Experimental Investigations for Thermal Energy Management by Encapsulation of Nano -Enhanced Bio Phase Change Material in buildings

ABSTRACT

Due to the enormously increasing population in metropolitan cities of India, most of the transmissions of ozone exhausting substances are expected from metropolitans, of which the building structures may contribute significantly. To limit these levels, one of the inevitable structures of the metropolitan plan is to adopt green buildings. In this regard, integration of Nano-enhanced Bio Phase Change Material (NeBPCM) in buildings is an innovative technology that has a high potential to reduce the thermal energy penetration into the buildings, The green buildings enhance the thermal comforts inside the building with energy conservation. A novel integration of NeBPCM composite is introduced to a Solid Concrete Hollow Block of size 400 mm x 200 mm x 100 mm. The experimental building of size 1 m x 1 m x 1 m is constructed to analyze the thermal effects of this phase change material (PCM) integration within the buildings. A drop in temperature is observed in PCM integrated building from 5.3°C to 1.1°C compared to that of building without PCM. The error between the measured data and numerical predictions is found to be within the range of 0.3°C and 1.6°C. The experimental investigations also revealed a reduction in maximum room temperature up to 5.3°C in the building integrated with NeBPCM vis-à-vis building without NeBPCM. Also, NeBPCM integration in building increased the temperature by 1.8°C when the outside ambient temperature averagely dropped below 23.6°C, thus improving the thermal comfort in the buildings all over the seasons. Therefore, NeBPCM integration in buildings is advantageous in terms of maintaining the room temperature to provide passive cooling of buildings with energy savings.

KEYWORDS:

• Thermal comfort
• pcm
• nebpcm
• shape stabilized nebpcm
• chitosan
• graphene
• paraffin

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ashok V

Mr. V. Ashok, Associate Professor working for Prince Shri Venkateshwara Padmavathy Engineering College, Chennai, India and also pursuing Doctoral in Research at Anna University, Chennai, India. He has over Seventeen years of Teaching Experience. His areas of interest include Thermal Energy Storage, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Finite Element Analysis.

Geetha N.B.

Dr. Geetha N.B, has more than twenty years of experience in research and has coordinated several programs in the field of Energy Engineering. Her areas of interest include Energy Efficient Buildings, Heat Transfer, Heat Exchanger, and Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Rajkumar S

Dr. S. Rajkumar, has more than twenty years of teaching and research and seven years of industry experiences. His area of research includes Engine Combustion and Emission Modelling, Alternate Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage Systems.

Pauline T

Ms. T. Pauline, Assistant Professor working for Jeppiaar Engineering College, Chennai, India and also pursuing Doctoral in Research at Anna University, Chennai, India.  She has over Eleven years of Teaching Experience and Two year of Industrial Experience. Her areas of interest include Retrofitting of Structures, Masonry Rehabilitation, Earthquake Engineering and Thermal Efficiency of buildings.