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Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

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Energy & Buildings


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enb

Modeling method of an active–passive ventilation wall with latent heat


storage for evaluating its thermal properties in the solar greenhouse
Fengtao Han a, Chao Chen a,⇑, Qingling Hu a, Yipeng He a, Shen Wei b, Caiyun Li a
a
College of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, PR China
b
The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, University College London (UCL), 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HB, United Kingdom

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Active-passive phase change heat storage technologies have been obtained extensive application to
Received 28 October 2020 decrease greenhouse’s demands for fossil energy during off-seasons. To develop the utilization ratio of
Revised 1 February 2021 solar energy in solar greenhouses during winter, the active–passive ventilation wall with latent heat stor-
Accepted 14 February 2021
age (APVW-L) was introduced and could be integrated into greenhouse’s back-wall. However, system
Available online 19 February 2021
design and operation parameters are subjected to numerous factors, including its structure, material per-
formance and outdoor meteorological parameters. To achieve optimization in the energy performance of
Keywords:
this system, this study used finite element analysis and lumped parameter analysis to establish coupled
Solar greenhouse
Active–passive ventilation wall
energy balance equations of the APVW-L and the air inside vertical air passages, and the cubic spline
Latent heat storage interpolation was used to calculate the continuous relationship between phase change material’s equiv-
Thermal performance alent specific heat capacity and temperature. This modeling method of the APVW-L was accurately val-
Mathematical model idated against the measured data, and then used in the optimization design and operation strategy of the
Engineering application APVW-L in the greenhouses. This study demonstrated that the optimized APVW-L could store 5.36 MJ/
(m2day) of solar energy in Beijing. Compared to the identical conventional greenhouses, after midnight,
the experimental greenhouse having APVW-L increased the back-wall’s interior surface temperature by
2.2–3.4 °C, and the average indoor air temperature by 0.8–1.4 °C. This study provides methods for the
APVW-L’s optimization design and its operation strategy, even for the rationalization of the near-zero
energy consumption of the solar greenhouse during winter.
Ó 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction vorable thermal conductivity, the depth of heat penetration into


the back-wall via heat conduction is restricted, leading to inade-
Solar greenhouses passively utilize solar energy as their main quate heat storage ability during daytime [8,9]. Fang H., et al.
heating source, and their application range for producing overwin- [10] developed a water curtain system on the back-wall’s interior
tering crops keeps expanding in the cold regions of northern China surface to absorb solar energy, and used a water tank to storage
[1]. Although solar energy is abundant during the day, solar green- the hot-water during daytime. At night, this system using the
houses’ indoor air temperature often drops below the biological water circulated from the water tank could increase the indoor
zero of thermophilic crops after midnight, especially during temperature by 5.4 °C, and the crops’ rhizosphere temperature
December and January. So, auxiliary heating methods such as coal by 1.6 °C. However, this system requires a water tank having good
furnaces, electric air heaters, and heat pumps, are used to provide heat retention properties and must occupy greenhouse’s limited
additional heating [2,3]. space. And the freezing and leakage of water pipelines are common
Many existing studies have shown the importance of the back- problems seen during winter. In some civil buildings, some solar
wall’s thermal properties in the greenhouse for the maintenance of heating systems integrated into building envelopes are used to
interior thermal environment and reduction of heating load [4,5]. reduce heating load, which are worth mentioning [11–13]. Has-
Researches have proved that phase change materials (PCMs) used sanain, et al.[14] developed a Trombe wall for the solar greenhouse
in the back-wall were efficient in improving interior thermal envi- in Suez, Egy. The research showed with indoor air temperature as
ronment [6,7]. Whereas, because of heat storage materials’ unfa- 21.4 ℃, the wall’s maximum interior surface temperature might
approach 52 ℃, while the maximum temperature at 0.06 m away
from the interior wall surface would be 38 ℃. Bao Encai, et al.
⇑ Corresponding author.
[15,16] developed an active heat storage wall comprising porous
E-mail address: chenchao@bjut.edu.cn (C. Chen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.110840
0378-7788/Ó 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

