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Numerical and Experimental Analysis on Inorganic Phase Change Material Usage in Construction

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Abstract

This work demonstrates the significance of Phase Change Material (PCM) in the construction of working sheds and product storage magazines in fireworks industries to maintain less temperature variation by passive cooling. The inorganic PCM, namely Calcium Chloride Hexahydrate (CCH) is selected in this study. First, the performance of two models with inbuilt CCH was analysed, using computational fluid dynamics. A significant change in the variation of inner wall temperature was observed, particularly during the working hours. This is mainly due to passive cooling, where the heat transfer from the surroundings to the room is partially used for the phase change from solid to liquid. The experiment was carried out by constructing two models, one with PCM packed in hollow brick walls and roof, and the other one as a conventional construction. The experimental results show that the temperature of the room got significantly reduced up to 7 °C. The experimental analysis results had good agreement with the numerical analysis results, and this reveals the advantage of the PCM in the fireworks industry construction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil, 626 126, Tamilnadu, India

    S. Muthuvel, S. Saravanasankar & M. Muthukannan

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, SACS MAVMM Engineering College, Madurai, 625 301, Tamilnadu, India

    R. Sudhakarapandian

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  1. S. Muthuvel
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  2. S. Saravanasankar
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  3. R. Sudhakarapandian
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  4. M. Muthukannan
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Correspondence to S. Muthuvel.

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Muthuvel, S., Saravanasankar, S., Sudhakarapandian, R. et al. Numerical and Experimental Analysis on Inorganic Phase Change Material Usage in Construction. J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A 95, 231–238 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-014-0101-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-014-0101-z

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