IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v218y2023ics0960148123011850.html

Enhancing building wall thermal performance with phase change material and insulation: A comparative and synergistic assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Tunçbilek, Ekrem
  • Arıcı, Müslüm
  • Krajčík, Michal
  • Li, Dong
  • Nižetić, Sandro
  • Papadopoulos, Agis M.

Abstract

The energy-saving effect of phase change materials (PCMs) and conventional thermal insulations has traditionally been considered separately, although a purposeful combination of the two could increase energy-savings. Therefore, this study investigated the energy benefits of PCM and conventional thermal insulation applied separately or in combination in a building external wall. A numerical model was developed and validated with analytical solution and experimental data. In the comparative analysis, PCM located on the interior side of the wall outperformed insulation for layer thicknesses ≤ LPCM= 16 mm. In the best case, PCM saved 38.2% more energy than insulation at a layer thickness of LINS= 6 mm. A parameter (ψ) defining the ratio of LPCM to LPCM + LINS was introduced. The synergistic effect evaluation revealed that using a composite of PCM and insulation (C5 configuration, ψ = 0.05) conserved up to 7.3% of energy compared to only insulation application (ψ = 0). Besides, configuration C6 with ψ = 0.15 provided 6.4% more energy saving than ψ = 0. Furthermore, the combined designs with 0 < ψ ≤ 0.6 outperformed ψ = 0 for C5, C6, and C10 configurations. Overall, a marginal positive effect on the energy saving was observed for the combined design compared to insulation only. Latent heat activation was critical for obtaining improved thermal performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Tunçbilek, Ekrem & Arıcı, Müslüm & Krajčík, Michal & Li, Dong & Nižetić, Sandro & Papadopoulos, Agis M., 2023. "Enhancing building wall thermal performance with phase change material and insulation: A comparative and synergistic assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:218:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123011850
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148123011850
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2023.119270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaynakli, O., 2008. "A study on residential heating energy requirement and optimum insulation thickness," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1164-1172.
    2. Lee, Kyoung Ok & Medina, Mario A. & Raith, Erik & Sun, Xiaoqin, 2015. "Assessing the integration of a thin phase change material (PCM) layer in a residential building wall for heat transfer reduction and management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 699-706.
    3. Chwieduk, Dorota A., 2013. "Dynamics of external wall structures with a PCM (phase change materials) in high latitude countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 301-313.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Aitonglu & Xiong, Yaxuan & Zhao, Yanqi & Wu, Yuting & Xu, Qian & Ding, Yulong, 2025. "A review of passive building thermal management with phase-change materials," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    2. Yaraş, Ali & Bayram, Muhammed & Ustaoğlu, Abid & Erdoğmuş, Ertuğrul & Hekimoğlu, Gökhan & Sarı, Ahmet & Gencel, Osman & Tyagi, V.V. & Ozbakkaloglu, Togay, 2024. "Advancing thermal control in buildings with innovative cementitious mortar and recycled expanded glass/n-octadecane phase change material composites," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    3. Xiao, Junan & Liu, Wenjin & Gao, Jiajia & Xu, Xinhua & Zhu, Qiuyuan, 2025. "Experimental study on thermal characteristics of a dual-effect shape-stabilized PCM slab for both winter and summer applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qv, Dehu & Ni, Long & Yao, Yang & Hu, Wenju, 2015. "Reliability verification of a solar–air source heat pump system with PCM energy storage in operating strategy transition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 46-55.
    2. Mingli Li & Guoqing Gui & Zhibin Lin & Long Jiang & Hong Pan & Xingyu Wang, 2018. "Numerical Thermal Characterization and Performance Metrics of Building Envelopes Containing Phase Change Materials for Energy-Efficient Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-23, July.
    3. Ucar, Aynur & Balo, Figen, 2009. "Effect of fuel type on the optimum thickness of selected insulation materials for the four different climatic regions of Turkey," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(5), pages 730-736, May.
    4. Axaopoulos, Ioannis & Axaopoulos, Petros & Gelegenis, John, 2014. "Optimum insulation thickness for external walls on different orientations considering the speed and direction of the wind," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 167-175.
    5. Omer Kaynakli, 2011. "Parametric Investigation of Optimum Thermal Insulation Thickness for External Walls," Energies, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Ikutegbe, Charles A. & Farid, Mohammed M., 2020. "Application of phase change material foam composites in the built environment: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Al-Sanea, Sami A. & Zedan, M.F., 2011. "Improving thermal performance of building walls by optimizing insulation layer distribution and thickness for same thermal mass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(9), pages 3113-3124.
    8. Adamczyk, Janusz & Dylewski, Robert, 2017. "The impact of thermal insulation investments on sustainability in the construction sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 421-429.
    9. Sun, Xiaoqin & Medina, Mario A. & Lee, Kyoung Ok & Jin, Xing, 2018. "Laboratory assessment of residential building walls containing pipe-encapsulated phase change materials for thermal management," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 383-391.
    10. De Boeck, L. & Verbeke, S. & Audenaert, A. & De Mesmaeker, L., 2015. "Improving the energy performance of residential buildings: A literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 960-975.
    11. Zhang, Yuan & Sun, Xiaoqin & Medina, Mario A., 2024. "Experimental assessment of concrete masonry units integrated with insulation and phase change material: A wall-pattern study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    12. Ahmed Hassan & Mohammad Shakeel Laghari & Yasir Rashid, 2016. "Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Materials: A Review of Encapsulation, Safety and Thermal Characteristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-32, October.
    13. Oktay, Z. & Coskun, C. & Dincer, I., 2011. "A new approach for predicting cooling degree-hours and energy requirements in buildings," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 4855-4863.
    14. Aditya, L. & Mahlia, T.M.I. & Rismanchi, B. & Ng, H.M. & Hasan, M.H. & Metselaar, H.S.C. & Muraza, Oki & Aditiya, H.B., 2017. "A review on insulation materials for energy conservation in buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1352-1365.
    15. Enghok Leang & Pierre Tittelein & Laurent Zalewski & Stéphane Lassue, 2020. "Impact of a Composite Trombe Wall Incorporating Phase Change Materials on the Thermal Behavior of an Individual House with Low Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-32, September.
    16. Cui, Hongzhi & Tang, Waiching & Qin, Qinghua & Xing, Feng & Liao, Wenyu & Wen, Haibo, 2017. "Development of structural-functional integrated energy storage concrete with innovative macro-encapsulated PCM by hollow steel ball," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 107-118.
    17. Daouas, Naouel, 2016. "Impact of external longwave radiation on optimum insulation thickness in Tunisian building roofs based on a dynamic analytical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 136-148.
    18. Zheng, Senlin & Qiu, Zining & He, Caiwei & Wang, Xianling & Wang, Xupeng & Wang, Zhangyuan & Zhao, Xudong & Shittu, Samson, 2022. "Research on heat transfer mechanism and performance of a novel adaptive enclosure structure based on micro-channel heat pipe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    19. Teggar, Mohamed & Laouer, Abdelghani & Benhorma, Amani & Goudjil, Houssem & Arıcı, Müslüm & Ismail, Kamal AR & Mekhilef, Saad & Mezaache, El Hacene & Tahouri, Tahar, 2023. "Perspective role of phase change materials for energy efficiency in Algeria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    20. Küçüktopcu, Erdem & Cemek, Bilal, 2018. "A study on environmental impact of insulation thickness of poultry building walls," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 583-590.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:218:y:2023:i:c:s0960148123011850. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.