Thermal evaluation of a Trombe wall with phase change material for heating in the cold season: Effect of PCM location, melting point, and wall materials

E. Vázquez-Beltrán, L. F. Aparicio-Mercado, I. Hernández-López*, J. F. Hinojosa, J. P. Ibarra-Salazar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A parametric study of a phase change material Trombe wall (PCM-TW) system was carried out under the climatic conditions of a temperate city (Cwb) during the coldest period of the year. An alternative sustainable and passive indirect gain technology for heating buildings is the Trombe wall (TW). This work analyses in detail the effect that the melting point and position of a phase change material (PCM) have together on the thermal performance of a TW. In addition, this work analyzes configurations of construction materials that have not been reported previously. The results were presented in terms of daytime thermal efficiency, nighttime thermal efficiency, storage efficiency, dissipation efficiency, and PCM average liquid fraction. The results showed that the best nighttime performance is obtained by placing a low melting point PCM (29 °C) on a concrete wall and locating it at the opposite end of the absorber surface. On the other hand, PCMs with high melting points (48 and 60 °C) present the worst thermal performance of the system since in no configuration could they reach the liquid phase completely. In addition, the performance improves if the wall is made of concrete (high thermal diffusivity) in the absorber section and adobe (low thermal diffusivity) in the room section. This combination produced the maximum values of storage efficiency (27.66%) and dissipation efficiency (67.60%).

Original languageEnglish
Article number111620
JournalJournal of Building Engineering
Volume100
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Apr 2025

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Keywords

  • Building heating system
  • Passive solar heating
  • Phase change material
  • Thermal energy storage
  • Trombe wall

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