Characteristics, energy saving and carbon emission reduction potential of gypsum wallboard containing phase change material

Abstract

Phase change materials (PCM) used in the development of building materials with thermal energy storage (TES) capacity can minimize temperature fluctuations by reducing the heating and cooling load in building envelopes due to their energy storage/release properties. The present study aims to produce, characterize and measure energy performance under real weather conditions of novel gypsum wallboard containing shape-stable attapulgite (ATP) based composite PCM as TES material. Shape-stable composite PCM was prepared by impregnating 1-Dodecanol (DD) into attapulgite (ATG) and then incorporated with gypsum in volume fraction of 25 and 50 %. The impacts of the shape stable ATG/DD composite PCM additive on the thermo-physical and mechanical properties were systematically assessed. The DCS measurements revealed that the shape-stable ATG/DD composite melts at 20.06 °C with a melting enthalpy of 115.9 J/g while the gypsum/shape-sable ATG/DD (50 v/v%) melts at 20.03 °C with melting enthalpy of 20.06 J/g. Thermoregulation tests demonstrated that the indoor temperatures of the test room made by gypsum/shape-stable composite PCM were about 1.2 °C–2.66 °C warmer than that of the reference gypsum room for about 6–12 h in a cold weather. Theoretical calculations showed that the thermal enhanced gypsum wallboard, because of its TES capability, has a favorable future in terms of energy savings and low CO2 emission.