Paper 018

CIBSE TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM-2011
VENUE
CIBSE TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM

DeMontfort University, Leicester, UK, 6~7 September 2011
TITLE
PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL (PCM) BASED ENERGY STORAGE
MATERIALS AND GLOBAL APPLICATION EXAMPLES
AUTHORS
Zafer URE M.Sc., C.Eng., MCIBSE, MASHRAE, M.Inst.R, MIIR
Phase Change Material Products Limited
Unit 32, Mere View Industrial Estate, Yaxley, Cambridgeshire, PE7 3HS, U.K.
Tel: +44-(0)-1733 245511, Fax: +44-(0)-1733 243344,
e-mail: [email protected], www.pcmproducts.net
Summary;
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is the temporary storage of high or low

temperature energy for later use. It bridges the time gap between energy
requirement and energy use. For HVAC and refrigeration application
purposes, water and water ice constitute the principal storage media.
Water has the advantage of universal availability and low cost but it can only
be produced using inefficient low temperature refrigeration units if one wishes
to use the latent heat capacity. If it is applied purely for sensible energy
storage capacity it requires large storage tanks.
Phase Change Materials (PCM) between +4C and +90C range over comes
the water disadvantages by combining the latent and sensible energy storage
capacities into a single storage unit and therefore offer designers new
horizons and practical application options.
PCM latent heat cool energy storage can be provided by utilising conventional
water chillers for new and retrofit applications without the need for any
modifications as well as having the possibility of free cooling.
By storing day-time warm energy for evening periods and over-night cool
energy for day-time cooling requirements, a PCM system can simply bridge
the gap between energy availability and energy use and therefore has the
potential to achieve considerable environmental as well as economical
benefits for many heating and cooling applications.
The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of commercially available PCM

solutions and products together with their practical worldwide applications.
Typical installation examples around the World will be presented in a format
that will aid practising engineers and consultants to develop an effective and
low energy based design on PCM based TES cooling / heating and heat
recovery systems.
Key Words; Phase Change Materials (PCM), Thermal Energy Storage (TES),
Eutectics, Heating, Cooling
Paper No:18 1
1.0 - BACKGROUND
Energy usage, economical and environmental issues are becoming a focal

point for both end users and the public at large. Current trends towards
privatisation and an open market approach for utility companies has created a
new kind of energy market whereby the period of energy usage and type of
energy used is becoming the main criteria for price structuring rather than
overall energy consumption (1).
Hence, current building services must be designed to provide sufficient

flexibility for load shifting and energy usage control in order to achieve the
most economical operation. A Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technique
whereby "Storing High or Low Temperature energy for later use in order to
bridge the time gap between energy availability and energy use" can be
considered as a useful tool to achieve this aim.
Unfortunately HVAC & Refrigeration TES applications utilise water ice which
can only be produced with low temperature chillers. As a result, the benefits of
night-time low ambient temperature, existing water chillers and possibly free
ambient cooling options cannot be fully utilised.
However, Phase Change Materials (PCM) freeze and melt above or below
0°C (32°F) offering new opportunities for environmentally friendly and
economical systems for both New and Retrofit process, cooling or heating
load shifting applications.
This paper explores commercially available PCM solutions together with

encapsulated products and their Global application examples.
2.0 - THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE (TES):
Thermal Energy Storage bridges the time gap between energy requirement
and energy use. A thermal storage application may involve a 24-hour or
alternatively weekly or seasonal storage cycles depending on the system
design requirements. Whilst the output is always thermal, the input energy
may be either thermal or electrical (2).
In full storage systems, the entire daily design loads are generated off peak
and stored for use during the following peak periods. In partial storage
systems, only a portion of the daily load is generated during off peak and used
during peak periods to top up the system.
During the peak period, the load is satisfied by a simultaneous balancing

operation of the installed machinery and stored energy in order to satisfy the
overall daily design duty.
Paper No:18 2
2.1- Water/Ice Latent Heat Energy Storage;
Water has the advantage of universal availability, low cost and easily
transported through other system components. However, conventional water
based TES systems for air conditioning applications(3) require low temperature
chillers and therefore standard water chillers must be replaced with low
temperature glycol chillers which operate at lower evaporation temperatures.
2.2- Phase Change Materials Energy Storage;
In simple terms, Phase Change Materials (PCMs) (4) can be described as

