A Review of Phase Change Materials as a Heat Storage Medium for Cooling Applications in the Built Environment

Abstract

The air conditioning demand varies significantly in the hot and desert climates of the UAE due to diurnal temperature variation, seasonal shifts, and occupancy patterns. One of the challenges faced by the relatively higher energy-consuming UAE building stock is to optimize cooling capacity utilization and prevent excessive energy loss due to undesired cooling. A potential route to achieving such a goal involves cooling energy storage during low demand and releasing the stored cooling at peak demand times via thermal energy storage (TES). Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) employing phase change materials (PCMs) provides impactful prospects for such a scheme, thus gaining tremendous attention from the scientific community. The primary goal of the current article is to provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art literature review on PCM-based TES for cooling applications to understand its efficacy, limitations, and future prospects. The article involves various applications, designs, and validations. The article emphasizes the importance of material innovations and heat transfer augmentation strategies to render this technology feasible for real-life integration into cooling systems.

Synthesis of core–shell nanoparticles with liquid core using magnetron sputtering and capacitively coupled dusty plasmas

“…The thermal energy storages that utilize the latent heat is called phase change materials (PCMs). 7) PCMs are considered attractive for solar applications, 8) space heating, cooling in buildings, 9) off peak energy storage, and heat exchanger improvements. 10) In this paper, we focus on nanometer-size PCMs.…”

Effect on the Thermal Properties of Building Mortars with Microencapsulated Phase Change Materials for Radiant Floors

“…Relevant studies as well as a literature review have shown that the incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs) at the envelope terminals (floors, walls, roofs, etc.) absorbs a large amount of thermal energy [16][17][18][19], which improves the thermal storage capacity [20][21][22] and improves air conditioning by absorbing and releasing heat through phase change [23,24]. Studies show that this approach is an effective scheme to reduce energy consumption and improve indoor air conditioning [25,26].…”

Assessment of Thermal Performance of Phase-Change Material-Based Multilayer Protective Clothing Exposed to Contact and Radiant Heat

“…For decades, PCMs, due to their useful properties, have been widely used as heat accumulators in installations using renewable energy sources (in particular solar radiation energy-photovoltaic modules) [4][5][6][7]; heat insulators in structural elements of buildings [8][9][10][11][12][13]; temperature stabilizers of food products or medicines (isothermal containers) [14][15][16]; temperature stabilizers of road surfaces [17][18][19]. The use of these materials in multilayer wall structures results in a reduction in daily temperature amplitudes inside the building and a delay in releasing the stored heat.…”