Numerical thermal model of a double-glazed window filled with phase change materials

Abstract

hase change materials (PCMs) glazing systems might be able to improve the building energy performance because of controlling solar heat gains and peak heating and cooling loads. EnergyPlus, a state-of-the-art energy simulation tool, allows simulating the heat transfer through opaque elements that incorporate PCMs. However, EnergyPlus does not allow this for transparent elements with PCMs. As consequence, the main objective of this research is to develop a numerical thermal model of double glazing windows with PCM in the cavity to be coupled with EnergyPlus in the future. To develop the numerical heat transfer model, the sensible and latent heat of the PCM is numerically modelled in MATLAB. This model is used to evaluate the impact of PCM on the inner surface temperature of the window and the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) in Santiago of Chile. The PCM RT25HC of Rubitherm® shows the better performance because it keeps the internal surface temperature of the window near of the comfort range for more time and the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) below 1.0.