Mathematical modeling of heat transfer in a complex building wall considering phase change hysteresis

Abstract

Mathematical modeling of various physical phenomena in general and heat transfer in phase change materials (PCMs) in particular is extremely important, as it allows a deep understanding of the physical laws surrounding latent thermal storage, and on the other hand, generation of models for numerical studies that simulate the experimental protocol with fewer possible errors. On this basis, this work presents a modeling study of a complex wall containing a layer of PCM, without and taking into account the partial phase change hysteresis using the MATLAB environment. A new approach for mathematical modeling of the physical problem was discussed and validated numerically using the dynamic simulation software EnergyPlus. Similar to previous studies, simulation results demonstrated that the phenomenon of phase change hysteresis must be taken into account to more precisely define heat transfer when using PCMs in building structures.