Smart macroencapsulated resin/wax composite for energy conservation in the built environment

Abstract

This study reports the results of experimental and numerical investigations on the thermophysical properties and the process of melting of a phase-change composite material. The proposed phase-change composite material based on epoxy resin with spherical shape paraffin wax (RT27) was used as a new thermal storage system. Thermal characterization was performed using a transient guarded hot plate technique. The results revealed the importance of thermal storage by latent heat. The numerical analysis is realized using numerical COMSOL® Multiphysics 4.3b. The effect of various parameters of the numerical solution on the results is examined: in particular, the term describing the mushy zone in the momentum equation and the influence of temperature melting range. The findings of the experimental investigation compare favorably with the numerical results.