mixtures of chemicals having freezing and melting points above or below the
water freezing temperature of 0°C (32°F). They are ideal products for thermal
management solutions as they store and release thermal energy during the
process of melting & freezing (changing from one phase to another).
When such a material freezes, it releases large amounts of energy in the form
of latent heat of fusion, or energy of crystallisation. Conversely, when the
material is melted, an equal amount of energy is absorbed from the immediate
environment as it changes from solid to liquid.
To be a useful PCM, a material has to meet several criteria:
 Release and absorb large amounts of energy when freezing and

melting; This requires the PCM to have a large latent heat of fusion
and to be as dense as possible.
 Have a fixed and clearly determined phase change temperature
(freeze/melt point); The PCM needs to freeze and melt cleanly over
as small a temperature range as possible. Water is ideal in this
respect, since it freezes and melts at exactly 0°C (32°F). However,
many PCMs freeze or melt over a range of several degrees, and will
often have a melting point that is slightly higher or lower than the
freezing point. This phenomenon is known as hysteresis.
 Avoid excessive supercooling; Supercooling is observed with many
eutectic solutions and salt hydrates. The PCM in its liquid state can be
cooled below its freezing point whilst remaining a liquid. Some salt
hydrates can be cooled to +50°C (122°F) below their freezing point
without crystallisation occurring. This can be beneficial, for example in
hot packs where a +48°C (118.4°F) PCM is kept as a supercooled
liquid at room temperature until the hot pack is required and
supercooling is broken by mechanical or chemical nucleation. However
for most applications, supercooling must be kept to a minimum by the
addition of suitable nucleating agents to the PCM.
 Remain stable and unchanged over many freeze/melt cycles;
PCMs are usually used many times over, and often have an
operational lifespan of many years in which they will be subjected to
thousands of freeze/melt cycles. It is very important that the PCM is not
prone to chemical or physical degradation over time which will affect
the energy storage capability of the PCM.
Paper No:18 3
Some eutectic solutions may be susceptible to microbiological attack,

so must be protected with biocides. Long term stability can be a
problem in some salt hydrate PCMs, unless they are modified to
prevent separation of the component materials over successive
freeze/melt cycles.
 Non-hazardous; PCMs are often used in applications whereby they
could come in contact with people, for example in food cooling or
heating applications, or in building temperature maintenance. For this
reason they should be safe. Ideally a PCM should be non-toxic, non-
corrosive, non-hazardous and non-flammable. There are many
substances that behave excellently as PCMs but cannot be used due
to issues over safety.
 Economical; It doesn't matter how well a substance can perform as a
PCM is if is prohibitively expensive. PCMs can range in price from very
cheap (e.g. water) to very expensive (e.g. pure linear hydrocarbons). If
cost outweighs the benefits obtained using the PCM, its use will be
very limited.
The simplest, cheapest, and most effective phase change material is

water/ice. Unfortunately, the freezing temperature of water is fixed at 0°C
(32°F) making it unsuitable for the majority of energy storage applications.
Therefore a number of different materials have been identified and developed
to offer products that freeze and melt like water/ice, but at temperatures from
the cryogenic range to several hundred degrees centigrade.
PCMs can broadly be arranged into five categories: eutectics, salt hydrates,
organic, solid-solid and molten salt materials.
 Eutectics tend to be solutions of salts desolved in water that have a

phase change temperature below 0°C (32°F).
 Salt hydrates are specific salts that are able to incorporate water of
crystallisation during their freezing process and tend to change phase
above 0°C (32°F).
 Organic materials used as PCMs tend to be polymers with long chain

molecules composed primarily of carbon and hydrogen. They tend to
exhibit high orders of crystallinity when freezing and mostly change
phase above or below 0°C (32°F). Examples of materials used as
positive temperature organic PCMs include alcohols, waxes, oils, fatty
acids and polyglycols.
 Solid-Solid PCMs that undergo a solid/solid phase transition with the

associated absorption and release of large amounts of heat. These
materials change their crystalline structure from one lattice
configuration to another at a fixed and well-defined temperature, and
the transformation can involve latent heats comparable to the most
effective solid/liquid PCMs.
Paper No:18 4
Such materials are useful because, unlike solid/liquid PCMs, they do

