Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 298305 www.elsevier.

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Modeling of phase change material peak load shifting

C.K. Halford, R.F. Boehm *
Center for Energy Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, UNLV Box 454027, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4027, United States Received 22 October 2005; received in revised form 20 June 2006; accepted 7 July 2006

Abstract This paper addresses potential peak air conditioning load shifting strategies using encapsulated phase change materials. The materials being considered here are designed to be installed within the ceiling or wall insulation to assist in delaying the peak air conditioning demand times until later in the evening. To assist in understanding the behavior of this material, an idealized model has been developed which uses the one-dimensional diffusion equation driven by time varying temperature functions imposed at the boundaries. In developing the model, the phase change temperature is a critical parameter, as is the latent heat of melting. These variables are treated parametrically. Other variables such as the characteristic ambient temperature variations and the thermostat set point are varied relative to the phase change temperature. Comparisons are made to the temporal variations of the heat ows without the application of the phase change material to those with the phase change material. # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Air conditioning peak shifting; Heat conduction model; Phase change material (PCM)

1. Introduction In the southwest part of the US, much of the electrical demand during the summer months is created by building air conditioning. During the peak (approximately in the period from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) power companies have difculty keeping up with the demand. With the capital cost of building new power generation facilities increasing rapidly, companies are actively seeking methods of shifting some of the load away from the peak hours. One proposed solution is the installation of a phase change material in the attics of homes. If a material can be found which changes phase during the peak times of the day, the substance would absorb a percentage of the energy which would otherwise be transferred into the living space of the building. By doing this, the peak load for the residence could be shifted to a time later in the evening when the lower outside ambient temperatures, or cooling by air conditioning, would cause the material to re-solidify. This would release the energy stored during the peak. Of interest in this study are congurations in which the active material is encased within a exible plastic sheeting material and is laid in with the attic or wall insulation.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 702 895 4160; fax: +1 702 895 3936. E-mail address: boehm@me.unlv.edu (R.F. Boehm). 0378-7788/$ see front matter # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2006.07.005

Much work has been done in the study of the use of phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal storage in new home construction. The method of analysis varies considerably with both the composition of the material and the method of incorporating it into the building structure. Many of the different types of materials available as well as how they are currently being utilized are discussed in detail by Farid et al. [1]. The material being considered here was designed to be installed in the attics of new homes or as a retrot to existing buildings. Generally this product would be placed between two layers of insulation in a conguration known as resistive, capacitive, resistive (RCR). A signicant role in the overall effectiveness of the material is played by the thicknesses of these individual layers. The product itself consists of a salt type PCM that is held in stasis by a perlite matrix. This PCM perlite mixture is then hermetically sealed inside of a poly/foil packaging. The purpose of this study is the development of a simplied numerical model to investigate the ability of this material in an RCR conguration to shift the peak air conditioning load away from the time of peak electrical demand. Effects of ambient conditions, insulation thicknesses, and thermostat set point will all be investigated. The model will be based upon a simple conduction analysis with an emphasis placed on keeping the geometry of the problem as general as possible. From this analysis, some preliminary conclusions pertaining to the overall usefulness of this material can be drawn.

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Nomenclature cins cPCM i j kins kPCM L Lnorm L1 L2 L3 n N qpeak t Dt T TL Tm T0 x xSL Dx heat capacity of insulation (J/(kg K)) heat capacity of PCM (J/(kg K)) ith spatial step jth time step thermal conductivity of insulation (W/(m K)) thermal conductivity of PCM (W/(m K)) total thickness of composite wall normalized length thickness of inner insulation (m) thickness of PCM layer (m) thickness of outer insulation layer (m) material n number of nodes in PCM layer heat ux at x = 0 (W/m2) time variable (s) nite difference time step (m) temperature distribution through composite wall (K) time varying temperature at x = L (K) melt temperature of PCM (K) time varying temperature at x = 0 (K) spatial variable (m) position of the solidliquid interface (m) nite difference spatial step (m)

Greek symbols a latent heat of melting of PCM material (J/kg) g volume fraction of entire PCM layer in liquid state l volume fraction of node in liquid state rins density of insulation (kg/m3) rPCM density of PCM (kg/m3)