bricks with solidified sands. They found that the wall’s heat storage For example, Haoshu Ling [30] introduced three different and com-
capacity was 2.44–3.58 MJ/m2, and its heat release capacity was mon methods proposed in many studies, including 1) simplifying
1.12–1.2 MJ/m2 on a sunny day. Guan Yong, et al. [9] developed PCMs’ specific heat capacity of charging or discharging as one
an active–passive heat storage wall with built-in tanks filled with value, 2) supposing PCMs’ specific heat capacity of charging or dis-
PCM. However, improving the solar absorption capacity of the charging exhibited linear changes with temperatures, and 3) esti-
back-wall’s internal surface by using PCMs is more effective to mating the numerical approximation of temperature step as
reduce heating load [4,17,18]. 0.01 °C. He then used these methods respectively in his mathemat-
For improving the utilization ratio of solar energy in winter, an ical model to calculate the internal surface temperature of the
active–passive ventilation wall with latent heat storage (abbrevi- active–passive ventilation wall with latent heat storage, and
ated as APVW-L) was proposed [7]. This wall with a solar air collec- obtained average temperature errors were 1.96 °C, 1.74 °C and
tor system could be integrated into the solar greenhouse’s back- 1.31 °C, with the maximum temperature errors of 4.76 °C,
wall to decrease heating load. Thus the design and operation 3.44 °C and 2.81 °C, respectively. However, this model did not
parameters of this system are subjected to numerous factors, examine changed air temperature’s coupling effect inside vertical
including its structure, material performance and outdoor meteo- air passages on the temperature field inside the wall, and did not
rological parameters. However, due to the complex and changeable effectively verify the calculation of temperature field of this wall,
outdoor meteorological conditions, it is difficult to determine these including the air temperature inside the vertical passage.
parameters one by one through experiments. Therefore, numerical According to the structural characteristics and working princi-
analysis is required to solve these problems and even to provide ple of the APVW-L, energy conservation theory was taken for its
methods for the optimization design and operation strategy of heat transfer analysis. To optimize the system energy properties,
the APVW-L in the solar greenhouse. this study used finite element analysis and the lumped parameter
Chao, et al. [19] employed EnergyPlus in optimizing solar green- analysis to establish coupled energy balance equations of the
house’s physical dimensions to gain more solar energy and reduce APVW-L and the air inside vertical air passages, and the cubic
heating load in winter. Roman et al. [20] simulated PCM roof’s spline interpolation was used to calculate the continuous relation-
dynamic thermal performance with DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus, ship between PCM’s equivalent specific heat capacity and temper-
achieving a reduction of 54% heat demands by using PCM roof. Ma ature. This modeling method of the APVW-L was validated against
et al. [21] considered THERB for HAM, a dynamic thermal load the measured data, then used to study the influence of the multi-
computing tool developed by A. Ozaki, to be suitable for optimizing factor coupling on the thermal performance of the APVW-L, and
the energy properties of a composite Trombe wall in an office its reasonable parameters were provided. Moreover, an experi-
building. And this research showed that this wall with optimized mental solar greenhouse having this system was built in Beijing
ventilation could decrease energy costs by 3.7% annually at most. and compared with a conventional greenhouse to show the practi-
Nguyen et al. [22] proposed one solar chimney having a horizontal cal effects of APVW-L. This study provides methods for APVW-L’s
absorber surface. This solar chimney could be integrated into optimization design and its operation strategy, even for the
building envelopes for natural ventilation or energy conservation. rationalization of the near-zero energy consumption of the solar
However, this research only investigated how heat flux and chim- greenhouse during winter.
ney dimension influenced air flow rate and thermal efficiency with
CFD software. Tong Guohong [23] used CFD software to analyze the
variation of temperature field with the thickness of the composite 2. Design concept of the APVW-L integrated into the solar
walls applied onto solar greenhouses. The results revealed that greenhouse
when wall thickness was 0.60 m, the thicker the heat storage layer
was, the faster the internal temperature decayed. And the determi- For promoting the utilization ratio of solar energy and reducing
nation of heat storage layer’s thickness was related to where insu- the heating load in the solar greenhouse during winter, an APVW-L
lation layer located in the composite wall. Bao Encai, et al.[24] set equipped with solar air collectors (MSC-DRTs [32]) is presented for
up air passages inside the greenhouse’s back-wall for active heat integration into the greenhouse’s back-wall (Fig. 1). The APVW-L
storage, and used CFD software to analyze how various airflow uses polyphenyl insulation board (3) as the insulation layer on
directions influence this wall’s active heat storage, to optimize its exterior surface and uses the aforementioned GH-20 composite
the air distribution, and the positions of air inlet and outlet. Jova- phase change wallboard (1) as the PCM layer on its interior surface.
novic, et al. [25] used system advisor model software to study The equivalent specific heat capacity of GH-20 composite phase
the energy-efficiency and electricity inside a building produced change wallboard is presented in Fig. 2, and its heat of fusion is
by the Trombe wall and PV modules. Lin et al. [26,27] designed a 75 kJ/kg [30]. The middle layer of the APVW-L is a cement block/
Trombe wall having PV panels in wall’s passage, and developed a brick wall (2), and its interior having vertical air passages (4) to
mathematical model for this system to study its thermal perfor- receive hot airflow. Table 1 shows the APVW-L’s materials and
mance. The results showed that this system had 65.2% higher ther- their thermal property parameters.
mal efficiency than the classic Trombe system. Zhang X. et al. [17] For such a system in the solar greenhouse, APVW-L’s interior
used CFD to develop a solar greenhouse model, and numerically surface passively absorbs solar energy penetrating across the solar
analyzed how back-wall’s thickness affected interior air tempera- greenhouse’s front-roof, and middle layer can be heated by hot air
ture. In the previous studies, these models could not easily reflect from solar air collectors during daytime. The solar energy can be
the coupling effect of the heating system and outdoor meteorolog- stored in the APVW-L using the above two ways simultaneously,
ical parameters, and lacked dynamic verification under the and the accumulated energy in the APVW-L can be released into
changes in multiple factors in the application process. indoor environment at night via heat radiation and convection.
Also, PCMs’ thermophysical properties, especially the specific Because of the complex and changeable meteorological conditions,
heat capacity, vary significantly with temperature. These proper- it is difficult to analyze how multi-factor coupling affects APVW-L’s
ties are tested experimentally [28,29]. But discontinuous test val- thermal performance, and even more difficult to determine the
ues cannot be input in the numerical model. Generally, fitting optimal structure and operation parameters of the APVW-L one
formulas and numerical approximation are often used as PCM’s by one through experiments. Therefore, numerical analyses are
specific heat capacity to put into the model’s calculation [30,31]. needed to solve these problems.

