Thermal Investigation of PCM Capsule-Embedded Walls for Peak Heat Flux Reduction and Thermal Lag Enhancement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70917/jcc-2026-030Keywords:
Phase change materials, wall thermal performance, building envelope, numerical modelling, thermal lagAbstract
Reducing heat gain through building envelopes is important for improving indoor conditions and lowering cooling demand in hot climates. Phase change materials (PCMs) can provide passive thermal storage by absorbing and releasing heat over a narrow temperature range. This study numerically investigates the thermal performance of a wall embedded with aluminium PCM capsules under summer conditions in Islamabad, Pakistan, where relevant specific assessments remain limited. A transient three-dimensional CFD model was developed to compare a PCM-integrated wall with a reference wall without PCM. The effects of capsule diameter, capsule number and capsule wall thickness were examined. The results show that PCM integration effectively reduced heat transfer into the wall, with wall-side convective heat transfer decreasing from 26 W to 17 W. Increasing capsule diameter from 1.00 in (25.4 mm) to 1.15 in (29.2 mm) and 1.25 in (31.8 mm) reduced room-side convective heat transfer by 6.8% and 6.6%, respectively. Increasing capsule number also enhanced latent heat storage and delayed heat release. In contrast, changing capsule wall thickness between 20 gauge (0.914 mm) and 22 gauge (0.762 mm) had only a minor effect. The study identifies capsule diameter and capsule number as the dominant design parameters for improving the thermal performance of PCM-integrated walls in hot climate applications.
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