No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Practical solutions with PCM for providing thermal stability of temporary house, school and hospital in disaster situations
Abstract
Globally, humanity is at risk from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To address the shortage of beds in quarantining those infected with COVID-19, hospitals have prepared temporary beds. However, for temporary hospital beds, it is difficult to maintain a comfortable temperature due to lack of insulation and heat storage. Phase change materials (PCMs) are used to provide temperature stability and control for temporary structure. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct experiments that analyze the effect of room temperature stabilization using a PCM. The method of macro packed PCM (MPPCM) was used to apply the PCM to buildings. The MPPCM installation location was selected and the effect of reducing the box temperature was analyzed, according to the strength of the heat source. As a result, a maximum reduction of 4.9 °C in the box temperature was achieved. Therefore, the application of MPPCM to buildings give to stabilize the box temperature. And the result showed the possibility of providing a comfortable indoor space for temporary hospital beds.
... However, the PCM leakage problem has still not been solved. In recent decades, the phase-change enclosure technology has developed to a new stage, and preparation methods for composite phase-change materials (CPCMs) have emerged, including a microcapsule encapsulation method [10,11] and a composite shape-stabilizing method to maintain solidsolid phase transformation [12][13][14][15]. The microcapsule encapsulation method refers to the encapsulation of micro-level PCM with certain materials to form capsule-like composite materials. ...
... Thermocouple and shutdown time, energy supply strategy) and data acquisition interval [10,13,16,25], the detailed control methods of each energy supply system in this experiment are divided into four strategies. ...
The rapid growth of world energy consumption and massive carbon dioxide emissions have exacerbated energy shortages and environmental pollution. It is important to put forward effective means to reduce energy consumption. In this study, paraffin was adsorbed on expanded graphite (EG) to prepare composite phase change material (CPCM), and microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCMs) were used to perform secondary apparent adsorption on the surface of CPCMs to further improve the stability and latent heat. Two kinds of composite micro-phase change materials (C-MPCM1 and C-MPCM2) with thermal conductivity of 3.78 W/(m·K) and 3.45 W/(m·K), respectively, were prepared. The C-MPCM was pressed into phase-change energy storage bricks and embedded into heating/cooling-medium coils to form a phase-change radiant floor and ceiling. The scaled-down experiments and the real-size outdoor experiments were used to verify each other and proved that the optimal water supply temperature is 17 °C in summer and 40 °C in winter. The energy consumption of the room with dual-active cascade phase change radiant terminal in the flow mode of “heating medium-floor-ceiling; refrigerant medium-ceiling-floor” is 44.79 W/m² for cooling load in summer and 47.08 W/m² for heat load in winter, with significant energy efficiency and comfort. The energy utilization efficiency was improved.
... In recent years, more and more research has focused on how to improve the sustainability [5] and human comfort of temporary buildings while maintaining the rapid construction characteristics at the same time by applying new materials [6,7] or proposing new design schemes. Grosso and Thiebat [8] proposed a life-cycle environmental assessment method based on the embedded energy calculations of respective components related to foundations, structures, and envelopes of buildings made of different construction materials. ...
... Through a case study, considerations of energy efficiency and environmental impacts proved to be necessary, especially during the early design phase of a project. Yun et al. from Yonsei University in Korea [6] came out with a practical solution to adopt phase change materials (PCMs) to help stabilise and control room temperatures in temporary hospitals (Figure 1) in case excessive temperature differences would cause more dissolved viruses in the humid air and increase the infection risks, verifying this solution based on box experiments. This idea was also proposed and discussed by other researchers [9][10][11] through numerical simulations. ...
