Lightweight dense/porous PCM-ceramic tiles for indoor temperature control

Abstract

Currently the construction sector faces tremendous challenges due to the distressing levels of buildings energy consumption. One stimulating approach is the incorporation of phase change materials (PCMs), which have the ability to store and release energy. This innovative work reports the direct incorporation of PCM into lightweight ceramic tiles. Lightweight bi-layered tiles, produced using wood wastes as pore forming agent, were impregnated with PCM under vacuum. The influence of PCM content on the materials thermal performance was determined. Results show that these PCM-containing ceramic tiles reduce indoor space temperature variation (up to 22%) enhancing the thermal comfort inside buildings. The indoor temperature can be directly controlled by the PCM content, with higher content inducing lower temperature variations. Nevertheless, it was found that the PCM load affects the tiles' thermal conductivity (percolation occurring between 2.5 and 3.9 wt%), while its physical state induces only minor changes. The incorporation of 5.4 wt% PCM was found to be the optimal content, which is a rather small amount in comparison with alternative PCM-containing building solutions. The novel PCM-ceramic tiles show improved thermal performance, in comparison with conventional ceramic tiles, mitigating the energy consumption inside buildings by decreasing the operation time of cooling/heating devices. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.