An experimental investigation of the thermal effect due to discharging of phase change material in a room fitted with a windcatcher

This paper investigates experimentally the effect of the Phase Change Material (PCM) discharging process as a passive cooling technique on the performance of a two sided windcatcher fitted on an acrylic chamber with dimensions 1250 x 1000 x 750 mm(3). Four different models with different locations of PCM are studied, and the results are compared with each other and with a fifth model with No PCM. PCM is integrated respectively at the walls of the chamber, its floor and ceiling and also within the windcatcher's inlet channel. Humidity, temperature and air velocity are monitored for each of the models studied. It is noted that with all the models containing PCM, the average humidity inside the chamber changed only slightly compared to the model with No PCM. The difference in humidity ranged between 0 and 3.88 % which indicates that the humidity variations are not significant. The model with the PCM located on the floor, ceiling and walls as well as in the windcatcher's inlet channel has shown the best performance, with a significant minimum reduction of average temperature in the chamber of about 2.75 degrees C (approximately 9.33 %) compared with the model with No PCM.