With the applications of new construction technologies and design ideas, innovative construction methods and architectural designs promote overall productivity and enrich architectural impressions. However, faced with the contradictions between construction efficiency, project benefits, and sustainability, together with the dynamically variable social demands and monotonous design of current temporary light steel structures, a new type of growable light steel structure with parameterisable and assembled architectural units is proposed. Besides, a fast-assembled track foundation that can be detachable and recycled is adopted. Both can promote the growth of light steel units. To be specific, its architectural spaces can be extended and contracted, and the structural form and service space can be adjusted by the reorganisation and optimisation of unit arrangements. Meanwhile, due to the advantages of information integrations and 3D visualisations of BIM technology, a BIM-based design and construction method of growable light steel structures is studied. Based on the arrangements of track and parametrically transformed light steel units, this study expands the architectural forms of light steel structures. It explores their respective applications in practical architectural design to solve current shortages of land resources, properly respond to variable building environments, simultaneously enrich the design schemes of current light steel structures, improve the utilisation rate of structural spaces, and enhance the aesthetic sensations of buildings.
... However, the average indoor temperature of Tent 1 was constantly more stable than that of Tent 0, with the most prominent stability found in Periods A and B. The result indicates that the temperature readings for Tent 1 constantly exceeded the values depicted by the outdoor temperature. This aligns with a previous study by Yun et al. [32] due to the functions of thermal storage. ...
Glamping has become an alternative to camping with a unique nature experience. However, maintaining the temperature and humidity for glamping tents in highland areas remains challenging. Thermal conditions inside a tent fluctuate more drastically than outdoors, affected by the outdoor conditions, leading to significantly higher temperatures inside the tent during daytime and lower temperatures during nighttime. This study investigates the performance of bamboo-encapsulated bio-based phase change materials (PCM) panels as thermal stabilisers inside glamping tents in highlands. For five cycles, the environmental factors were measured, including temperature and relative humidity (RH) inside glamping tents, with (Tent 1) and without PCM panels (Tent 0), and outdoors in a highland area in Indonesia. The measured temperature within the glamping tents was compared with the outdoor temperature, divided into four periods in the daytime (Periods A-D) and one in the nighttime (Period E). Additionally, response surface methodology was performed to understand the response of various factors influencing the performance of PCM panels. This study demonstrates that PCM panels substantially improve temperature control in glamping tents. During the daytime, bio-based PCM panels effectively maintained the indoor temperatures of Tent 1 up to 3.99 °C colder than Tent 0. In conclusion, this study highlights the significant impact of PCM panels in stabilising the temperature inside the glamping tent, which also affects RH.
... They found an energy savings of approximately 2000 kWh when the insulation thickness was increased to 50 mm. In cooling dominated areas, the energy performance and inner comfort were often improved through the use of new materials [13][14][15]. Ye et al. [16] evaluated the potential of PCMs (Phase Change Materials) to improve the thermal behavior of prefabricated THs, in different climate regions in China. They showed that the integration of PCMs can greatly reduce indoor temperature fluctuation, which is a benefit for reducing the discomfort hours and the energy demand. ...
... Moreover, temperature stability and control for temporary constructions can be provided by PCMs, which is an excellent approach in crisis situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic [28]. Inside-building air quality has a significant impact on human comfort, and this is a major post-pandemic concern [30]. ...
With the recent large increase in the building sector's energy use to provide thermal comfort to consumers, the restrictions of climate change, and the scarcity of energy supplies, there has been a need to develop ways to reduce energy consumption. The use of phase change materials (PCMs) as a thermal energy storage (TES) system has attracted a lot of attention as a technique to improve thermal performance, conserve energy, and improve occupant comfort. When storing energy via phase change, the key advantage in terms of building materials is the higher energy density, which indicates that more energy can be stored in a constant volume. This study focuses on the vital role of PCMs in building applications by presenting the different classifications of PCMs as well as their integration techniques, systems, and benefits for building applications. Different case studies for full scale buildings are presented. A design strategy is concluded for integrating PCMs in buildings.
Keywords: Phase change material (PCM), Thermal energy storage, Building application, PCM systems, Design strategy.