2
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 1. APVW-L integrated into solar greenhouse’s back-wall.

 As indicated by the results of the experiment [34], the thermal


influencing radius of the air passage is around 250 mm. Along
the length of the APVW-L, the boundary away from the air pas-
sage (more than 500 mm) is considered to be an adiabatic
boundary.

According to the assumptions mentioned above, and by consid-


ering the spatial scale of the air passage inside the APVW-L to be
small, the three-dimensional heat transfer process of the APVW-L
is reduced to two two-dimensional heat transfer processes on the
A-A section and the B-B section, further interrelating them through
the three-dimensional heat transfer process of hot air inside the
vertical air passage. See Fig. 3, the finite element analysis was used
to make two systems of algebraic equations, including the two-
dimensional energy balance at every node on B-B section (Y-axis
Fig. 2. GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s equivalent specific heat and Z-axis) and the two-dimensional energy balance at every node
capacity. on A-A section (X-axis and Y-axis). Further, the finite element anal-
ysis and the lumped parameter analysis were used to make a sys-
tem of algebraic equations of three-dimensional energy balance at
3. Modeling method of the APVW-L each node of the air along the vertical air passage. Besides, the
cubic spline interpolation was used to accurately calculate the con-
3.1. Modeling scheme and assumptions tinuous relationship between GH-20 composite phase change
wallboard’s equivalent specific heat capacity and temperature. Rel-
Fig. 3 shows the APVW-L’s sectional view and its heat transfer evant code was used for the iterative computing of these equa-
process. According to the structural characteristics and working tions. This calculation scheme not only shortens the calculation
principle of this wall (as described in Section 2), the following time by reducing the dimension of calculation, but also easily pairs
assumptions are made: with the mathematical model of the MSC-DRTs [32].

 The air temperature on the same section of the vertical air pas- 3.2. Energy balance for each node of the hot air inside the vertical air
sage is uniform, and the air velocity along the height of the ver- passage
tical air passage remains the same.
 The boundary conditions at the top and bottom of the APVW-L See Fig. 3a, by using the finite element analysis and the lumped
are supposedly adiabatic. parameter analysis, the energy balance formula of the hot air at zth
 The central axis of the air passage is taken as the boundary node inside vertical air passage can be written as
(Fig. 3b), and the thermal features on the left and right sides qtiair;z1 ctip;air;z1 v o LBttiz - 1  qtiair;z ctip;air;z v o LBttiz
of this central axis are axisymmetric. Thus this central axis is
¼ hair;z LDzðttiz  ttifront;z Þ þ hair;z LDzðttiz  ttiback;z Þ þ 2hair;z BDzðttiz  ttiright;z Þ
assumed to be an adiabatic boundary.
ð1Þ

Table 1
Thermal property parameters of APVW-L’s materials.

