The effect of using phase change material in the natural ventilation duct of a building on temperature uniformity at different hours of the day

The effect of using n-eicosane phase change material (PCM) in the natural air conditioning duct of a building on temperature uniformity is numerically studied. Three chambers saturated with PCM are put in the center of the duct in a linear pattern for this purpose. The air enters the duct at a constant velocity and temperature and exits after colliding with the PCM chambers. The quantity of air output temperature (T-Out) is evaluated by varying the temperature and air entry velocity at various periods. Therefore, the temperature contours in the PCM chamber are evaluated at different times. Commercial software is used to run one-dimensional and two-dimensional simulations. When the PCM is completely charged, the T-Out reaches the temperature at the channel entry. Due to the solidification of the whole PCM chamber during the discharge operation, the temperature at the exit matches the entrance temperature. The decrease in the inlet temperature (T-In) in discharge mode of PCM leads to the same result. As a result increments in the air velocity in both charging and discharge of the PCM processes reduce the time when the T-Out reaches the T-In of the duct. This procedure is described in further depth in the following introduction.