of thermal energy
stored for this novel floor. Clearly, it is very convenient for this method to storage
energy in the PCMs.
Ansuini et al. [103] using a lightweight piped radiant floor prototype with an
integrated PCM layer, with their experimental floor specimen. A new PCM floor was
also investigated by Huang et al. [104], revealing the new PCM floor was able to
release 37,677.6 kJ heat for 16 h in the pump-off period in a room of 11.02 m2 and
that accounted for 47.7% of energy supplied by solar water.
Later, the performance of a PCM floor radiation heating system was experimen-
tally investigated by Zhou et al. [105], indicating the advantages of using PCM-
capillary mat combination for low-temperature floor panel typical of solar-hot-water
heating system. A two-dimensional coupled heat transfer model based on variable
thermophysical parameters of PCM was established by Zhao et al. [106], concluding
that the air temperature fluctuation in the cavity with PCM structure was in a smaller
magnitude.
A new double-layer radiant floor system with organic PCMs was proposed and
tested by Xia et al. [107], showing that the double-layer radiant floor system with
PCM could meet the thermal need of users under heating mode. The above research
studies showed that the designed PCM floor was capable of achieving large-span
intermittent heating and lower thermal conductivity for the decoration material, and
helpful for adjusting the floor surface temperature in the present design.
PCM-embedded floor and a chilled ceiling also attracted researchers’ attention.
Belmonte et al. [108] reported a numerical study on PCM incorporated into the
floor, and a hydronic radiant ceiling system was used as the energy discharge sys-
tem. The simulation results revealed that when accompanied by an air-to-air heat
recovery system, this configuration could reduce the cooling energy demand and the
energy consumption more than 50%. However, the degrees of occupant comfort will
inevitably vary, for example the predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) increases
58 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

by 2–5%. In the view of thermal comfort study, this system is valuable to be further
investigated.
In summary, studies on PCM floor are concentrated on two aspects, (1) integrating
PCMs into floor materials or PCM slabs as a layer in the floor construction, and (2)
coupling a PCM-TES with floor heating system. All researchers payed their attention
on energy saving for building, while few of them take the indoor thermal comfort
into consideration in their experimental and simulation studies. Although most of
experimental cases on PCMs were carried out, most of them were tested in the labo-
ratory. To exactly calculate the indoor thermal comfort, a true building environment
should be prepared, and thus field test in real building should be conducted.

3.9 Ceilings

Implementing PCMs into roof systems does not seem to have received much atten-
tion, a few studies on the possible effects of PCMs in passive roof systems have
been found. The thought is that PCMs placed on the roof will be able to absorb
the incoming solar energy and the thermal energy from the surroundings to reduce
temperature fluctuations on the inside [83].
Pasupathy and Velraj [109] studied the effects of a double layer of PCM for
year round thermal management in Chennai, India. An experiment was performed
with a PCM roof panel compared to a reference room without the PCM panel. The
PCM used was an inorganic eutectic of hydrated salts. The experiment showed that
the PCM panel on the roof narrowed the indoor air temperature swings, and that
such a system could perform during all seasons when the top panel had a melting
temperature 6–7 °C higher than the ambient temperature in the early morning during
the peak summer month, and the bottom panel had a melting temperature near the
suggested indoor temperature.
Kosny et al. [110] set up a naturally ventilated roof (see Fig. 3.7) with a photo-
voltaic (PV) module and PCMs to work as a heat sink. The goal was that the PCM
would absorb heat during the day in winter and release it in the night to reduce heat-
ing loads. In the summer, the PCM would absorb heat to reduce the cooling loads
in the attic beneath. A full-scale experiment was performed over a whole year from
November 2009 until October 2010 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The data from the tests were compared with a conventional asphalt shingle roof.
The PV-PCM attic showed a 30% reduction in heating loads during the winter and a
55% reduction in cooling loads. Furthermore, a 90% reduction in peak daytime roof
heat fluxes was observed.
According to Kalnæs and Jelle [83], the thought is that PCMs placed on the roof
will be able to absorb the incoming solar energy and the thermal energy from the
surroundings to reduce temperature fluctuations on the inside.
Koschenz [111] developed a study that describes the development of a thermally
activated ceiling panel for incorporation in lightweight and retrofitted buildings. As
alteration and refurbishment schemes look set to account for an increasing propor-
3.9 Ceilings 59