Materials Density, kg/m3 Specific heat capacity, Thermal conductivity, Heat storage coefficient, Absorptivity
J/(kg℃) W/(m℃) W/(m℃)
GH-20 composite phase change wallboard 900 Fig. 2 0.4 16.14 [33] 0.75
Cement block/bricks 1800 1050 0.81 10.54 0.7
Polyphenyl insulation board 30 1380 0.042 0.36 —

3
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 3. Sectional view of the APVW-L.

where hair, z is the convective heat transfer coefficient on the vertical cti t ti cti1 tti1  
air passage’s inner surface at node zth [35].
q pðð1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ ðð1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ
Ds
pðð1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ ðð1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ DzDy
4
¼ hq D2z t tiin  t ðtið1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ
    ð8Þ
hair;z ¼ qair;z cp;air;z v o St z ð2Þ k t ti t ti
ðð2Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ ðð1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ
k t ti t ti
ðð1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ ðð1Þ2ðz1 1ÞÞ
þ Dy
Dz
2
 Dz
Dy
2
þa I D2z
here
ctipð1;zÞ t tið1;zÞ cti1 t ti1
 
St z ¼
f 23
Pr z ð3Þ q Ds
pð1;zÞ ð1;zÞ DzDy
2
¼ hq Dz t tiin  tðti1;zÞ
8       ð9Þ
k ttið2;zÞ t tið1;zÞ k t tið1;z ttið1;zÞ k t tið1;zÞ ttið1;zþ1Þ
where þ Dz þ
- 1Þ Dy
- Dy
þ a I Dz
Dy Dz 2 Dz 2
    - 2
R
f ¼ 2lg þ 1:74 ð4Þ For the wall’s upper boundary and bottom boundary on the sec-
ks tion B-B (when z = 1 and z1), as shown in Fig. 3a, the energy bal-
where ks is the absolute roughness of the air passage’s inner ance equations for the nodes (y = 2 ~ y2-1, z = 1 or z1) and the
surface. In this calculation, this value was assumed to be 1– nodes (y = y3 + 1 ~ y5-1, z = 1 or z1) are respectively determined as
3 mm, as reported in [36].See Fig. 3a, air temperatures inside the cti tti cti1 tti1
air passage at z = 1 and z = z1 are the inlet and outlet air tempera- q pððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ ððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ
Ds
pððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ ððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ DzDy

  2
   
tures. Considering the change in the physical parameters of air k tti tti k tti tti k tti tti
ððyþ1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ ððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ Dz ððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ ððy - 1Þ1ðz1 ÞÞ Dz ððyÞ1ðz1 ÞÞ ððyÞ2ðz1 - 1ÞÞ
with temperature, the related formulas could be fitted by using ¼ Dy 2
 Dy 2
 Dz
Dy
the experimental data from [35]. ð10Þ

3.3. Energy balance for each node in different calculational area of Similarly, the energy balance equations for each node at differ-
APVW-L ent boundaries of section A-A, as shown in Fig. 3b, can be written
by analogy with Eqs. (5)–(10).
(1) Energy balance for each node at different boundaries
For the APVW-L’s external surface on the section B-B, see (2) Energy balance for each node at the inner surface of the ver-
Fig. 3a, the energy balance equations for the node (y = y5, z = 1 tical air passage
or z1) and the nodes (y = y5, z = 2 ~ z1-1) are respectively deter-
mined as For the upper boundary of vertical air passage’s inner surface on
the section B-B, as shown in Fig. 3a, the energy balance equation
t ti t ti1
qcp ðy5 Þ1ðz1 Þ ðy5 Þ1ðz1 Þ DzDy
¼ hq D2z  t tiout  ttiðy5 Þ1ðz1 Þ  for the node (y = y2 or y3, z = 1) is determined as
Ds 4
ð5Þ tti tti1
kt ti t ti
ðy5 1Þ1ðz1 Þ ðy5 Þ1ðz1 Þ