not require nucleation to prevent supercooling. Additionally, because it
is a solid/solid phase change, there is no visible change in the
appearance of the PCM (other than a slight expansion/contraction),
and there are no problems associated with handling liquids, i.e.
containment, potential leakage, etc.
 Molten Salts are naturally solid salt materials which turn liquid when
they are heated above their transition temperatures and act as a PCM
energy storage material.
Clathrates may also be used. They look like a solid crystalline material, store
large amounts of heat when they melt, and some have melting temperatures
that are attractive to energy storage applications. Unfortunately, clathrates
can currently only be produced by mixing the the host and trapped species
under very large pressure, and once the clathrate has melted the two species
cannot easily be reincorporated, thus can only be used once as a PCM.
Some liquid/gas phase change materials can be used the energy storage but
they tend to involve large changes in volume or pressure when going from the
liquid to the gaseous phase, this prevents effective and economical
encapsulation.
The summary of the commercially available and widely applied. PCM

solutions (5) are highlighted in Table 2.2.1.
Table 2.2.1- Commercially available PCM solutions.
Paper No:18 5
3.0- ENCAPSULATED PCM PRODUCTS:
Most aqueous salt based PCM solutions have a tendency to either absorb
moisture from the atmosphere (hygroscobic), or lose water through
evaporation, and therefore they must be encapsulted in air tight/sealed
containers.
Although organic solutions can be exposed to air as they are not water based,
contamination and fire risk due to low flash point make it necesary for them to
be encapsulated in air tight containers.
Salt based PCM solutions are corrosive and the most practical and
economical method is to use plastic containers(6). However, plastic becomes
soft at high temperatures which restricts the application range to below
+80~+90ºC levels. Some commercially available plastic encapsulation
examples are illustrated in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1- Solid plastic encapsulated PCM products.
As well as rigid plastic containers, a wide range of flexible pouches filled with
various PCM solutions are produced enabling a wide range of low cost
applications. Pouches are made usuing thin film and they offer good heat
transfer efficiency however, because they are prone to physical damage and
puncture some of the organic solutions are offered in powder, granule or even
solid sheet forms which offer flexibility and safety. Examples of the most
commonly used methods of encapsulation are illustrated in Figure 3.2.
Paper No:18 6
Figure 3.2- Flexible encapsulated PCM products.
Although plastic, and to a certain extent pouches, are economical, their heat
transfer rate and/or limited temperature range restricts their wide scale use. In
order to extend the temperature range or improve the heat transfer rate, metal
containers have been extensively used for special applications. Some of the
comercially applied metal encapsulation products are illustrated in Figure 3.3.
Figure 3.3- Metal encapsulated PCM products.
Organic solutions are water free and can be modified in the form of dust,
granules or even solid rubber forms and they can be mixed with other
products such as concrete, mortar, bricks, etc..They can be also
thermoformed by simply mixing with plastic materials as part of the injection
moulding process.
Organic PCM variation examples are illustrated in Figure 3.4.
Paper No:18 7
Figure 3.4- Organic PCM variations examples.
3.0- PCM GLOBAL APPLICATION EXAMPLES:
The energy storage capacity of PCMs can be utilised in a number of ways (7),
for example thermal energy storage whereby heat or cool energies can be
stored from one process or period in time, and used at a later date or different
location. PCMs are also very useful in providing thermal barriers or insulation.
Each PCM solution can be used in many different applications (8) and when
considering building services it might be best to cover the PCM usage sector
by sector.
4.1- Chilled Water Systems;
Using +8~+10ºC PCM energy storage one can utilise a conventional water
chiller without the need for a low temperature Glycol chillers. The benefits of
using PCM against a conventional water/ice low temperature chiller charging
operation are illustrated for an air cooled chiller operation over a range of
operating temperatures in Figure 4.1.1(9).
Paper No:18 8
Figure 4.1.1 – PCM Based Vs Conventional Ice TES charging comparison.
Low ambient temperatures coupled with higher evaporation temperatures

offer a significant overall COP improvement, in the region of 17-36 %
depending on the type of unit and location. Typical PCM based energy
storage options are illustrated in Figure 4.1.2.
Figure 4.1.2 – PCM based energy storage concept.
Paper No:18 9
Global chilled water cooling application examples are illustrated in Figures

