@article{Kolaitis_Garay Martinez_Founti_2015, title={An experimental and numerical simulation study of an active solar wall enhanced with phase change materials}, volume={3}, url={https://jfde.eu/index.php/jfde/article/view/27}, DOI={10.7480/jfde.2015.1.920}, abstractNote={<div id="article1-front" class="front"> <p id="d44850e109">Solar walls can be used to increase the overall energy efficiency of a building. Phase Change Materials (PCM) are capable of increasing the effective thermal mass of building elements, thus decreasing the overall energy consumption. Recently, the incorporation of PCM in a solar wall has been proposed, aiming to increase the total energy efficiency of the system. The main scope of this work is to investigate the thermal behaviour of a PCM-enhanced solar wall (PCMESW), using experimental and numerical simulation techniques. A prototype PCMESW is installed in a large-scale test facility and is exposed to dynamically changing climate conditions. A broad range of sensors, used to monitor the time-evolution of several important physical parameters, is employed to assess the dynamic response of the PCMESW. In addition, a Computational Fluid Dynamics tool is used to numerically investigate the thermal behaviour of the PCMESW prototype. Predictions of the developing flow- and thermal-field in the PCMESW’s air cavity are validated by means of comparison with the obtained measurements; in general, good levels of agreement are observed. Results of the numerical simulations may support the design optimization process of innovative PCMESW systems.</p> <div> </div> </div> <div id="article1-body" class="body"> </div>}, number={1}, journal={Journal of Facade Design and Engineering}, author={Kolaitis, Dionysios I. and Garay Martinez, Roberto and Founti, Maria A.}, year={2015}, month={Jun.}, pages={71–80} }