The fundamental requirements for thermal comfort along with the unbalanced growth in the energy demand and consumption worldwide have triggered the development and innovation of advanced materials for high thermal‐management capabilities. However, continuous development remains a significant challenge in designing thermally robust materials for the efficient thermal management of industrial devices and manufacturing technologies. The notable achievements thus far in nanopolyhybrid design technologies include multiresponsive energy harvesting/conversion (e.g., light, magnetic, and electric), thermoregulation (including microclimate), energy saving in construction, as well as the miniaturization, integration, and intelligentization of electronic systems. These are achieved by integrating nanomaterials and polymers with desired engineering strategies. Herein, fundamental design approaches that consider diverse nanomaterials and the properties of nanopolyhybrids are introduced, and the emerging applications of hybrid composites such as personal and electronic thermal management and advanced medical applications are highlighted. Finally, current challenges and outlook for future trends and prospects are summarized to develop nanopolyhybrid materials.
Thermal energy storage shows great potential for improving the energy performance of building heating systems. Phase-change materials are a promising type of storage medium for building envelopes due to their high storage capacity. However, the low thermal conductivity and easy leakage of the hydrated salts inhibit their practical application. In this study, sodium acetate trihydrate–acetamide/modified expanded graphite was prepared as a novel thermal-stable storage medium for space heating applications. Leakage protection tests showed that modified expanded graphite presented a better compatibility with hydrated salts. The thermal conductivity of the novel composite reached 1.87 W/m∙K, 4.5 times higher than that of the pristine mixture. Moreover, the PCM exhibited a great thermal reliability with a high latent heat of 161.9 kJ/kg and an acceptable supercooling degree of 2.2 °C after cycling. The thermal performance of radiant floor heating systems with different layer structures was evaluated. The heat storage and release of the storage medium were beneficial for reducing the temperature fluctuation and improving the indoor comfort. The operation cost of the system without the storage medium was 73.1% higher than that with the storage medium. This performance enhancement suggests that the novel composite is a competitive candidate for heating applications.
The prefabricated temporary house (PTH) has been widely used in various scenarios because of its convenience and environmental protection. However, PTHs are usually lightweight buildings with weak thermal inertia, resulting in poor indoor thermal comfort. Numerical research was conducted on the potential of phase change materials (PCMs) as a passive alternative to enhance the performance of the PTH throughout the year in this study. The influences of some critical factors such as thickness, phase change temperature, ventilation, building orientation, and climatic region on the thermal characteristics of PTHs were evaluated. The thermal comfort hours and energy consumption were employed as indicators to quantify the influence of PCMs on the dynamic thermal performance of PTHs. The numerical results indicated that the thickness had different effects on the PTH in different climate regions. When the total thickness of the wall was constant, I-level thermal comfort hours of the PCM rooms were higher than those of the reference room. For the Beijing area, when the wall was composed of a 100 mm insulation board, the indoor I-level thermal comfort hours were 803 h, while when the wall was composed of 90 mm insulation boards and 10 mm PCM panels, the indoor I-level thermal comfort hours increased to 1511 h. Moreover, it was worth noting that the optimal PCMs for different building orientations were basically the same, but the optimal PCMs for the PTH with and without air conditioning were different. Ventilation significantly increased thermal comfort hours and reduced energy consumption for the PTH in Guangzhou, while a larger ventilation rate would reduce the thermal comfort hours of the PTH in Kunming. In general, the numerical results supported and highlighted the potential of integrating PCM in the PTH to enhance living comfort and reduce energy consumption.
More airborne-infection isolation rooms (AIIRs) are needed in centers that treat severely affected COVID-19 patients. Wards and rooms must be carefully checked to ensure an ample supply of medical air and oxygen. Anterooms adjacent to AIIRS are required to maintain pressure differentials and provide an area for donning/doffing or disinfecting medical equipment.
Typical Meteorological Year Dataset is necessary for the renewable energy feasibility study. Since National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been built Typical Meteorological Year Dataset in 1978, gridded datasets taken from numerical weather prediction or satellite imagery are employed to produce Typical Meteorological Year Dataset. In general, Typical Meteorological Year Dataset is generated by using long-term in-situ observations. However, solar insolation is not usually measured at synoptic observing stations and therefore it is limited to build the Typical Meteorological Year Dataset with only in-situ observation. This study attempts to build the Typical Meteorological Year Dataset with satellite derived solar insolation as an alternative and then we evaluate the Typical Meteorological Year Dataset made by using satellite derived solar irradiance at Daejeon ground station. The solar irradiance is underestimated when satellite imagery is employed.