A search of the relevant literature revealed many numerical models already in existence. Some of the more pertinent works are discussed here. A paper by Kim and Darkwa [2] discusses the development of a model for a PCM that is integrated into a buildings drywall. This simulation, which is based upon an implicit enthalpy solution developed by Minkowycz et al. [3] for a moving boundary problem, demonstrates the different results obtained depending on whether the PCM was mixed into the gypsum or laminated onto the surface. Here the phase change is modeled by introducing a specic heat that is a Gaussian function of temperature. This work was expanded upon in another writing by Darkwa et al. [4]. In this study the geometry was modied to represent an actual structure with doors, windows, etc. The boundary conditions were modied to reect more closely those encountered in an actual building. The ambient temperature variation was taken as sinusoidal throughout the day while the time varying solar ux was assumed to have a Gaussian distribution. A paper by Xu et al. [5] documents the development of a similar model for a shape

stabilized PCM oor being used for passive heating. This conguration allows the composite material to be formed into objects that will retain their shape even when the PCM is melted. In this form the active material is again supported in a non-phase change matrix and the heat transfer is treated as being purely conductive in nature. The simulation uses a onedimensional enthalpy formulation to simulate the performance of the material for a range of ambient conditions and geometries. Many authors have also presented models written using existing thermal simulation software. Clark and Heim [6] presented such a model for a PCM embedded in gypsum wallboard. For this model the ESP-r software is modied to represent the melting and re-freezing of the material. The heat transfer through the material is treated as one-dimensional and the thermo-physical properties of the PCM gypsum composite are considered homogenous and assumed to vary with temperature. As in the previous examples, the phase change is modeled using a temperature dependent specic heat. Boundary conditions for the simulation were taken from actual weather data for the region, with variations of both ambient temperature as well as incident solar ux being accounted for. Another model which uses an existing software package is presented by Ibanez et al. [7] In this case the TRNSYS program is used to simulate the effects of incorporating a PCM into various construction materials such as concrete and gypsum wallboard. As in the previous case, the boundary conditions for the simulation are based on actual weather data. While the existing models presented in this section have much in common with the physical situation being simulated here, they also differ in some key areas. In general the existing models use the PCM as an inner surface where it will always be directly exposed to the inside temperature. This differs from the RCR conguration being used here and no existing model was found which allows for variation of the position of the PCM layer within this conguration. Also, the existing models are generally concerned with producing a net energy savings whereas the goal here is only to shift the peak load to later in the evening. Finally, these existing models are designed to model complex interactions between components within multi room buildings where the focus here is to keep the model as general as possible. Fig. 1 shows the basic geometry for the simulation. The wall or ceiling structure is modeled as a three-layer plane wall with

Fig. 1. Geometry for numerical simulation.

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the phase change material being the center layer. Time varying boundary conditions are imposed at x = 0 and x = L, representing the room temperature and the ambient temperature, respectively. The thickness of each layer can be varied independently to represent different RCR congurations, with the outer two layers assumed to be glass ber insulation. Thermo-physical properties of all three materials are considered constant with the PCM properties taken to be an average between the solid and liquid values provided for the material. Because the actual PCM is held in suspension in another material which does not change phase, the mixture never actually ows as a liquid. As a result, any convective effects in the two-phase region are considered negligible. It is worthwhile to note that while the words solid and liquid are used throughout this writing to describe the fully frozen and fully melted states of the PCM, respectively, the overall consistency of the composite material is always relatively solid. The numerical simulation is written using MATLAB [8] and consists of two subroutines and a main routine to switch between the two. 2. Development of numerical model 2.1. One-phase solution When the PCM layer is either completely solid or completely liquid the temperature distribution through the nth layer of the wall is governed by the one-dimensional diffusion equation [9]. kn @2 T @T rn cn @x2 @t With the boundary conditions: T0; t T 0 t TL; t T L t (2) (1)

(freezing). The temperature distribution at this time step then becomes the initial condition for the two-phase subroutine. 2.2. Two-phase solution When the PCM layer consists of more than one phase, the boundary points between the solid and liquid are held constant at the melt temperature of the material. T Tm (6)

The movement of the solidliquid boundary xSL is governed by the Stefan condition [11,12] which is expressed as:      @T @T dxSL (7) kPCM lim lim rPCM a x ! xSL x ! xSL @x @x dt where xSL+ and xSL denote the limits approaching the solid liquid interface from the right and left, respectively. An explicit numerical solution for a single material twophase node is given by: Tij1 Tij T m lij1 lij kPCM Dt rPCM aDx
2 j j Ti1 2T m Ti1

(8) (9)

where lij is the volume fraction of the ith node which is melted at the jth time step. For the two PCM-insulation interface points the nite difference equation is modied as before to account for the fact that the node is half insulation and half PCM. For these two nodes a value of l = 1/2 = lmax indicates the fully melted state. For the inner interface node the two-phase nite difference equation is: lij1 lij
j j Dtkins Ti1 T m kPCM Ti1 T m

rPCM aDx2

(10)

