Performance of a curved corrugated surface Trombe wall coupled phase change material in buildings by numerical models and experiments

The energy consumption of the HVAC system represents a significant proportion of the total energy required to maintain the thermal environment of a building. Reducing the reliance on the HVAC system and improving the indoor thermal comfort, this study proposed a novel curved corrugated surface Trombe wall (CCTW). Also, the phase change material (PCM) was combined with this CCTW to further improve the ability of energy storage. The thermal resistance–capacitance (RC) method was employed to establish its heat transfer model, and the accuracy of the RC model was verified through experiments. Experimental results showed a great agreement between the RC model and the experiment, with a mean relative error of 3.7 %. The RC model is coupled with the building model established by TRNSYS software for joint simulation. Results highlighted that the average and peak air flow temperatures in the outlet of the CCTW+PCM were 19.4 °C and 28.9 °C, respectively, which were 26.8 % and 35.0 % higher than the traditional Trombe wall. The model building with the CCTW+PCM could reach a higher indoor temperature, with the largest average and maximum values of 14.0 °C and 20.0 °C, respectively, which were 32 % and 42 % higher than the model building with traditional Trombe wall. Particularly, the application of the CCTW+PCM could fully satisfy the indoor heating needs of the building with heating degree-day of 1103. The results demonstrated that the CCTW+PCM could enhance indoor thermal comfort and be beneficial in reducing the energy consumption of the HVAC system.