This work investigates energetically and financially a building solar cooling system with radiant walls which includes phase change materials (PCMs). The examined building has a floor area of 100 m ² and it is located in Athens (Greece). The solar cooling system includes evacuated tube collectors coupled to a single-effect absorption chiller for producing cold water for the building radiant walls. The use of PCM is examined in all the building's outer walls and different scenarios with PCM in only some walls are also investigated in details. Different combinations of collecting areas and storage tank volumes are examined in order to determine the optimum design for every scenario. The study is performed with the commercial software TRNSYS which uses an active layer to simulate the radiant wall. The most important calculated parameters of this work are the auxiliary energy consumption, the solar coverage and the indoor temperature of the building. The results indicate that the best location of PCM layer is in south wall with a reduction of the auxiliary energy 30%, an increase of the solar coverage 3.8% and a reduction of the total system cost of about 3%.
The Tohoku region, Northeast Japan, was hit by a gigantic earthquake which occurred in the Pacific close to Tohoku, and subsequently
by a giant tsunami. These hazards have caused huge damage on the eastern coast Japan. The earthquake’s magnitude was 9.0,
the strongest ever recorded in Japan. The tsunami was also historical as its run-up height reached over 39m. As of early
May, 2011, over 24 thousand people were reported as dead or missing. Moreover, serious accidents at the Fukushima Nuclear
Power Plants No.1 were caused by the effects of the tsunami. Therefore, the damage faced by Japanese people can be seen as
a giant composite disaster. Although Japan, and the northeast of Japan in particular, has over a long time period increased
its preparedness against earthquakes and tsunamis, huge damage still occurred. This paper considers why this tragedy occurred,
and what unrecognized factors contributed to the high vulnerability of the area. To assist in answering such questions, this
paper presents a timely report of the features of the earthquake and tsunami, the damage they caused, and the early efforts
for recovery and reconstruction.
KeywordsGreat East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami–Damage–Tsunami prevention measures–Nuclear power plant accident–Recovery and reconstruction
The main route of transmission of SARS CoV infection is presumed to be respiratory droplets. However the virus is also detectable in other body fluids and excreta. The stability of the virus at different temperatures and relative humidity on smooth surfaces were studied. The dried virus on smooth surfaces retained its viability for over 5 days at temperatures of 22-25°C and relative humidity of 40-50%, that is, typical air-conditioned environments. However, virus viability was rapidly lost (>3 log(10)) at higher temperatures and higher relative humidity (e.g., 38°C, and relative humidity of >95%). The better stability of SARS coronavirus at low temperature and low humidity environment may facilitate its transmission in community in subtropical area (such as Hong Kong) during the spring and in air-conditioned environments. It may also explain why some Asian countries in tropical area (such as Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand) with high temperature and high relative humidity environment did not have major community outbreaks of SARS.
The performance of combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system is greatly affected by its operating strategy and design. In this paper, a new electric load following (NELF) strategy was developed. It is based on the alternation between absorption cooling and electric cooling according to the building energy requirements, for hybrid chiller based CCHP systems. A comparison of the new proposed strategy with the modified electric load following (MELF) and electric load following (ELF) strategies is performed. A multi-objective optimization approach based on genetic algorithm is carried out to predict the optimal capacity of CCHP systems. Performance criteria like primary energy consumption, annual total cost and carbon dioxide emission were considered as objective functions. The performances of these CCHP systems and operation strategies were examined and compared with the separated production (SP) system for a Mosque complex located in Algiers, Algeria. Results show that hybrid chiller CCHP based NELF strategy is the best choice, which can reduce the primary energy consumption by 34.45 GWh/year, annual total cost by 0.313 million €/year and carbon dioxide emission by 8.37 kton/year. Compared to the other configurations and strategies, the hybrid CCHP based NELF achieves better energetic, economic and environmental performance under the optimized conditions.
