Experimental investigations on the performance of a collector-storage wall system using phase change materials

Experiments have been performed on the thermal behavior of a collector-storage wall system using PCM (phase change material). PCM slabs were attached on the gap-side wall surface to increase the heat storage. The 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; while in the discharging process the PCM surface temperature decreases slightly shortly after the initial sharp drops, which suggests the long time period of solidification for PCM to release latent heat. Subject to the variations of PCM surface temperatures, similar trends were also found for the gap air temperatures, glazing temperature and indoor temperature. Both the air flow rate and heating rate by air circulation have up and down fluctuations during the charging period, and then, shortly after initial sharp drops, they keep at nearly steady values during the discharging period. 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.