An explicit numerical solution for a single material node is given by [10]: Tij1 Tij kn Dt rn cn Dx
2 j j Ti1 2Tij Ti1

For the outer interface node the two-phase nite difference equation is: lij1 lij
j j DtkPCM Ti1 T m kins Ti1 T m

(3)

rPCM aDx2

(11)

For the inner interface node the nite difference equation is: Tij1 Tij
j 2Dtkins Ti1

Ti

j kPCM Ti1

Ti
2

The purpose of the two-phase subroutine is to provide a means of switching between Eqs. (3)(5) and Eqs. (8)(11) depending

rPCM cPCM rins cins Dx

(4)

For the outer interface node the nite difference equation is: Tij1 Tij
j j 2DtkPCM Ti1 Tij kins Ti1 Tij

rPCM cPCM rins cins Dx2

(5)

Depending upon whether the PCM is completely solid or completely liquid upon entering the one-phase subroutine, this solution will continue to run until such a time when the maximum nodal temperature within the PCM layer rises above the melt point of the material (melting), or until the minimum temperature within the material drops below the melt point

Fig. 2. Typical temperature distribution for exiting the one-phase solid subroutine.

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on the state of the node being considered. Fig. 2 shows a typical temperature distribution for exiting the one-phase solid solution. In this case the material is completely solid (l = 0 for all nodes) with the outermost PCM node at some temperature slightly above Tm. The temperature of this node shifted back to the PCM melt temperature and held there. Eq. (11) is applied to determine the fraction of the node which has melted. This continues until such a time when l returns to zero (the node has completely re-frozen) or l = lmax (the node has completely melted). At this time the temperature is again allowed to change according to Eq. (5). For the nodes that are below Tm, the temperatures are governed by the one-phase equations until they exceed Tm. At this time the node is considered to be in two phases and the method of calculation is switched to Eqs. (8)(11). Similar logic would be used for the case where the PCM exits the one-phase routine as a liquid that has just begun to solidify at the outer interface point. In this scenario, the simulation enters the two-phase solution with l = lmax for all nodes. The node that has begun to re-solidify will be held at Tm while Eq. (11) is applied to determine the fraction of the node which has frozen. As before, this is continued until the node has completely frozen (l = 0) or completely re-melted (l = lmax). Once this occurs, the temperature is again free to oat as governed by Eq. (5). Nodes that exit the one-phase subroutine

above Tm are governed by Eqs. (3)(5) until the temperature drops below this value. At this point the method of calculation switches to the two-phase equations. It is worthwhile to note that these two preceding scenarios are presented for explanative purposes only and that the simulation does not assume that the phase change will occur on one side of the PCM or the other. The direction of the phase change will be determined solely by the governing equations and the selection of the driving functions T0(t) and TL(t) is entirely arbitrary. Figs. 3 and 4 show the general logic used in the two-phase subroutine for switching between the two sets of equations. The two-phase subroutine returns to the main routine when all of the nodal temperatures within the PCM layer are either above or below Tm. This nal temperature distribution becomes the new initial condition for re-entering the one-phase subroutine. If the one-phase algorithm is begun with PCM temperatures higher than Tm (one-phase liquid) the subroutine will exit when any of the nodal temperatures drop below the melt point. For the case where the one-phase algorithm is begun with PCM temperatures lower than Tm, (one-phase solid) the subroutine will exit upon any of the nodal temperatures rising above the melt point. The main routine will continue to switch between the two subroutines until the maximum number of time steps is reached. 3. Analysis The simulation is performed using a sinusoidally varying ambient temperature imposed at x = L. Both the amplitude and the mean temperature are adjusted to model various conditions throughout the spring and summer months. At the inner wall the

Fig. 3. Logic for two-phase subroutine (single-phase node).

Fig. 4. Logic for two-phase subroutine (two-phase node).

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temperature is stepped between one constant value over the peak time and another constant value during the off-peak. This is required to allow solidication of the PCM during periods when the outdoor ambient temperature is too high to accomplish this. The thickness of the PCM layer is xed at 4 mm. This is the uniform thickness required over one square meter such that the mass will be equal to the mass of one layer of the actual prepackaged material. (The actual material is thicker than 4 mm but due to the method of packaging it the thickness is not constant over a given area.) Layers 1 and 3 are assumed to be glass ber insulation and the thickness of both layers is varied to maintain a constant overall R-value of about 19. This corresponds to a total thickness (L1 + L3) of about 160 mm. The insulation thicknesses are normalized as: Lnorm L1 L 1 L2 (12)