Silicon-based aerogel (SA) has attracted increasingly more attention in the field of thermal insulation as its extraordinary properties such as ultralight, ultra-low thermal conductivity, and strong designability. However, SA thermal insulation materials (SA-TIMs) have several intrinsic defects such as low strength and poor toughness, which make their processing and handling difficult and restrict their practical applications. Composition optimization and microstructure reconstruction are the most convincing and effective strategies to improve their mechanical and thermal insulation properties, achieve more functions, and reduce cost. This review encompasses a complete survey of scientific achievements related to the two strategies, describing their characteristics, microstructures, and properties. The influence of different compositions and various assembly structures on the final properties of SA-TIMs is thoroughly reported. The main focus of this review is to point out the design principles of SA-TIMs and discuss the most promising development trends towards their widespread applications.
Bio-insulation materials have attracted increasing attention in building energy saving field, for they have low thermal conductivity, renewable and environmental friendly characters. The authors carried out experimental research on a novel bio-insulation, which was prepared by using rice husk and metakaolin as raw materials, hydrogen peroxide as foaming agent. This study discussed the effect of rice husk/geopolymer mass ratio (R/S), foaming agent/geopolymer mass ratio (F/S) and prewetting water/rice husk mass ratio (Wp/R) on the density, thermal conductivity, high temperature resistance, compressive strength, and water and moisture absorption properties. The experimental results showed that the density of the rice husk/geopolymer foam composite ranges from 174 to 813 kg/m³, and the thermal conductivity ranges from 0.082 to 0.184 W/(m.K) with the compressive strength varying from 0.26 to 7.24 MPa. In addition, the water and moisture absorption rates are in the range of 28.3-93.6% and 9.7-18.6%, respectively. The new composite showed a satisfying performance and can be used in buildings to realize energy saving.
Green roof technology is increasingly being used to improve the energy and environmental performance of buildings. However, the description of the thermal behaviour of green roofs is very complex since it depends on several variables and relies on intricate phenomena.
In this work the authors characterize a green roof system that replaces the conventional drainage and water storage polyethylene membranes with insulation cork boards (ICB). To enable the experimental characterization of this system, a double walk-in bioclimatic chamber was designed and built to recreate indoor and outdoor environmental conditions. Winter and summer environments with steady and unsteady conditions in both dry and wet states were simulated. Thermocouples and heat flux sensors were used to collect data over time from the different layers of the green roof prototypes.
Measurements were first performed on a concrete slab insulated with ICB to assess the contribution of the latter to the thermal performance of the system. The effect on the heat transfer was further evaluated for systems of increasing complexity, containing first a substrate layer and then vegetation. It was noted that the substrate and vegetation layers improved the thermal insulation, and reduced heat fluxes and the thermal amplitude within the system. The vegetation layer was found to be of key importance to the overall performance of the green roof. It was also found that ICB and the substrate layers lose part of their insulation capacity when the system was wetted, although it was fully restored in the ICB layer within a few hours.
Extensive electric power is required to maintain indoor thermal comfort using heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, of which, water-cooled chiller plants consume more than 50% of the total electric power. To improve energy efficiency, supervisory optimisation control can be adopted. The controlled variables are usually optimised according to instant building cooling load and ambient wet bulb air temperature at regular time intervals. In this way, the energy efficiency of chiller plants has been improved. However, with an inherent assumption that the instant building cooling load and ambient wet bulb temperature remain constant in the coming time interval, the energy efficiency potential has not been fully realised, especially when cooling loads vary suddenly and extremely. To solve this problem, a cooling load forecasting-based predictive optimisation method is proposed. Instead of minimising the instant system power according to the instant building cooling load and ambient wet bulb temperature, the controlled variables are derived to minimise the sum of the instant system power and one-time-step-ahead future system power according to both instant and forecasted future building cooling loads. With this method, the energy efficiency potential of a chiller plant can be further improved without shortening the operation time interval. 80% redundant energy consumption has been reduced for the sample chiller plant; energy can be saved for chiller plants that work for years. The evaluation on the effect of cooling load forecasting accuracy turns out that the more accurate the forecasts are, the more redundant energy consumption can be reduced.