4.1.3 to 4.1.5.
Figure 4.1.3 – PCM based large scale chilled energy storage applications.
Figure 4.1.4 – PCM based chilled beams energy storage applications.
Paper No:18 10
Figure 4.1.5 – PCM based chilled water energy storage application.
4.2- Heat Pump Systems;
Heat pumps remove heat from one side of the refrigeration circuit and transfer
to another side of the system. The heat rejection media could be air, water or
ground source (10).
A heat pump removes energy from one side of the refrigeration circuit either
using air/water or ground sources and transfers that energy into the other side
of the refrigeration cycle. Although this is a very efficient way to generate
heat, if the removed energy is later required it can be considered as a waste.
By simply storing this waste energy in the form of +10ºC for cold or +46ºC hot
PCM energy storage, one can utilise this stored energy during peak periods
and as a result the heat pump size as well as the overall system energy
usage can be reduced by as much as 50% by spreading the loads over a 24
hours cycle.
A heat pump combined with PCM energy storage not only reduces running
costs due to lower over-night electricity rates but also provides an increased
combined COP which effectively reduces the overall power requirement as
well. The combination of these two benefits can reduce the overall running
cost of the system significantly.
PCMs have been applied in a number of large scale as well as small scale
heat pump applications (11) and a typical large scale industrial PCM application
example applied in Italy for an electronic factory is illustrated in Figure 4.2.
Paper No:18 11
Figure 4.2.1- Large scale heat pump PCM energy storage application.
PCM based heat pumps rely on extracting heat from either an air or ground
source and this extracted energy is later put into either water or air circuits for
the most common hot water, heating and cooling applications.
A PCM storage system can eliminate some operational issues such as air
source defrost penalties as heat pumps struggle if the ambient goes below
0ºC, they require constant defrost due to icing on the coil and making them
very inefficient. Similarly ground source heat pumps require large numbers of
boreholes which are expensive and sometimes restricted due to lack of
space.
In order to overcome these issues a number of PCM energy storage systems

have been successfully applied in the UK.
Figure 4.2.2 illustrates a surface PCM energy storage used to eliminate the
defrost issues related to air source heat pump applications and by simply
extracting heat from the PCM storage as opposed to air, the heat pump circuit
can be operated without a defrost at low ambient conditions.
Figure 4.2.3. illustrates a typical ground source heat pump application without
the need for boreholes by simply using a dry cooler and a matching PCM
energy storage system combination to reject the heat during peak loads in
order to cover the whole year operation.
Paper No:18 12
Figure 4.2.2- Air source heat pump PCM energy storage application.
Figure 4.2.3- Ground source heat pump PCM energy storage application.
Paper No:18 13
PCM energy storage can also be applied to a number of water-water source

heat pump systems where it is critical to keep the main close-loop heat
rejection circuit around +20~+25ºC levels throughout the year. However, if the
majority of the self-contained heat pumps are in cooling mode, the main buffer
circuit requires a chiller to cool. On the opposite end, if the majority of the
units are in heating mode, the main circuit requires a boiler to heat the buffer
circuit to remain within the design limits.
Many UK water-water heat pump systems initially start in heating mode but
mid-day revert back to cooling mode. Rather than using a boiler and chiller
combination to balance the buffer circuit, the designers can utilise a +22ºC
PCM buffer vessel to store the surplus energy and balance the buffer circuit
over a 24 hour period as illustrated in Figure 4.2.4. PCM energy storage cost
can be covered by eliminating the need for a boiler or chiller. Moreover, the
running and maintenance costs of the system can be significantly reduced as
a result.
Figure 4.2.4- Water-water source heat pump PCM energy storage.
4.3- Passive Cooling;
Passive cooling relies on naturally occurring night and day time temperature
swings. The cool energy available over-night is stored within the PCM and
later this stored energy is used to absorb the internal and solar gains during
day-time for an energy free passive cooling system. A typical energy free
passive cooling concept is illustrated in Figure 4.3.1.
Paper No:18 14
Figure 4.3.1- Energy free passive cooling building application.
Figure 4.3.1. illustrates a typical building passive cooling concept for the
northern European climate as the night ambient goes well below the internal
design temperatures for a free cooling option all year round. In warmer
climates like southern Europe or Middle East this energy free cooling can only
be achieved during colder winter / autumn or early spring periods.
However, by simply running the air conditioning system to charge the passive
cooling over-night, designers may be able to shift some of the daily peak load
to over-night low ambient, hence, higher efficiency operation and possibly
using the low electricity cost periods. Some of the passive cooling application
examples are highlighted in between Figures 4.3.2. and Figure 4.3.4.
Figure 4.3.2. Office passive cooling application in the UK.
Paper No:18 15
Figure 4.3.3. Passive cooling commercial application examples.
Figure 4.3.4. Passive cooling UK school application examples.
Paper No:18 16
The same passive cooling concept can also be applied for electronic shelters
anywhere in the World as the internal temperatures can be elevated up to
+45ºC as opposed to comfort cooling limit of +24ºC. Having this high internal
temperature limit, even in the middle of a desert the night’s cool energy can
be stored and using this stored energy during day-time the shelter’s internal
temperatures can be maintained well below the upper limit without any
mechanical refrigeration.
Some of these passive cooling shelter applications are illustrated in Figure

