PCM–air heat exchangers for free-cooling applications in buildings: Experimental results of two real-scale prototypes

Latent heat storage using phase change materials (PCM) can be used for free-cooling. In this application low air temperature is used to solidify the PCM during the night and then during the next day, the inside air of a building can be cooled down by exchanging heat with PCM. Short times for charging and discharging the PCM are required. PCM have in general low thermal conductivity, therefore the heat exchanger design is very important to fulfil free-cooling requirements. This paper presents an experimental setup for testing PCM–air real-scale heat exchangers and the results for two real-scale prototypes. Results show that a heat exchanger using a PCM with lower thermal conductivity and lower total stored energy, but adequately designed, has higher cooling power and can be applied for free-cooling.