Fig. 3.7 PV-PCM roof [110]

tion of construction work, the focus was on minimizing overall panel thickness while
providing ample storage capacity. It was demonstrated, by means of simulation cal-
culations and laboratory tests that a 5-cm layer of micro-encapsulated PCM (25%
by weight) and gypsum suffice to maintain a comfortable room temperature in stan-
dard office buildings. The system’s features also make it ideal for use in lightweight
structures, the incorporation of additional thermal mass offering an efficient means
of moderating temperature amplitudes in this type of building.
Also in this, we can found that there are some simulation calculations for specifi-
cation of required ceiling panel properties. Simulation calculations were performed
to determine the required ceiling panel characteristics, based on the properties of the
basic materials. Key parameters included the thickness of the PCM/gypsum com-
posite layer, the proportion of paraffin and the minimum requirements placed on the
PCM in terms of melting range and latent heat of fusion. An overall panel thickness
of 5 cm is required to store the total heat gain of 320 Wh/m2 day. The quantity of
PCM in the gypsum must be at least 25% by weight. In order to meet the required
temperature boundary conditions, it is important for the melting range of the paraffin
to be carefully adjusted to the specific situation. The region with maximum values
of specific heat must therefore correspond to 21–22 °C.
To avoid large temperature gradients inside the material, the ceiling panels must
exhibit good thermal conductivity over the entire cross section. Here, the simulation
calculations showed a mean target value of λ  1.2 W/mK to be practicable.
Weinläder et al. [112] carried out a research that was part of the project “De-
velopment and Practical Performance Testing of Building Components with PCM
in Demonstration Buildings”. In this paper, a ventilated cooling ceiling with PCM
was evaluated in a long-term monitoring programme in two offices and a confer-
ence room. The system showed a significant cooling potential in summer and some
considerable synergetic effects if combined with a sun protection system with PCM.
While the ventilated cooling ceiling with PCM and the sun protection system with
PCM alone reduced the maximum operative room temperature by 2 K, the temper-
ature reduction with both systems together was up to 4 K. The ventilation system
of the cooling ceiling would also be advantageous for the regeneration of the PCM
blinds.
60 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

3.10 Thermal Insulation Materials

Recently, incorporation of PCMs into fibrous thermal insulation materials has

received considerable attention. Kosny et al. [113] performed an experimental and
numerical analysis of a wood-frame wall containing PCM-enhanced fibre insulation.
The wall assembly had an R-value of 4.14 m2 K/W (a U-value of 0.241 W/m2 K).
For fibre insulation filled with 30 wt% PCM in summer conditions, results showed
a reduced peak hour heat gain of 23–37% in Marseille and 21–25% in Cairo and
Warsaw.
Lei et al. [114] developed a numerical simulation in order to calculate building
energy performance by integrating a PCM for cooling load reduction in a tropical
climate using Energy Plus. The results demonstrated that a small amount of heat-
gain reduction of 4.5% was achieved with a 10 mm “solid PCM” layer. In addition,
a meaningful heat-gain reduction of around 40.7% was obtained by adding another
PCM layer.
Jin et al. [115] experimentally studied the influence of PCM position on the thermal
performance of building walls. The effects of the state of a variety of salt-hydrate
PCM on its phase change performance were investigated with differential scanning
calorimeter (DSC) examinations and cooling experiments. The results demonstrated
that the PCM was in the fully melted state before cooling when the PCM locations
were 2/5 L (near internal layer), 3/5 L, 4/5 L and L, while in the PCM location of
1/5 L, the PCM was in the partially melted state prior to cooling.
Izquierdo-Barrientos et al. [116] developed a one-dimensional transient heat trans-
fer model using a finite-difference method to investigate the impact of PCMs in exter-
nal building walls. Furthermore, several external building wall arrangements were
analysed for a typical building wall by varying the position of the PCM layer, the
orientation of the wall, the ambient conditions and the phase transition temperature
of the PCM. They found that there was no important reduction in the total heat lost
during winter regardless of the wall orientation or PCM transition temperature.
Kuznik et al. [117] investigated an experimental method for the thermal perfor-
mance of a PCM-copolymer-composite wallboard in three different climates. The
results showed that for all the cases tested, the ratio between the amplitude of the
indoor air temperature in the cell with PCM and the amplitude of the reference test
cell was between 0.73 and 0.78. In addition, the PCM tested kept the room air tem-
perature within the comfort zone while the maximum air temperature of the room
could be decreased by as much as 4.2 °C.
Silva and Vicente [93] investigated an experimental testing of wall elements inte-
grated by PCM macro-encapsulation. The results showed that the maximum ampli-
tude reductions were about 50 and 80% for two different specimens. In addition, the
delay time within the source specimen and the imposed temperature was nearly 1 h,
but this value extended to 3 h for other specimens with the incorporation of PCM.
Evola et al. [118] reported a complete evaluation methodology for optimizing
PCMs to enhance summer thermal comfort in lightweight buildings. In addition,
they investigated the intensity and duration of the thermal comfort for the occupants.
3.10 Thermal Insulation Materials 61

