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Optimal location of PCM layer in building walls under Nanjing (China) weather conditions

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Abstract

The phase change material (PCM) location in the building walls has great effects on the thermal performance improvement of PCM walls. In this paper, a numerical model was built to estimate the optimal PCM locations in the wall during different seasons under Nanjing (China) weather conditions. The heat flux fluctuation reduction rate was used to evaluate the effects of the PCM on the thermal performance of the wall; the optimal PCM location meant the heat flux fluctuation reduction rate was the largest. The heat of fusion of the PCM used in the model was 179 J g−1; it was found that when the phase change temperature range of PCM was 26–28 °C, the optimal PCM locations in Nanjing for spring, summer, autumn, winter and a whole year were 8/16, 2/16, 5/16, 8/16 and 4/16 L, respectively. However, the PCM had great effects only in summer because of its high phase change temperature. It was also found that the optimal phase change temperature ranges for spring, summer, autumn, winter and a whole year were 24–26, 26–28, 24–26, 20–22 and 24–26 °C. Accordingly, the optimal PCM locations were 0/16, 2/16, 1/16, 3/16 and 0/16 L. In addition, the most suitable kind of PCM for a certain location in the wall could also be found.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51308104, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China under Grant No. BK20130625, the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education under Grant No. 20130092120002 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architecture, Southeast University, No. 2 Sipailou, Nanjing, 210096, People’s Republic of China

    Xing Jin, Xing Shi & Xin Zhou

  2. Key Laboratory of Urban and Architectural Heritage Conservation, Ministry of Education, Southeast University, No. 2 Sipailou, Nanjing, 210096, People’s Republic of China

    Xing Jin, Xing Shi & Xin Zhou

  3. School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, No. 2 Sipailou, Nanjing, 210096, People’s Republic of China

    Dongjie Shi & Xiaosong Zhang

  4. Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Mario A. Medina

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  1. Xing Jin
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  2. Dongjie Shi
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  4. Xing Shi
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  5. Xin Zhou
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Correspondence to Xing Jin.

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Jin, X., Shi, D., Medina, M.A. et al. Optimal location of PCM layer in building walls under Nanjing (China) weather conditions. J Therm Anal Calorim 129, 1767–1778 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6307-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6307-3

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