4.3.5.
Figure 4.3.5- Passive electronic shelter cooling applications.
4.4- Solar Energy Storage;
Solar energy is only available during light hours and this free energy can be
used either for heating or cooling (12) but generally it is available during only for
a limited day period. By storing this free energy one can either produce heat
or alternatively provide a cooling source.
Example of an under floor heating using solar collectors and warm PCM
containers is illustrated in Figure 4.4.1.
Although conventional solar collectors may not generate enough energy to

charge an water tank during winter months they could still generate low grade
heat around 30~35ºC which is more than enough to charge PCM modules
during day-time. Once the sun goes down the stored energy keeps the
occupied space warm and the outside cold energy freezes the PCM rather
than penetrating into the occupied space. This way the space conditions can
be stabilised over a 24 hour day and night cycle.
Paper No:18 17
Figure 4.4.1- Solar + PCM integrated under floor & DHW heating application.
Using conventional solar collectors one can store hot water in simple water
tanks but once the sun goes down and water is gradually drawn the tank can
not maintain a steady output temperature due to strafication. However, if the
latent heat capacity of PCM is added to the water tank not only can the
capacity of the tank be increased by as much as 3~4 times but also having
fixed phase change the water outlet temperature can be fixed until the PCM
energy is fully depleted.
Using thermoformed plastic rubber PCM balls as illustrated in Figure 4.4.2

any existing hot water tank capacity can be increased 2~3 fold however, the
high cost of these rubber balls restricts their wide usage and this technology is
applied mainly to sites which have limited space available and the tank size
can not be increased.
Figure 4.4.2- PCM rubber balls hot water energy storage applications.
Paper No:18 18
Rubber PCM balls may be applicable for small scale tanks but for larger
applications steel balls / tubes might be a better option. During the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Melbourne organisers aimed to build standard
houses with a view to sell these houses to the public after the games.
During the games these houses had a 3~4 times higher occupancy rate than
an average family and the lack of space for the hot water tank and effectively
lack of hot water for the athletes was eliminated by simply adding +58ºC PCM
balls using a standard size hot water tank. The PCM addition provided 3~4
times more hot water storage to handle the higher occupancy rate as
illustrated in Figure 4.4.3.
Figure 4.4.3- PCM based solar hot water TES application.
There is a natural match between air conditioning loads and solar gains and
by simply using free solar energy one can generate cooling using various
technologies such as absorption, adsorption and steam driven cooling
machines. However, the cooling is required well beyond the peak mid-day
sunny periods and to bridge the gap one has to store either the hot or cold
side of the cooling circuit.
Generally storing the hot side of the heat driven cooling machines is not
economically viable. It is far more practical and economical to store cold
energy side of the circuit and a large scale Doha FIFA 2022 stadium solar
cooling with PCM energy storage application is illustrated in Figure 4.4.4.
Paper No:18 19
For this application the Qatar FIFA World Cup bid was based on using energy
free solar air conditioning for the stadiums and the demonstration stadium
was built to prove the concept would work.
The highest solar energy occurs during mid-day but all games will take place
after sunset, so by simply running the solar driven air conditioning machines
during the peak mid-day period and storing the cooling in +10ºC PCM
solution, full air conditioning capacity can be provided by simply running the
TES tank as a cooling source during the game.
Figure 4.4.4- PCM Based solar air conditioning application in Qatar.
4.5- Free Cooling;
In certain climates the night-time ambient temperatures offer cool energy

storage which can be used for day-time cooling. Using a PCM energy storage
offers energy free cooling options.
A typical example for this concept is the Headquarters of Melbourne City