The simulation is begun at the start of the peak time (12:00 p.m.). The initial temperature distribution through the composite wall is assumed to vary linearly between T0(0) and the PCM melt temperature through the inner layer of insulation. Across the PCM the temperature is assumed constant at the melt temperature. Through the outer layer of insulation the initial temperature distribution varies linearly between the PCM melt temperature TL(0) as indicated in Fig. 5. This represents the case where the PCM is completely solid but just beginning to melt at the start of the peak. The simulation is allowed to run for a 72 h period. By this time any transient effects caused by the assumed initial condition will have become negligible. All quantitative results are based on the data for the third day. The total volume fraction of the PCM layer which has melted at the jth time step is given by: gj
N X Dx i1

Initially the simulation is run with T0 set at a constant 298 K throughout the day with a mean ambient temperature of 314 K. Fig. 6 shows the variation of g throughout a 3-day period for four different values of Lnorm. From the graph it becomes apparent that for Lnorm ! 0.200, the material will not release all of the energy which it has stored throughout the day. If the simulation were carried out for subsequent days there would eventually come a point when the material would become saturated and would remain in a completely melted state. Because of this incomplete freezing these solutions must be rejected. The solution for Lnorm = 0.175 is innitely cyclic and is therefore considered valid. The ideal RCR conguration for any given set of boundary conditions is taken to be the value which maximizes the utilization of the material while remaining innitely cyclic. For this initial case a value of Lnorm = 0.175 produces the best solution with a maximum utilization of between 4 and 5%. In order to determine the effectiveness of the PCM two baseline cases are established. These are as follows: Baseline case 1: This is a solution with the same geometry and boundary conditions as the PCM solution. In this case the mass of the phase change material remains in place but is not allowed to change phase. Baseline case 2: This is a solution with the same boundary conditions as the PCM solution but in this case the PCM layer is removed entirely and the heat transfer takes place through a purely resistive R-19 wall. The purpose of dening two baseline cases is to separate any load shift observed in the PCM solution into its various components. These are load shift due to mass effects and load shift due to phase change effects. It is worthwhile to note that the mass but no phase change baseline is essentially a hypothetical case and realistically would not be an option for the homeowner or contractor. A more realistic comparison can

L2

lij

(13)

where g ranges from 0 (completely solid) to unity (completely melted). The amplitude of the sinusoidally varying ambient temperature is held constant at 8 K which is a typical range during the summer months for the southwestern United States. The mean ambient temperature is allowed to vary between 314 and 302 K. T0 is xed at 298 K during the peak and allowed to vary between 298 and 294 K during the off-peak times.

Fig. 5. Assumed initial temperature distribution.

Fig. 6. Time variation of g for Tmean = 314 K, T0 = 298 K.

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Fig. 7. Heat ux at x = 0 for Tmean = 314 K, T0 = 298 K, Lnorm = 0.175.

Fig. 9. Heat ux at x = 0 for Tmean = 314 K, T0 = 298 K during peak, T0 = 294 K during non-peak, Lnorm = 0.313.

be made between the PCM and the insulation only solutions as these would be the options available to persons considering using the material. Fig. 7 shows the time varying heat ux into the room for this rst conguration as compared to these two baseline cases. With the PCM installed, the model predicts that the total cooling load during the peak will be 83.5 kJ/m2. This represents a 9% reduction over the mass but no phase change case and a 19% reduction over the insulation only case. The utilization of the material can be increased by decreasing T0 during the off-peak times to hasten the refreezing of the PCM layer. Fig. 8 shows the time variation of g for the same ambient conditions as before for the case where T0 is reduced to 294 K during the off-peak hours. For this case, the best solution is obtained with Lnorm = 0.313 with the maximum utilization of the material around 11%. The time varying heat ux into the room for this conguration and the two baseline cases is shown in Fig. 9.

With the PCM installed, the model predicts that the total cooling load during the peak will be 42.9 kJ/m2. This represents a 26% reduction over the mass but no phase change case and a 50% reduction over the insulation only case. The simulation is performed for the range of boundary conditions described earlier. For each combination of TL(t) and T0(t) the value of Lnorm is varied as in the previous examples until the maximum cyclic utilization of the material is achieved. These solutions represent the theoretical maximum performance of the material for a given set of conditions. Fig. 10 shows the variation of the maximum utilization of the material with mean ambient temperature for three off-peak values of T0. For a given off-peak temperature the gure shows that the theoretical maximum melting is relatively constant throughout most of the temperature range tested, increasing sharply as the mean ambient temperature approaches the melting point of the material. Figs. 11 and 12 show the theoretical maximum percent decrease in peak load as compared to the mass but no phase change and the insulation only cases, respectively, as functions of the mean ambient temperature.

