Design and Analysis of Phase Change Material based thermal energy storage for active building cooling: a Review (original) (raw)

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are "latent" thermal storage materials. They use chemical bonds to store and release heat. The thermal energy transfer occurs when a material changes from a solid to a liquid or from a liquid to a solid form. This is called a change in state or "phase." Initially, these solid-liquid PCMs perform like conventional storage materials; their temperature rises as they absorb solar heat. Unlike conventional heat storage materials, when PCMs reach the temperature at which they change phase (their melting point), they absorb large amounts of heat without getting hotter. When the ambient temperature in the space around the PCM material drops, the Phase Change Material solidifies, releasing its stored latent heat. PCMs absorb and emit heat while maintaining a nearly constant temperature. Within the human comfort and electronic-equipment tolerance range of 20°C to 35°C, latent thermal storage materials are very effective. They can be used for equalization of day & night temperature and for transport of refrigerated products. In the proposed project heat of fusion of Cacl2. 6H2o as PCM is used for cooling water during night and this cooled water is used as circulating medium trough fan coil unit, air trough FCU will get cooled by transferring heat to water and fresh & cool air will be thrown in a room. In the proposed project FREE COOLING & ACTIVE BUILDING COOLING concepts of Thermal Energy Storage are used in combine