Worldwide growth and the pursuit of comfort in buildings have led to significant increase in energy consumption, which is considered a current issue. Phase change material (PCM), a thermal energy storage (TES) material, is considered an effective and promising material to reduce energy consumption. In recent years, research on the application of PCM to provide higher comfort for occupants has been growing rapidly. Studies show that it is necessary to consider the optimized phase change temperature of PCMs within the comfort temperature and specific climate conditions. Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the best optimized PCM under thermal comfort range in the climate conditions of South Korea, and analyze the energy savings of PCMs, using DesignBuilder. The prepared PCMs were n-octadecane (OT), n-heptadecane (HT), and n-hexadecane (HX), which phase change temperatures were close to the thermal comfort range. The results of the circulation water bath test showed that the phase change temperature of the mixed PCMs by OT and HT was (22–23)°C, within the thermal comfort range. According to the various mixing ratios of OT to HT, the phase change temperatures of PCMs for OH91, OH73, OH55, OH37, and OH19 appeared at ((24–26), (23–24), (22–23), (21–23), and (20-22)) °C, respectively. For energy simulation, gypsum boards with OT, OHs, and HT were prepared, and analyzed by replacing conventional gypsum board of the standard residential construction house model in South Korea. As a result, the maximum energy savings were shown by OH73 in cooling, and OH19 in heating. Consequently, the maximum total energy savings were achieved for OH73, which means that the best optimized PCM for South Korea demonstrated a phase change temperature of (23–24) °C.
The window energy consumption plays an important role in the building energy consumption. Recent researches on the double-glazed window filled with PCM (DW + PCM) show that in summer, the released unwanted heat into the room in the discharge period of PCM in summer night is considerable as well as the overheating phenomenon from the completely melted PCM is non-ignorable, both of which have an adverse effect on the building insulation performance. In order to solve the problems, a configuration of triple-glazed window filled with PCM (TW + PCM) is proposed and the mathematical model is established in this paper. Through the simulation, the dynamic thermal performances of the TW + PCM are obtained. The results show that in typical sunny summer day, the temperature decrement factors are 0.75 and 0.63 respectively, and the energy consumption of TW + PCM is reduced by 21.30% and 32.80% respectively, compared with DW + PCM and triple-glazed hollow window (TW). In addition, the TW + PCM shows a good performance under the typical winter conditions. In conclusion, TW + PCM can avoid overheating phenomenon effectively and has advantageous performance on heat preservation and insulation.
Thermal comfort (TC) parameters were measured in 130 rooms from nursing homes (NH), following ISO 7730:2005 in order to evaluate the influence of winter season TC indices on quality of life (QoL) in older individuals. Mean radiant temperature (mrT), predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percent of dissatisfied people (PPD) indices, and the respective measurement uncertainties were calculated using Monte Carlo Method. The WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was conducted from September 2012 to April 2013, during the winter season TC sampling campaign. Winter PMV and PPD indices showed significant differences between seasons in median values for comfort. There were also significant differences between seasons for air temperature, air velocity, mrT, and relative humidity. The winter PMV index displayed a "slightly cool" [≤-1] to "cool" [≤-2] in thermal sensation scale [-3 to 3]. PPD index reflected this discomfort as evidenced by a high rate of predicted dissatisfied occupants (64%). The influence of winter season TC on older individual QoL results demonstrated that values of PMV above -0.7 had higher mean score of QoL (coefficient estimate: 11.13 units) compared with values of PMV below -0.7. These findings are of relevance to public health and may be useful for understanding NH indoor environment variables thus implementing preventive policies in terms of standards and guidelines for these susceptible populations.
Phase change material (PCM) filled window shows significances in the building energy consumption. Recent researches on the double-pane window filled with PCM (DW + PCM) show that in summer, the released latent heat from PCM into the room during summer night is considerable as well as the overheating risk from the completely melted PCM is non-ignorable, both of which have adverse effects on the building insulation performance. In order to solve the problems, a configuration of triple-pane window (TW + PCM), the outer cavity of which is filled with PCM, is proposed in this paper. Experiment to investigate the thermal performance of TW + PCM is conducted in the summer days. Experimental systems of two reference windows (DW + PCM and triple-pane window (TW)) are also set up successively. The results show that compared with DW + PCM and TW, the peak temperature on the interior surface of TW + PCM reduces by 2.7 °C and 5.5 °C respectively, which means the overheating risk is avoided effectively, and heat entered the building through the TW + PCM reduces by 16.6% and 28% respectively in the sunny summer day. In the rainy summer day, the TW + PCM shows advantageous performance on reducing the temperature fluctuation of the interior surface and the heat entered the building.
