Phase-change material thermal energy storage for the smart retrofitting of existing buildings

Osterman, Eneja (author), Del Pero, Claudio (author), Zavrl, Eva (author), Leonforte, Fabrizio (author), Aste, Niccolò (author), Stritih, Uroš (author)

This article presents the use of phase-change material (PCM) thermal storage within the Horizon 2020 HEART project (Holistic Energy and Architectural Retrofit Toolkit), aimed at decarbonising the European building sector through the retrofitting of existing structures into energy-efficient smart buildings. These buildings not only reduce energy consumption, but also incorporate advanced technologies for harnessing green energy, thereby promoting environmental sustainability. The HEART project employs state-of-the-art technologies for electricity production/dispatching and heat generation/storage, managed by a cloud-based platform for the real-time monitoring of parameters and optimising energy utilisation, enabling users to control their environmental comfort. The article provides a detailed examination of one of the project’s demonstration sites in Italy, focusing on various components such as heat pumps, photovoltaic systems (PV), controllers, and particularly emphasising the significance of storage tanks. The study involved the measurement and analysis of three heat storage tanks, each with a total volume of 3000 L. These tanks utilised PCM modules for latent heat storage, significantly enhancing overall heat accumulation. Water served as the heat transfer fluid within the tanks. Through meticulous calculations, the article quantifies the accumulated heat and presents a comparative evaluation between PCM-based storage tanks and conventional water tanks, showcasing the advantages of PCM technology in terms of increased heat retention and efficiency.

• Language: English
• Keywords: energy renovation of the buildings, heat pumps, heat storage tanks, phase-change materials
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 13 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 16, iss. 17, art. 6127
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-148472
• UDC: 620.9:697
• ISSN on article: 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en16176127
• COBISS.SI-ID: 162081795
• Publication date in RUL: 24.08.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Energies
• Shortened title: Energies
• Publisher: Molecular Diversity Preservation International
• ISSN: 1996-1073
• COBISS.SI-ID: 518046745

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: energetska prenova stavb, toplotne črpalke, hranilniki toplote, materiali s fazno zamenjavo

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: H2020
• Project number: 768921