Council, also known as the CH2 building which is the only 6* energy efficiency
building in the world. Cooling towers are designed to run during hours of
darkness, freezing the PCM energy storage which is then released as cool
during the day.
Paper No:18 20
Design is based on having a cooling tower on the roof to utilise lower wet bulb
temperatures to charge +15ºC PCM tanks located in the basement without
any mechanical refrigeration i.e. chillers. The night-time cool energy is stored
in PCM tanks over-night and during day-time this stored energy is distributed
throughout the building via chilled ceilings to soak up the internal and solar
gains.
Simplified design details for the CH2 building are illustrated in Figure 4.5.1.
Figure 4.5.1- Melbourne CH2 building free cooling application.
4.6- Heating Systems;
In principal PCM would be helpful for any heating energy storage applications
and save some storage space but higher circulation temperatures associated
with the heating makes PCM encapsulation very costly. On top of this
handicap the larger circulation temperature differences closer to 20K and
associated high sensible heat capacity of water storage reduces the benefits
of PCM energy storage further.
However, if a design allows circulation temperatures to be above +100ºC,

utilising PCM’s latent heat plus that of the heat transfer fluid the PCM’s
sensible heat capacity reduce the energy storage tank size significantly. A
typical comparison calculation is illustrated in Figure 4.6.1.
Paper No:18 21
Figure 4.6.1- High temperature solar hot water PCM energy storage.
5.0 - CONCLUSION:
Modern society’s reliance on refrigeration and air conditioning indicates that

refrigeration and the associated environmental issues will be with us for a
considerable time and therefore one has to utilise existing and available
alternative technologies with minimum usage of energy.
PCM Thermal Energy Storage not only provides the end user with an
environmentally friendly design but also the following additional benefits can
be obtained:
• Reduced and No Refrigeration Equipment
• Capital Cost Saving
• Reduced Maintenance.
• Energy Cost Saving
• Reduced CO2 Emission
• Environmentally Friendly Installation
• Improved System Operation/Reliability
• Flexibility for the Future Capacities Changes
The temperature ranges offered by the proposed PCM solutions utilise free
ambient cooling, conventional chilled water temperature ranges for both the
charging and discharging sides of the system. Hence, they can be applied to
any new or retrofit application with minimal technical and economical impacts.
Paper No:18 22
Furthermore, the possibility of Free Cooling Cycle TES system offer new
horizons for designers to control the energy balance to match the load and
electricity demand/consumption of the system as a whole.
The task for designers is to explore all available technologies towards

achieving improved efficiency regardless of which refrigerant is used and
apply where and when possible diversification technologies in order to
minimise the overall CO2 emission related to energy usage.
A carefully balanced PCM energy storage may be the answer for many of the
cooling applications for an Environmentally Friendly and Economical
alternative.
Paper No:18 23
6.0 - REFERENCES:
1- Beggs C., Ure Z . “Environmental Benefits of Ice TES in Retailing

Application”, CIBSE/ASHRAE Joint National Conference, Part II,
Harrogate, Sep. 1996, UK
2- Oliver D, Andrews S., “ Energy Storage Systems Past Present and

Future Applications, A Maclean Hunter Business Studies, October
1989
3- ASHRAE Handbook, “HVAC Systems and Applications“, Issue: 2008,

Section 50
4- Burton G, Ure Z . “Eutectic Thermal Energy Storage Systems”, CIBSE

National Conference, Volume II, Alexandra Palace, Oct. 1997, UK
5- PCM Products Ltd. Sales Literature, www.pcmproducts.net
6- Thermal Storage of passive, energy saving technology. CIBSE

North West Presentation,
http://www.cibsenorthwest.co.uk/TES-2008.pdf
7- Ure Z., “Low Energy Cooling Technologies for Buildings”, I.Mech.