Finally, they analysed a new case study, including organic PCMs, on a lightweight
office building. This study was useful to assist with detection of the most appropriate
PCM and its installation pattern as a function of the climatic operating conditions
and of the comfort requirements.
Jin et al. [119] investigated the dependence of wall thermal performance on PCM
location leading to the most appropriate PCM locations. They evaluated a dynamic
model of walls with and without a PCM thermal shield. The experimental results
showed that the optimum location of the PCM thermal shield was 1/5 L from the
interior. In this location, the peak reduction of heat flux was approximately 41%
and time lag was around 2 h. They also evaluated the optimal location of a “thin”
PCM layer while varying PCM thickness, melting temperature, heat of fusion and
interior surface temperatures, to increase thermal capacity and shave peaks of heat
flux within the wall. Based on a mathematical model, the optimal locations of the
PCM layer were determined to be closer to the exterior surface of the wall. While
the thickness, heat of fusion, and the melting temperature of PCM were increased,
the optimal position of PCM was closer to the interior surface.

3.11 Furniture and Indoor Appliances

A point that has not been investigated with the same affluence, but should be men-
tioned, is the possibility of using PCMs in furniture and other indoor appliances. The
benefit of PCMs is as mentioned their ability to store heat in periods where there
is a surplus and release the heat when there is a deficit. It would be interesting to
study how incorporation of PCMs into other components in a building besides the
structural components could benefit energy savings and thermal comfort [83].
PCMs have already been widely studied for textile applications [120], showing
that there is a possibility of adding PCMs to various forms of materials. The large
surface area of the furniture exposed to the indoor environment can be ingeniously
used for latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) with the integration of phase
change materials (PCMs). Their appreciable energy storage density is an interesting
asset for increasing the thermal inertia of light structure buildings and for extend-
ing the applicability of the TES strategy. PCM furniture could allow integration of
LHTES in low thermal inertia dwellings without the need for building renovation.
Horikiri et al. [121] used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to assess the effect of
room occupancy and furniture arrangement with and without heat generation in terms
of local thermal comfort. Three different configurations of furniture and occupants
were compared with the empty room case. The study pointed out that addition of
non-heat generating furnishing in the ventilated room can induce complicated flow
re-circulations and high local air velocities around edges of the furniture. However,
it has little influence on room temperature and airflow buoyancy strength, compared
with that of unfurnished room case. Finally, the heat generation from the TV did
not have important impact on the thermal comfort and heat transfer. Analysis of the
impact of occupied room on indoor thermal comfort is carried out by three different
62 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

layouts/scenarios with furniture and/or occupants (S1–S3), compared with the origi-
nal empty model room layout/scenario S0. The furniture considers a cabinet (or a TV
stand) with a TV at a fixed position, located at the middle of one side-wall opposite
to the sofa, and two different types of sofa. A small sofa that has no armrest is located
at the back wall, facing to the window wall (denoted as the layout S1) while a large
sofa with armrest is located at the middle of one side-wall (denoted as the layout
S2). In the layout S3, two sofas are both included. All sofas and cabinet/TV stand
are attached to the walls, assuming that the gap between the walls and the non-heat
generating furniture is so small that the local heat transfer and fluid pattern inside
the gap space do not have significant influences on the domain of interest, i.e. the
central space of the model room [121].
The humidity buffering effect of materials located in the thermal zone can reduce
humidity variation. It improves thermal comfort and decreases energy consumption
of the mechanical systems for humidification or dehumidification.
Yang et al. [122] conducted full-scale experiments on moisture buffering capacity
of interior surface materials and impact of the presence of furniture in the interior
space. The results showed that the indoor humidity variation decreased by up to 12%
and the total moisture buffering potential of the room increased by up to 54.6% for
a fully furnished case. The authors explained that furnishing elements present much
more surface area for moisture exchange and buffering than envelope inner surfaces.
Furniture materials can also hold more water vapour than interior surface ones. In
addition, the variation of moisture contents of walls screened by furnishing is not
always the same as in an empty room. The results also indicated that a bookshelf
with books and a bed with mattress present higher moisture buffering capacity than
tables, chairs and curtains.
Mortensen et al. [123] investigated the local micro-climate created by furnishing
elements close to cold walls. A piece of furniture placed near a poorly insulated
external wall can lead to condensation on the inner side of the building envelope. The
authors used particle image velocimetry to perform a two-dimensional experimental
analysis of the airflow pattern in a small air gap between a chilled wall and a closet
placed next to it. Two air gap widths were tested: 25 and 50 mm. Length of legs of the
furniture varied from 0 to 200 mm. The study indicated that vertical flow dominates
with similar behaviour as in between vertical plates heated asymmetrically. The flow
in the air gap was not fully developed, and maximum velocities were found near
the cold wall. Finally, the flow rate increased when the gap was expanded or if the
furniture was elevated from the floor.
Corcione et al. [124] published numerical studies showing a non-negligible
decrease in the heat transfer from radiant surface systems to the furnished indoor
space in comparison to an empty room case. The air and mean radiant temperature
were also impacted. Fontana extended this work with experimental investigations
using a small-scale test setup to look at the impact of furniture pieces with different
surface areas, locations and distance from the floor. The author concluded that 40%
of floor covering with different kinds of furniture can reduce the heat flux from the
radiant floor to the room by 25–30%.
3.11 Furniture and Indoor Appliances 63

