Numerical Study of the Thermal Behavior of a Wall Containing Phase Change Material (PCM) in a Hot and Dry Climate

Abstract

Current buildings in Burkina Faso, particularly in the Sahelian zone, built with local materials are energy-intensive and sources of discomfort for the occupants. However, the role of housing is to provide man with shelter which protects him from external climatic conditions and offers him thermal comfort.  In this work, we present a numerical study of the thermal behavior of a wall containing a phase change material (PCM) in the Sahelian zone. The MCP used in this study is RT27 paraffin with a melting temperature of 27°C and a latent heat of fusion of 179kJ/kg. The equations obtained were adimensionalized and discredited by the finite element method and solved using COMSOL Multiphysics software version 5.3. To this end, we were interested on the one hand in the study of the evolution of the flow of heat and the temperature at the level of the external and internal walls of the wall. On the other hand, we studied the effect of the location of a layer of PCM mortar, simple plaster or cement plaster on the temperature of the internal wall of the wall. The results show the magnitude of heat flux and temperature is greatly reduced by the incorporation of PCM into the wall.