Fig. 8. Time variation of g for Tmean = 314 K, T0 = 298 K during peak, T0 = 294 K during non-peak.

Fig. 10. Maximum fraction of PCM melted as a function of mean ambient temperature.

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4. Discussion and conclusions Before any nal conclusions are presented it is worthwhile to note that this simulation was intended merely as a rst approximation at modeling an extremely complex heat transfer problem. Many simplifying assumptions have been made which have yet to be validated, and at this point the model has not been compared to any experimental results. One of the more signicant assumptions made here is that the variation of temperatures is steady-periodic (that is, they vary with time, but constantly repeat themselves). This issue is addressed below in more detail. However, this approach is a satisfactory one to understand the magnitudes of energy shifting that might occur. These early results do suggest some general trends. The results show that a signicant load shift is at least theoretically possible using this material. Depending upon the temperature regime selected for the inner wall, the simulation predicts that a maximum of 511% melting can be achieved through most of the expected range of temperatures (307314 K). This corresponds to an 1125% maximum reduction in peak load when compared to the mass but no phase change case and a 1957% decrease over the insulation only case. The inverse relationship between the normalized length and mean ambient temperature implies that the effectiveness of the material is freezing limited as opposed to melting limited over the range of values explored. In addition to this, the fact that the simulations predict that the fraction of the mass melting is relatively low, the amount of material in each sheet of the packaged product can be reduced. At this time experimental data is being collected at two test facilities across the United States. Once these tests are completed, the output of the numerical model can be compared to the experimental results and modied as necessary. Upon completion of this, the sinusoidal ambient temperature function will be replaced with one created from actual weather data. The simulation could then be performed for a complete season to determine the placement of the PCM within the wall which will maximize the peak-time shift over a typical cooling season. The net shift for this optimal conguration can then be translated into a predicted net dollar savings for the consumer. Acknowledgements We appreciate the partial support of this work by Dow Chemical Company (Dr. Mike Mazor, technical leader). Assistance of the Nevada Power Company (Mr. Bob Balzar) through Paragon Consulting (Mr. Hector Dominguez) was invaluable. Finally, interactions with the owner of concept, Mr. Tom Neal, have been quite helpful. References
[1] M. Farid, A. Khudhair, S. Razack, S. Al-Hallaj, A review of phase change energy storage materials and applications, Energy Convers. Manage. 45 (2004) 15971615. [2] J. Kim, K. Darkwa, Simulation of an integrated PCM-wallboard system, Int. J. Energy Res. 27 (2003) 215223.

Fig. 11. Percent decrease in peak load over mass but no phase change case as a function of mean ambient temperature.

Fig. 12. Percent decrease in peak load over insulation only case as a function of mean ambient temperature.

Fig. 13 shows the variation of the optimal position of the PCM layer within the RCR conguration as a function of the mean ambient temperature. The gure shows that as the mean ambient temperature increases, the optimal position for the PCM layer moves closer to the inside wall. This relationship suggests that the performance of the material is not so much limited by how much mass can be melted during the peak, but rather by how much can be re-frozen during the off-peak.

Fig. 13. Value of Lnorm producing the maximum, as a function of mean ambient temperature.

C.K. Halford, R.F. Boehm / Energy and Buildings 39 (2007) 298305 [3] W. Minkowycz, E. Sparrow, G. Schneider, R. Fletcher, Handbook of Numerical Heat Transfer, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1998. [4] K. Darkwa, P. OCallaghan, D. Tetlow, Phase change drywall in a passive solar building, Appl. Therm. Eng. 26 (89) (2006) 853858. [5] X. Xu, Y. Zhang, K. Lin, H. Di, R. Yang, Modeling and simulation on the thermal performance of shape-stabilized phase change material oor used in passive solar buildings, Energy Buildings 37 (10) (2005) 1084 1091. [6] J. Clark, D. Heim, Numerical modeling and thermal simulation of PCM-gypsum composites with ESP-r, Energy Buildings 36 (2004) 795805.

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[7] M. Ibanez, A. Lazaro, B. Zalba, L. Cabeza, An approach to the simulation of PCMs in building applications using TRNSYS, Appl. Therm. Eng. 25 (2005) 17961807. [8] The Mathworks Inc., MatLab Manual, Version 4 (1995). [9] G. Myers, Analytical Methods in Conduction Heat Transfer, second ed., AMCHT Publication, Madison, WI, 1998. [10] R. Canale, S. Chapra, Numerical Methods for Engineers, third ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1998. [11] A. Merimanov, The Stefan Problem, Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin, 1992 . [12] D. Poulikakos, Conduction Heat Transfer, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1994.