New trends in building energy efficiency include thermal storage in building elements that can be achieved via the incorporation of Phase Change Materials (PCM). Gypsum plasterboards enhanced with micro-encapsulated paraffin-based PCM have recently become commercially available. This work aims to shed light on the fire safety aspects of using such innovative building materials, by means of an extensive experimental and numerical simulation study. The main thermo-physical properties and the fire behaviour of PCM-enhanced plasterboards are investigated, using a variety of methods (i.e. thermo-gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, cone calorimeter, scanning electron microscopy). It is demonstrated that in the high temperature environment developing during a fire, the PCM paraffins evaporate and escape through the failed encapsulation shells and the gypsum plasterboard's porous structure, emerging in the fire region, where they ignite increasing the effective fire load. The experimental data are used to develop a numerical model that accurately describes the fire behaviour of PCM-enhanced gypsum plasterboards. The model is implemented in a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code and is validated against cone calorimeter test results. CFD simulations are used to demonstrate that the use of paraffin-based PCM-enhanced construction materials may, in case the micro-encapsulation shells fail, adversely affect the fire safety characteristics of a building.
When designing the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) system for a surgery room, it is important to consider both temperature and humidity. Using a rule of thumb or a temperature-only design approach often leads to a system that is unable to meet both requirements, especially when the surgeon lowers the thermostat setpoint. Systems solutions capable of meeting both temperature and humidity requirements may require new equipment, make use of an existing central plant, or a combination. As compared to one cooling coil and two cooling coils in series, the series desiccant wheel delivers drier air (at a lower dew point) without lowering the coil temperature. An existing chiller plant may provide all of the cooling capacity because the temperature of the air leaving the cooling coil can be warmer than in the cool-and-reheat systems. Alternatively, if the cooling equipment serving the surgery room is separate from the existing chiller plant, the series desiccant wheel system requires less overall cooling capacity and no reheat at design load.
The 26 December 2004 tsunami significantly affected the coastal regions of southern peninsular India. About 8,835 human lives were lost in the tsunami in mainland India, with 86 persons reported missing. Two reconnaissance teams traveled by road to survey the damage across mainland India. Geographic and topological features affecting tsunami behavior on the mainland were observed. The housing stock along the coast, as well as bridges and roads, suffered extensive damage. Structures were damaged by direct pressure from tsunami waves, and scouring damage was induced by the receding waves. Many of the affected structures consisted of nonengineered, poorly constructed houses belonging to the fishing community. The Great Sumatra earthquake of 26 December 2004 did not cause shaking-induced damage to the mainland of India, but the consequent Indian Ocean tsunami had a sig-nificant effect on the southern peninsular region of India Jain et al. 2005. The tsunami severely affected the coastal regions of the eastern state of Tamil Nadu, the union terri-tory of Pondicherry, and the western state of Kerala. Two reconnaissance teams under-took road trips to survey the damage across mainland India. One team traveled from the Ernakulam district in Kerala, then continued south along the west coast to the southern-most tip of mainland India Kanyakumari and up along the east coast to Tuticorin. The coastal journey was then resumed from Nagapattinam, moved northward, and concluded at Chennai. The second team traveled from Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh along the coast down to Chennai Figure 1. This paper is based on observations made during these trips.
A field investigation of the 26 December 2004 south east Asia earthquake- and tsunami-affected areas in Thailand and Indonesia was conducted. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of the event on buildings, bridges and infrastructure. The effect of the tsunami on structures and infrastructure produced surprising behaviour with several new lessons to learn. Failure of critical infrastructure such as bridges, harbour docks, hospitals and communication systems delayed search and rescue operations and relief efforts, which increased the suffering of the survivors. The causes of structural failures due to the earthquake included soft story, strong beam–weak column designs, short columns, deficient beam–column joints, non-ductile detailing, unreinforced masonry and inadequate construction quality. It is concluded that it is necessary to design critical structures and important infrastructure to survive tsunami effects. Well-designed and constructed structures with attention to details and no significant additional cost survived the earthquake and the resulting tsunami with minimum damage.
