Experimental Studies on Building Cooling by Incorporating Phase Change Material on Roof of the Building.

Abstract

Air conditioning systems is an integral part of most of the modern structures and buildings. Conventional air conditioning system have reached new heights in terms of technology and the industry is striving hard to reduce the carbon content of the air conditioning systems, along with the significant reduction in terms of energy consumption. In this project it has been attempted to develop one such technology. This concept is achieved by using phase change material. The current scope of the project lies in air conditioning of places and building which has a centralised cooling system. The future scope would be to implement this project at domestic level by scaling down the setup and cost associated with it. A room of size 5ft*5ft*7ft was constructed for carrying out experiments to study the effectiveness of the proposed method .The room shall initially be cooled by circulation of cold water through coiled tubes, placed in the ceiling. The temperature of the room reduces due to the continuous circulation of the cold water.

Once the cold-water supply is cut off, the phase change material (initially in solid state), which is placed beneath the tubes, produce the chilling effect by changing its phase to liquid. The heat present in the room accounts for the latent heat of melting of the phase change material. The proposed method is effective, given the significant changes observed in the temperatures of the room.

The amount of electrical energy consumed by the chill water plant is far more less than the power consumed by a conventional air conditioning system. Also, given the organic nature of the phase change material, the method is also eco-friendly. The current of the project lies in air conditioning of places and building which has a centralized cooling system.