Pomianowski et al. [125] conducted a full-scale experiment concerning the influ-

ence of an internal obstacle on the overall heat transfer in a room when using displace-
ment night-time ventilation. The presence of a table changed the average convective
heat transfer coefficient in the test chamber and the mean heat flux at the ceiling by
3.96 and 9.84%, respectively, when applying an air change rate of 6.6 h−1 . The only
noticeable drops in the temperature efficiency caused by the presence of the table
were observed at low air change rates.
The studies presented above pointed out that the influence of furniture cannot be
neglected when designing a radiant floor system. Surprisingly, it has been found that
Fontana [126] was the only one to publish the results of an experiment investigating
the impact of furniture on radiant systems. As mentioned by Le Dréau [127], fur-
ther experimental researches are required to quantify the effect of furniture on the
effectiveness of radiant systems.
Antonopoulos and Koronaki [128] characterized the thermal capacitance, time
constant and thermal delay of typical Greek detached houses with a one-dimensional
finite-difference model. The authors took into account the presence of furniture ther-
mal mass and modelled it as an equivalent one-side wooden slab of 6 m2 per m2 of
floor area and a thickness of 5 cm, which gives an internal mass density of about
180 kg per m2 of floor area. No justification was given for the choice of this value.
Solar load and internal heat gains were applied to the air node only. The results
showed that the envelope, partition walls and furniture represented 78.1, 14.5 and
7.4%, respectively, of the total effective building thermal capacitance. The authors
concluded that furniture/indoor mass can increase the building time constant and
thermal delay by up to 40% (25% for interior wall partitions and 15% for the fur-
nishings).
Yam et al. [129] developed a simplified building model with adiabatic envelope
and no internal sun load to inspect the nonlinear coupling between internal thermal
mass and natural ventilation. They found that a maximum indoor temperature phase
shift of 6 h can be achieved if the fresh air is directly supplied from the outdoor
environment, presenting periodic temperature variations. The authors suggested that
an appropriate amount of thermal mass should be used in building passive design
because further increase above an optimum point does not change the phase shift
of the system. Zhou et al. [105] extended the aforementioned study by adding the
envelope thermal mass into consideration. The results showed that increasing the
internal thermal mass of a building with a large time constant to adjust the indoor air
temperature is not an effective solution.
Wolisz et al. [130] carried out a numerical analysis on the impact of modelling
furniture and floor covering in thermal building simulations with temperature set
point modulation control. The study cases were a massive building and a light frame
building, both with very good insulation levels and underfloor heating systems. The
furniture element was represented by an equivalent horizontal board of wood or metal.
Long-wave radiation heat exchanges were modelled by coupling inner surfaces to
a fictive massless black body node in a star network scheme. One internal wall had
50% of its surface area covered by furniture. It was found that after 4 h of increased
set point, an empty massive room was 1.2 °C warmer than the one with flooring and
64 3 PCM Current Applications and Thermal Performance