Efficient and economical technology that can be used to store large amounts of heat or cold in a definite volume is the subject of research for a long time. Latent heat storage in a phase change material (PCM) is very attractive because of its high-energy storage density and its isothermal behavior during the phase change process. Thermal storage plays a major role in building energy conservation, which is greatly assisted by the incorporation of latent heat storage in building products. Increasing the thermal storage capacity of a building can enhance human comfort by decreasing the frequency of internal air temperature swings so that the indoor air temperature is closer to the desired temperature for a longer period of time. However, it is impossible to select a phase change material to suit all the weather condition in a given location. The PCM that reduces the internal air temperature swing during the winter season is not suitable for the summer season as the PCM remains in the liquid state at all the times during these months and hence the system cannot exploit the latent heat effect. This paper attempts to study the thermal performance of an inorganic eutectic PCM based thermal storage system for thermal management in a residential building. The system has been analyzed by theoretical and experimental investigation. A double layer PCM concept is studied in detail to achieve year round thermal management in a passive manner.
The purpose of this survey was to measure the thermal environment in a hospital during winter, and to investigate the subjective responses of patients and staff via a questionnaire. The air temperature and humidity in the sickrooms and nurse stations were measured for 3 months during winter. After 2 months, we introduced humidifiers into about half of the rooms and nurse stations as a method of improving the environment, and evaluated the effects of the installed humidifiers on the thermal conditions. In all, 36 patients and 45 staff members were asked once a week about subjective symptoms (dry and itchy skin, thirst, etc.). Before setting up the humidifiers, the existence of a low-humidity environment in the hospital during winter was confirmed, with the levels of relative humidity and humidity ratio reaching under 50% and 5g/kg DA, respectively, which is known to promote the spread of influenza viruses. However, the introduction of the humidifiers increased the relative humidity in sickrooms from 32.8% to 43.9% on average, and the air humidity in sickrooms thus almost reached the optimum range suggested by the Hospital Engineering Association of Japan (HEAJ). Additionally, complaints of thermal discomfort and dryness of air decreased among the staff, though not among the patients, after the humidifiers were installed. These results suggest that introducing humidifiers into a hospital during winter is an effective method of improving the low-humidity environment and relieving the discomfort of staff members.
The influence of thermal comfort on the quality of life of nursing home residents
- Mendes
A. Mendes, A.L. Papoila, P. Carreiro-Martins, L. Aguiar, S. Bonassi, I. Caires,
T. Palmeiro, Á.S. Ribeiro, P. Neves, C. Pereira, A. Botelho, N. Neuparth, J.
P. Teixeira, The influence of thermal comfort on the quality of life of nursing home
residents, J. Toxicol. Environ. Health Part A Curr. Issues. 80 (2017) 729-739,
https://doi.org/10.1080/15287394.2017.1286929.
Developing energy-efficient temporary houses for sustainable urban regeneration: manufacturing homes with loess, pearlite, and vermiculite
- Yang
S. Yang, S. Wi, H.M. Cho, J.H. Park, B.Y. Yun, S. Kim, Developing energy-efficient
temporary houses for sustainable urban regeneration: manufacturing homes with
loess, pearlite, and vermiculite, Sustain. Cities Soc. 61 (2020) 102287, https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102287.
Method and System for Evaluating the Efficiency of an Air Conditioning Apparatus
- L J Seigel
L.J. Seigel, Method and System for Evaluating the Efficiency of an Air Conditioning
Apparatus, 2008.
Instant heat exactly where and when needed
- I Industrial
- H Incandescent
I. Industrial, H. Incandescent, Instant heat exactly where and when needed. https:
//www.lighting.philips.co.kr/prof/conventional-lamps-and-tubes/special-lamp
s/infrared-lamps/infrared-industrial-heat-incandescent, 2020.