PCM thermal energy storage in solar heating of ventilation air-Experimental and numerical investigations

Heating of ventilation air accounts for a significant part of energy consumption in buildings. The paper presents the use of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) heated with a hot air solar energy collector mounted on the facade of the office building at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Ljubljana where experiments have been carried out. The numerical model of the LHTES unit was developed at the Brno University of Technology, implemented as a type in the TRNSYS simulation tool and validated with experimental results. With the use of the developed model the annual savings of the unit were calculated.