A comparative study of the CFD modeling of a ventilated active fa ade including phase change materials

This article describes the development of a CFD 2D model of a new type of ventilated active fa ade which includes a PCM (Phase Change Material) in its outer layer. The model was carried out using the software Fluent. The numerical results were compared against experimental data obtained by means of a real-scale PASLINK test facility. Two different approaches were tested to model the PCM. To model the radiation, S2S and DO sub-models were tested. RNG k-epsilon, Standard k-omega and SST k-omega turbulence models were compared to model the air flow inside the ventilated layer. The results showed that for the geometry under consideration it was suitable to consider the PCM to be a solid material with variable C-p. The DO model accurately reproduced the radiation phenomena. For an air flow rate that resulted in a turbulent regime inside the air chamber, the RNG k-epsilon model showed good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated results. The developed model can be considered suitable for the simulation and optimization of the fa ade under turbulent flow conditions. Further research should be conducted to improve the accuracy of the model for low-Reynolds-number turbulence conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.