Investigation of thermal performance of a residential wall filled with RT20 phase change material

This study aims to investigate the thermal performance of insulated residential walls filled with phase change materials (PCM). Energy saving and sustainability have become an important issue in today's building industry and the use of PCMs in buildings offers a promising solution to increase energy efficiency. PCMs can balance the internal building temperatures by absorbing or releasing heat during phase change and thus reduce energy consumption. In this study, the effects of different locations of PCMs in building walls on the thermal performance of the system were investigated. Three different configurations were analyzed within the scope of the study. These are cases where PCM is placed between the internal plaster and bricks (PCM-1), placed inside the insulation material (PCM-2) and placed between the external plaster and insulation (PCM-3). The effects of these configurations on energy saving and heat loss reduction were evaluated by numerical analysis with computational fluid dynamics approach. The obtained results showed that PCM-1 configuration has the lowest volume average temperature values and the lowest heat loss. This situation has shown that PCM provides more effective thermal energy storage and reduces heat flow when it is located between the interior plaster and the bricks. On the other hand, limited benefit was achieved in the PCM-3 configuration where PCM was placed between the exterior plaster and the insulation. This situation has shown that the high thermal conductivity of the exterior plaster negatively affects the thermal performance of PCM. As a result, the use of phase change materials in building walls has the potential to increase energy efficiency and reduce heat loss. However, a strategic layout planning is required for these materials to work with maximum efficiency. This thesis aims to determine the optimum location of PCM in building walls and contribute to sustainable building designs.