Simulation of a building equipped with a PCM/air heat exchanger
Résumé
In order to cool a room using the freshness of the cold night air, we have considered phase change material (PCM) placed in an air heat exchanger which is integrated into the ventilation system of a building. The heat exchanger is composed of a number of horizontal PCM sheets contained in a box beam. Air is circulated between the sheets from one side to the other side and exchange heat with the PCM by convection. The ventilation air for the building is forced through the PCM heat exchanger to be cooled down when needed. At night, fresh air is used to regenerate the PCM. To analyze the performance of such an exchanger, a model have been developed on Matlab and connected to TRNSYS for the simulation of an office building. Different scenarios in three different French climates have been simulated and the results have been analyzed in terms of savings compared to a reference scenario without PCM.