NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION AND ECONOMIC EVALUATION FOR ENERGY SAVING IN BUILDINGS USING PCM IN WINDOW SHUTTER

Abstract

consume large amount of energy in modern society where they are consuming around 30-40% of the world primary energy in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to enhance indoor air quality and thermal comfort [1]. So, the world seeks to rationalization of energy by developing the renewable energy systems such as thermal energy storage to improve the energy efficiency. A significant amount of the solar heat gain in buildings comes through the windows, and the most effective way to reduce it is to install exterior shading devices, such as window shutters. In this thesis, a technique of solar heat gain reduction in building through windows using phase change material (PCM) in the shutter where the numerical calculations have been performed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis represented in ANSYS FLUENT. A parametric study is conducted to assess the effect of different design parameters, such as type of window shutter, PCM quantity in the shutter and using double PCMs in the shutter. The results reveal the PCM potential for the thermal regulation of indoor spaces as well as improving the energy efficiency of building spaces. Heat gain can also be reduced by using thicker PCM layers with a proper melting temperature. It is found that heat gain through windows can be reduced by 5.66% when n- Eicosane PCM enclosed in PVC shutter is used with thickness of 25 mm and 2.5 mm respectively during summer in Cairo. Also, the heat gain through windows can be reduced by 3.43% when using double PCM n-Eicosane with RT 64 PCMs enclosed in PVC shutter is used with thickness of 12.5 mm, 12.5 mm and 2.5 mm respectively. Also, an economical evaluation is performed to study the energy saving compared with PCM price according to the economic view