PCM cold storage under various ventilation conditions

Cold storage is a way to deal with peak cooling loads. Cold storage integrated with building structures is independent of the approach used for building cooling – it can be used with passive cooling as well as mechanical cooling. High thermal storage capacity in a narrow temperature interval makes phase change materials (PCMs) a suitable medium for cold storage in built environments. A set of experiments was performed with the aim to investigate performance of PCM cold storage in building structures under various ventilation strategies. The experiments were carried out in two identical test rooms located in an attic of a building. The main problem of PCM cold storage in building structures is the discharge (rejection) of heat. Three ventilation strategies were used to reject heat from cold storage. These strategies were: natural ventilation, mechanical supply of unconditioned outdoor air and mechanical supply of air-conditioned air.