Selection and performance assessment of Phase Change Materials for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning applications

The rapid commercialization of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) applications, has paved way for effective utilization of ambient thermal fluctuations. However, given a long list of contemporary candidates, it is crucial to select the best material to obtain maximum efficiency for any given application. This article attempts to extend Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach for ranking and selecting PCMs for domestic HVAC application. Firstly, Ashby approach has been employed for determining two novel figure of merits (FOM) to grade PCMs performance. The FOMs thus obtained were subjected to Pareto Optimality test. The graded materials were ranked using Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The relative weights for the different attributes were calculated using Shannon's entropy method. In order to justify the rankings obtained, the top materials were subjected to a standard simulation study to evaluate their relative performance using PCMExpress with the aim of maintaining human comfort temperature. It was observed that the results obtained by simulation are in good agreement with those obtained using MCDM approach. The candidates with the best ranks showed significant improvement in ameliorating the temperature conditions. Thus it can be concluded that integration of MCDM approach for PCMs selection would prove to an economical and swift alternative technique for ranking and screening of materials.