PCM thermal energy storage tanks in heat pump system for space cooling

A heat pump coupled to thermal energy storage (TES) tanks is experimentally tested under simulated summer conditions and the results are presented in this paper. The cold TES tank is used for shifting the cooling load of a small house-like structure. The study evaluates the thermal behaviour of the TES tank for cold storage and the application of the system for space cooling. For the analysis, two different configurations of the tanks are compared: a water tank and a PCM tank. The PCM tank is filled with a commercial macro-encapsulated PCM, which has a phase change temperature of 10 degrees C. The results point out that the PCM tank is able to supply 14.5% more cold and to maintain the indoor temperature within comfort 20.65% longer than the water tank. However, it needs 4.55 times longer to charge the tank. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.