Modeling of phase change material peak load shifting

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2007

Publication Title

Energy and Buildings

Volume

39

Issue

3

First page number:

298

Last page number:

305

Abstract

This paper addresses potential peak air conditioning load shifting strategies using encapsulated phase change materials. The materials being considered here are designed to be installed within the ceiling or wall insulation to assist in delaying the peak air conditioning demand times until later in the evening. To assist in understanding the behavior of this material, an idealized model has been developed which uses the one-dimensional diffusion equation driven by time varying temperature functions imposed at the boundaries. In developing the model, the phase change temperature is a critical parameter, as is the latent heat of melting. These variables are treated parametrically. Other variables such as the characteristic ambient temperature variations and the thermostat set point are varied relative to the phase change temperature. Comparisons are made to the temporal variations of the heat flows without the application of the phase change material to those with the phase change material.

Keywords

Air conditioning; Air conditioning peak shifting; Energy consumption; Energy storage; Heat – Conduction; Heat conduction model; Peak load; Phase change material (PCM)

Disciplines

Energy Systems | Engineering | Heat Transfer, Combustion | Mechanical Engineering

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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