Dz
ktti t ti 
ðy5 Þ2ðz1 1Þ ðy5 Þ1ðz1 Þ Dy qc p ðy2 ðy3 Þ;1Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;1Þ DzDy
Ds
þ Dy 2
þ Dz 2  4
  
k tti tti htiair;1 Dz
  k t ti tti
ðy2 - 1ðy3 þ1Þ;1Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;1Þ Dz ðy2 ðy3 Þ;2Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;1Þ Dy
¼ Dy 2
þ 2
t ti1  t tiðy2 ðy3 Þ;1Þ þ Dz 2
t ti t ti1
q cp ð 5 Þ Ds ð 5 Þ Dz2Dy
y z y z
¼ h q Dz  t tiout - ttiðy5 Þz Þ ð11Þ
ð6Þ
ktti t ti ktti t ti ktti t ti For the bottom boundary of vertical air passage’s inner surface
ðy5 - 1;zÞ ðy5 Þz ðy5 Þz1 ðy5 Þz Dy ðy5 Þz ðy5 Þzþ1 Dy
þ Dy
Dz þ Dz 2
 Dz 2
on the section B-B, as shown in Fig. 3a, the energy balance equation
where hq denotes the convective heat transfer coefficient on the for the node (y = y2 or y3, z = z1) is determined as
APVW-L’s surface, which can be computed as Eq. (7) [37]. This for- t ti tti1
qc p ðy2 ðy3 Þ;z1 Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;z1 Þ DyDz
Ds
mula considers the integrated effects of convective and radiation  4
  
heat transfers [38]. k tti t ti htiair;z Dz
  k tti tti
ðy2 - 1ðy3 þ1Þ;z1 Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;z1 Þ Dz ðy2 ðy3 Þ;z1 - 1Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;z1 Þ Dy
¼ Dy 2
þ 2
1
tz1  tðy2 ðy3 Þ;z1 Þ þ
ti ti
Dz 2
hq ¼ 5:7 þ 3:8v f ð7Þ ð12Þ
For this wall’s inner surface on the section B-B, see Fig. 3a, the When z = 2 ~ z1-1 (y = y2 or y = y3), as shown in Fig. 3a, the
energy balance equations for the node (y = 1, z = 1 or z1) and the energy balance equation for each node at vertical air passage’s
nodes (y = 1, z = 2 ~ z1-1) are respectively determined as inner surface is determined as
4
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

   3  3
tti t ti1 k tti tti tjþ1  t t  tj
qc p ðy2 ðy3 Þ;zÞ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;zÞ DzDy
Ds
¼
ð y2 - 1ðy3 þ1Þ;zÞ
Dy
ðy2 ðy3 Þ;zÞ
Dzþ cp;j ðtÞ ¼ Mj þ Mjþ1 þ Aj t þ Bj ð19Þ
2
    6hj 6hj
  k tti t ti k tti tti
ðy2 ðy3 Þ;z - 1Þ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;zÞ Dy ðy2 ðy3 Þ;zÞ ðy2 ðy3 Þ;zþ1Þ Dy Because the equivalent specific heat capacity continuously
hair;z Dz ttiz  ttiðy2 ðy3 Þ;zÞ þ Dz 2
- Dz 2
changes in the temperature interval, thus,
ð13Þ
cp;j ðt jþ1 Þ ¼ cp;jþ1 ðtjþ1 Þ ð20Þ
On the vertical air passage’s surface at the height of z, the
energy balance equations for the node (x = 1, y = y2 or y3), nodes Then, Aj and Bj in Eq. (19) are respectively determined as
(x = 2 ~ x1-1, y = y2 or y3) and nodes (x = x1, y = y2 + 1 ~ y3-1), cp;jþ1  cp;j hj 
see Fig. 3b, are respectively determined as Aj ¼  Mjþ1  M j ð21Þ
hj 6
t ti t ti1  
hair;z Dx
qcp ð1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ ð1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ DxDy
Ds 4
¼ 2
t tiz  t tið1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ Mjþ1 2 cp;jþ1  cp;j M jþ1  Mj
    ð14Þ Bj ¼ cp;jþ1  hj  ð  hj Þtjþ1 ð22Þ
k t ti t ti k t ti t ti
6 hj 6
ð1;y2 - 1ðy3 þ1ÞÞ ð1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ Dx ð2;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ ð1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ Dy
þ Dy
þ Dx
2 2 Therefore, Eq. (19) can be determined as
  h i
h 
3 3
ðtjþ1 tÞ ðttj Þ c c
tti t ti1 k tti tti
ðx1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ ðx;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ cp;j ðtÞ ¼ Mj þ M jþ1 þ p;jþ1h p;j  6j M jþ1  Mj t
qcp ðx;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ ðx;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ DxDy
Ds
¼ Dx
Dy 6hj