furniture. A fully equipped massive room can have a time delay of more than 7 h
to raise its temperature by 5 °C, compared to an empty room. Furnishing and floor
covers can change cool-down times by up to 2 h in the case of periodic set point
control.
The floor covering presented more significant effect on the heating time than the
furniture element because the underfloor radiant system was used as a heating source.
However, the effect of furniture became more important for the lightweight room
with periodic set point scenario. The authors concluded that both the furniture and
the floor covering of a room have a distinct and significant impact on the indoor
temperature for dynamic set point control.
Raftery et al. [131] performed a sensitivity analysis on the influence of furniture
on the peak cooling load of a large open space multi-story office building located
in San Francisco. The authors used the Energy Plus software and varied multiple
parameters such as type of HVAC system, building orientation, window to wall
ratio, envelope thermal inertia and amount and surface area of the internal mass
element. Two different furniture models were tested: a simplified non-geometric
furniture element, which is not taken into account for solar radiation and long-wave
heat exchange and a new model with a geometric representation of an equivalent
furniture slab located in the centre of the room, 0.5 m above the floor. With the
latter, direct and diffuse solar radiation repartition can be executed accordingly with
shading effect of the planar element on the floor. Long-wave radiation heat exchange
can also be calculated with correct view factors. Results were presented using the
median value following by the lower and upper quartiles in parentheses. The study
found that internal mass can change peak cooling load by −2.28% (−5.45, −0.67%).
The geometric modelling changed peak cooling load by −0.25% (−1.02, +0.23%)
when compared to the non-geometric model. This geometric modelling had a larger
effect in cases with high direct solar radiation and almost no effect for low solar
loads. The impact was also found more important for HVAC radiant systems, which
yield a surface temperature asymmetry. The thickness of the internal mass element
had a relatively large impact on results. Very thin elements with a small time constant
convert the solar load into a convective load quickly and can thus increase the peak
cooling load. The authors concluded that the choice of modelling method is not
significant compared to the uncertainty on the internal mass characteristics such as
surface area, material properties, weight and thickness.

3.12 Safety Requirements

The safety requirements for materials used in buildings are crucial points for the
PCMs to fulfil. As mentioned earlier, PCMs should not be toxic or flammable. How-
ever, for many organic PCMs, flammability and possible release of toxic fumes during
combustion have been an issue. Solutions have been made to counter this issue, such
as ignition-resistant micro-capsules for PCMs and the adding of fire retardants [83].
3.12 Safety Requirements 65

Hence, it is of significance that manufacturers of PCMs for building applications

are required to give reliable information about the fire performance of their products.
Nguyen et al. [132] reviewed the work that has been carried out to improve fire safety
of PCMs. This work investigated the use of fire retardants to increase fire resistance
of composite PCMs.
In conclusion, incorporating phase change materials (PCM) into a building enables
a more dynamic use of energy. Due to the storage capabilities of PCMs, excess heat
can be stored during warm periods and released during cold periods. It may also
work the other way around, storing cold energy and using it for free cooling systems
in warm periods. The benefits of using PCMs in buildings mainly revolve around
a decrease in energy usage along with a peak load shifting of energy required for
heating or cooling and an increase in thermal comfort by decreasing temperature
fluctuations [83].

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Chapter 4
Conclusions

It was carried out a review of thermal energy storage using phase change materials
with focus on the building application. The information gathered is divided into
the different application of PCM. From the research, it can be concluded that PCM
application for passive solutions in construction materials has been studied for a
couple of decades and by many academics.
There are several materials that can be used as phase change materials. A common
way to distinguish them is by dividing into organic, inorganic and eutectic PCMs.
These categories are divided based on the various components of the PCMs. Paraffin
and binary organic acids are the main phase change materials used in envelopes.
Flammability risk is still an issue so all products with PCM shall be tested with
respect to fire retardation and accomplish necessary fire codes and standards. Suit-
able thermal properties of PCMs and their composites, such as thermal conductiv-
ity, thermal diffusivity, specific volumetric heat and specific heat capacity, have to
be determined as a function of temperature to properly determine dynamic perfor-
mance and potential for the entire energy storage system. Regarding measurements
of thermal properties of PCMs and their composites, some experimental methods
are presented. For specific heat capacity measurements, DSC isothermal step mode,
DTA and T-history methods can be recommended. On the contrary, results from DSC
dynamic mode might be dependent on sample size and temperature ramp.
Heat stored in the PCM during high-temperature periods (days) should be dis-
charged during low-temperature periods (nights) to be able to perform on the con-
secutive day, so phase change materials can decrease energy consumption, shift the
peak loads of cooling energy demand, decrease temperature fluctuations providing
a thermally comfortable environment and reduce the electricity consumption. The
thermal inertia, which can be defined as “time lag” and “decrement factor”, is one
of the important parameters to estimate the thermal performance of the buildings.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 71

