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ABSTRACT
Composite phase change material (PCM) hollow block wall (CPCMHBW) can be established by introducing PCM into the holes of generally used hollow block wall, and good thermal insulation performance will probably produce together with the energy storage function from PCM simultaneously. In this article, the impact of PCM's thermal properties on the thermal performance of CPCMHBW has been analyzed, using two-dimensional enthalpy model. The conclusions include: complete melting and freezing processes and a bit amount of remaining PCM which has not melted or solidified, are fundamental and necessary for high performance; furthermore, that the average surrounding temperature equals to PCM's central phase change temperature determines whether the PCM's function can be used; besides, the PCM's total latent heat controls wall's thermal storage level; in addition, relatively low block material's thermal conductivity and Fourier number (better smaller than 1.0 W·m−1·K−1 and 59.83) and medium PCM's corresponding values (lies in the ranges 0.2–0.7 W·m−1·K−1 and 0.80–2.80) generate optimum thermal performance. Finally, the thermal factors are ranked with the functions in descending order.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51508232), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK20150521), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2016M600371), Jiangsu Province Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 1501106B), Jiangsu Government Scholarship for Overseas Studies and Scientific Research, 2016 “Youth Talent Cultivation Plan” Excellent Young Key Teachers Training Project of Jiangsu University, and the Scientific Research Starting Foundation for Advanced Talents of Jiangsu University (No. 15JDG049).
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Yuan Zhang
Yuan Zhang is an Associate Professor of the School of Energy and Power Engineering of Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, China. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2014 from Southeast University, Nanjing, China, with the major of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. He is currently working on energy conservation in building envelope, phase transition heat transfer, and indoor thermal environment.
Qian Wang
Qian Wang is a Professor of the School of Energy and Power Engineering of Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, China. He is the Dean of the School of Energy and Power Engineering. His research fields are energy conversion, combustion theory, and power machinery.