Development and thermal characterization of an innovative gypsum-based composite incorporating phase change material as building energy storage system

• Preparation of novel gypsum-based composites incorporating paraffin.
• DSC analysis of the paraffin included in the PCM composites.
• Investigation of the heat storage properties of the PCM composites.
• Assessment of the thermo-chemical stability of the PCM composites.

This study aims at developing a new integrated component in a passive solar wall to achieve high thermal energy storage potential in building materials. This component was manufactured by conditioning the paraffin inside 24 copper tubes, which were regularly inserted and aligned in a gypsum matrix.Firstly, an investigation by means of a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) was carried out to obtain the latent heat and the transition temperature of the selected phase change material (paraffin). Secondly, an additional study was conducted to gauge the improvement of energy storage performance in classical construction material (gypsum) when incorporating paraffin by the method of transient guarded hot plates.The results of this experiment revealed a clear improvement in different thermal properties when integrating paraffin in the composite. Besides, the results showed that the composite-PCM prevents the leakage of the molten paraffin during phase transition and proved a good thermal stability.