Seminar Publications, 1998-7, Page 85, S5556/007/98
8- Ure Z., “ World-wide TES Applications ”CIBSE/ASHRAE

CONFERENCE 1999, Harrogate / UK
9- Ure Z., “ Positive Temperature Eutectic (PCM) Thermal Energy Storage

Systems”, ASHRAE 2004, Anaheim Meeting
http://www.slideshare.net/PCMProducts/pcm-thermal-energy-storage-
systems-ashrae-2004-conference-paper
10- CIBSE Design Guide B, “Heating, ventilation, and Air Conditioning”,

Page 2-94 ~ 2.997
11- ICAX™ provides Renewable Heat and Renewable Cooling to buildings,

http://www.icax.co.uk
12- Szokolay S.V, “Solar Energy and Building”, The Architectural Press
Ltd., London, 1976
Paper No:18 24

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CIBSE TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM-2011

CIBSE TECHNICAL SYMPOSIUM

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is the temporary storage of high or low

The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of commercially available PCM

Energy usage, economical and environmental issues are becoming a focal

Hence, current building services must be designed to provide sufficient

This paper explores commercially available PCM solutions together with

2.0 - THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE (TES):

During the peak period, the load is satisfied by a simultaneous balancing

2.1- Water/Ice Latent Heat Energy Storage;

2.2- Phase Change Materials Energy Storage;

In simple terms, Phase Change Materials (PCMs) (4) can be described as

To be a useful PCM, a material has to meet several criteria:

 Release and absorb large amounts of energy when freezing and

Some eutectic solutions may be susceptible to microbiological attack,

The simplest, cheapest, and most effective phase change material is

 Eutectics tend to be solutions of salts desolved in water that have a

 Organic materials used as PCMs tend to be polymers with long chain

 Solid-Solid PCMs that undergo a solid/solid phase transition with the

Such materials are useful because, unlike solid/liquid PCMs, they do

The summary of the commercially available and widely applied. PCM

Table 2.2.1- Commercially available PCM solutions.

3.0- ENCAPSULATED PCM PRODUCTS:

Figure 3.1- Solid plastic encapsulated PCM products.

Figure 3.2- Flexible encapsulated PCM products.

Figure 3.3- Metal encapsulated PCM products.

Organic PCM variation examples are illustrated in Figure 3.4.

Figure 3.4- Organic PCM variations examples.

3.0- PCM GLOBAL APPLICATION EXAMPLES:

4.1- Chilled Water Systems;

Figure 4.1.1 – PCM Based Vs Conventional Ice TES charging comparison.

Low ambient temperatures coupled with higher evaporation temperatures

Figure 4.1.2 – PCM based energy storage concept.

Global chilled water cooling application examples are illustrated in Figures

Figure 4.1.4 – PCM based chilled beams energy storage applications.

Figure 4.1.5 – PCM based chilled water energy storage application.

4.2- Heat Pump Systems;

In order to overcome these issues a number of PCM energy storage systems

PCM energy storage can also be applied to a number of water-water source

Figure 4.2.4- Water-water source heat pump PCM energy storage.

4.3- Passive Cooling;

Figure 4.3.1- Energy free passive cooling building application.

Figure 4.3.2. Office passive cooling application in the UK.

Figure 4.3.3. Passive cooling commercial application examples.

Figure 4.3.4. Passive cooling UK school application examples.

Some of these passive cooling shelter applications are illustrated in Figure

Figure 4.3.5- Passive electronic shelter cooling applications.

4.4- Solar Energy Storage;

Although conventional solar collectors may not generate enough energy to

Using thermoformed plastic rubber PCM balls as illustrated in Figure 4.4.2

Figure 4.4.3- PCM based solar hot water TES application.

Figure 4.4.4- PCM Based solar air conditioning application in Qatar.

4.5- Free Cooling;

In certain climates the night-time ambient temperatures offer cool energy

A typical example for this concept is the Headquarters of Melbourne City

Figure 4.5.1- Melbourne CH2 building free cooling application.

4.6- Heating Systems;

However, if a design allows circulation temperatures to be above +100ºC,

Modern society’s reliance on refrigeration and air conditioning indicates that