PCM-air heat exchangers for free-cooling applications in buildings: Empirical model and application to design

This paper presents novel design conclusions based on the experimental results and on an empirical model for a real-scale prototype of a PCM-air heat exchanger. From experimental results, an empirical model was built aimed at simulating the thermal behavior in the tested heat exchanger in different cases. These simulations were used to evaluate the technical viability of its application. Since the thermal properties of PCM vary with temperature, a PCM-heat exchanger works as a transitory system and therefore, its design must be based on transitory analysis. This work shows that PCM selection criteria must include the power demand. The conclusions obtained for the PCM-air heat exchange can be useful for selecting PCM for other heat exchanger applications that use the tested geometry.