Based on the analogy between electricity and heat, we find that electric transformers and heat exchangers have many similarities. However, unlike transformers where Vo can be higher than Vi, the outlet temperatures of conventional heat exchangers are limited (i.e. Tc,o<Th,i, Th,o>Tc,i). Therefore, the...</th,i,>

If buildings can change “clothes” according to seasons like human being, the energy consumption for their space heating or cooling will be saved greatly. For this purpose, the thermophysical properties of building external wall should be self-adjusted according to outdoor temperature. In...

Due to its large apparent specific heat during the phase change period, microencapsulated phase change material slurry (MPCMS) has been suggested as a medium for heat transfer. In this paper, the convective heat transfer characteristics of MPCMS flowing in a circular tube were experimentally and...

Lightweight envelopes are widely used in modern buildings but they lack sufficient thermal capacity for passive solar utilization. An attractive solution to increase the building thermal capacity is to incorporate phase change material (PCM) into the building envelope. In this paper, a...

Performance of a hybrid heating-system, combined with thermal storage using shape-stabilized phase-change material (SSPCM) plates, is investigated numerically. A direct gain passive solar house in Beijing is considered, which includes SSPCM plates as the inner linings of walls and the ceiling....

Accurate measurement of thermophysical properties of PCM-concrete brick is very important for simulation and evaluation of its energy saving performance. However, there is currently no effective way to accurately measure thermophysical properties of PCM-concrete brick. First we analyzed the...

Desiccant wheels are effective dehumidification devices. The performance of desiccant dehumidification and cooling systems is examined in this paper. Based on a theoretical investigation, six kinds of systems (systems A–F) were analyzed as the system changed from being reversible to being...

Multi-stage desiccant systems are an effective way to improve the performance of desiccant dehumidification systems, which can greatly decrease the required regeneration temperature and make possible the utilization of exhaust heat from the heat pump. The performance of a heat pump-driven...