J. M. Delgado et al., Thermal Energy Storage with Phase Change Materials,
SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97499-6_4
72 4 Conclusions

When studying the potential of PCM products, boundary condition (temperature

fluctuation, heat transfer on the surface) and heating loads in experimental set-ups and
in simulations have to represent realistic condition; otherwise, their performance will
be either over or underestimated. When used in buildings, PCMs can be incorporated
into other building materials. This topic has attracted a lot of interest as it will allow
buildings to be built in a similar way that they are built today, but with materials that
have an increased thermal energy storage capacity. In the reviewed literature, it was
recognizable that wall systems integrating PCMs have received the most attention.
As most PCMs designed for building applications go through a liquid phase,
encapsulation is needed to avoid complications such as leaking of PCM to the surface
and spreading of low viscous liquids throughout the material. Therefore, methods
such as direct incorporation and immersion of PCMs in building materials are not
well suited for long-term applications.
Nevertheless few detailed studies on the overall effect of PCMs in real-life con-
structions, commercial PCM products have already been used in several projects.
Gypsum materials can be combined by up to 45% by weight of PCM when
strengthening the structure with some additives and up to 60% by weight in the wall-
board composites. On the other hand, in the concrete materials only up to approxi-
mately 6% (by weight) of PCM could have been implemented.
The PCM in the glazed envelopes, only few researches can be found and much
less work has been documented comparing to the opaque constructions with PCM.
Based on the reviewed studies, it can be concluded that PCM in glazing, shading
and shutters might be an interesting addition to the building envelope in order to
minimize solar heating loads. Application of PCM in the glazed surfaces shall be
carefully designed, since on one hand, it can help reduce solar thermal loads during
the hot season, but on the other hand, it can decrease thermal resistance of windows
and by that increase heat losses during the cold season. Therefore, potential of PCM in
the glazed envelopes should be carefully studied with respect to the climate condition.
PCM-ceramic tiles present remarkable potential for improving the thermal
comfort inside buildings due to their ability to reduce indoor space temperature
fluctuations.
The accurate potential to increase dynamic heat storage capacity of concretes by
incorporation of PCM is doubtful. Firstly, the thermal mass increase is not as high as
expected, and secondly, thermal conductivity decreases significantly due to addition
of PCM to concrete. Only, 5–6% by weight of PCM corresponds to approximately
12–15% by volume of concrete, which means that the share of PCM in concrete is
rather high and as a result, the price of the composite would be high due to rather
high price of PCM.
Furnishing elements offer a large surface area exposed to the indoor environment,
which makes them a good candidate for PCM integration. It can be an interesting
solution for the implementation of passive LHTES systems without construction
work and thereby improving thermal inertia and energy flexibility of light buildings.
However, the integration of PCM in furniture raises new issues concerning their
defiance with fire regulation, recycling process and total life cycle analysis.
4 Conclusions 73

It can be concluded that potential of latent heat application should always be com-
pared to realistic and relevant reference systems/constructions, heat storage potential
of PCM technologies should always be analysed taking into account thermal prop-
erties of PCMs/PCM composites but also heat transfer condition on the surface.

4.1 Further Suggestions

Further investigations still need to be carried out on the incorporation methods for
PCMs to be embedded in existing building structures, long-term stability and any
other problems which may affect the safety, reliability and practicability of the ther-
mal energy storage used in buildings.
In published studies, most of the information concerning high-temperature PCMs
lacks completeness. Consequently, it is necessary for researchers to attach importance
to completing and providing various aspects of information when actively conducting
experiments to develop new materials. The most important items of information are
thermal conductivity in the operating temperature range, specific heat in different
phase states, environmental impacts, costs and other factors, so as to be able to
measure each material’s application value more comprehensively and objectively.
There is no standard method (such as British Standards or EU standards) developed
to test for PCMs, making it difficult for comparison to be made to assess the suitability
of PCMs to particular applications. A unified platform such as British Standards, EU
standards needs to be developed to ensure same or similar procedure and analysis
(performance curves) to allow comparison and knowledge gained from one test to
be applied to another.
In PCM research community, there is a lack of one TA method convenient to
measure larger PCM samples. T-history is the suitable candidate. To move towards a
commercial and available one is important to get in consensus among all researchers
to suggest a common instrumental setup, data analysis and presentation of final
results.