6hj j

 2
  2
 M 2 c c M M
k t ti tti k t ti tti   þcp;jþ1  6jþ1 hj  p;jþ1hj p;j  jþ16 j hj t jþ1
ðxþ1;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ ðx;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ Dy ðx;y2 1ðy3 þ1ÞÞ ðx;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ
þ Dx 2
þ Dy
Dx þ hair;z t tiz  tðtix;y2 ðy3 ÞÞ Dx
ð23Þ
ð15Þ
As the equivalent specific heat capacity continuously changes in
 
t ti t ti1 k t ti t ti
the whole interval, so,
ðx1 þ1;yÞ ðx1 ;yÞ
q cp ð 1 ÞDs ð 1 Þ Dx2Dy
x ;y x ;y
¼ Dx
Dy c0p;j1 ðt ! t j Þ ¼ c0p;j ðt ! t þj Þ ð24Þ
   
  k t ti tti k t ti t ti
ðx1 ;yþ1Þ ðx1 ;yÞ Dx ðx1 ;y - 1Þ ðx1 ;yÞ Dx Then,
þhair;z Dy ttiz  t ðtix1 ;yÞ þ Dy 2
þ Dy 2

ð16Þ uj Mj1 þ 2Mj þ rj M jþ1 ¼ dj ð25Þ

In the Eq. (25), uj=hj-1/(hj-1+hj), dj=6/(hj-1+hj)[(cp, j+1-cp, j)/hj-(cp, j-cp, j-1)/hj-1] and
rj=1-uj.

(3) Energy balance for each node in the wall As shown in Fig. 2, in the case that real temperature of GH-20
composite phase change wallboard is below the minimum test
See Fig. 3a, the energy balance equation for each node temperature t1 or greater than the maximum test temperature tn,
((y = 2 ~ y2-1 or y3 + 1 ~ y5-1, z = 2 ~ z1-1) in the wall is determined cp(t) does not change, so,
as c0p ðt1 Þ ¼ c0p ðtn Þ ¼ 0 ð26Þ
 
ctipðy;zÞ t tiðy;zÞ cpti1 t ti1 k t tiðyþ1;zÞ t tiðy;zÞ Then,
q Ds
ðy;zÞ ðy;zÞ
Dz Dy ¼ Dy
Dz
      ð17Þ 2M 1 þ M 2 ¼ d1 ð27Þ
k t tiðy;zÞ t tiðy - 1;zÞ k t tiðy;z - 1Þ t tiðy;zÞ k t tiðy;zÞ t tiðy;zþ1Þ
 Dy
Dz þ Dz
Dy - Dz
Dy Mn1 þ 2Mn ¼ dn ð28Þ
Similarly, the energy balance equations for the nodes In Eqs. (27) and (28) , d1 = 6(cp(2)-cp(1))/h21, dn = 6(cp(n-1)-cp(n))/
[(x = 2 ~ x2, y = 2 ~ y2-1), (x = 2 ~ x2, y = y3 + 1 ~ y5-1) and 2
hn-1 。
(x = x1 + 1 ~ x2-1, y = y2 ~ y3)] in the wall on the section A-A, see According to Eq. (25), Eq. (27) and Eq.(28), Eq. (29) can be
Fig. 3b, can be written by analogy with Eq. (17). obtained.






M 1

d1

2 1 0  0 0 0

3.4. Calculation method of PCMs’ equivalent specific heat capacity






M 2

d2

u2 2 r2  0 0 0

The discontinuous test values are presented in Fig. 2. The cubic


  
¼
  
f
                

ð29Þ




spline interpolation was used for calculating the continuous rela-







M n1

dn1

0 0 0    un1 2 rn1

tionship between the GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s







M n

dn

0 0 0  0 1 2

equivalent specific heat capacity and temperature. Using this


method, the APVW-L’s mathematical model can accurately calcu- Using Gaussian elimination method to solve Eq. (29), and Mj
late the temperature field inside PCM layer. The calculation and Mj+1 in any small temperature interval [tj, tj+1] (j = 1,2,3. . ., n-
method is as follows: 1) can be obtained. Then, Eq. (23) in any small temperature interval
As depicted in Fig. 2, for temperature tj, there exists a sole [tj, tj+1] (j = 1,2,3. . ., n-1) can be obtained.
equivalent specific heat capacity cp(tj) corresponding to it. To Taken together, the continuous mapping relationship between
establish the mapping relationship between the equivalent specific the GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s equivalent specific
heat capacity and temperature, the test interval of temperature is heat capacity and temperature can be obtained.
divided into n-1 small intervals. For a small temperature interval
[tj, tj+1] (j = 1,2,3. . ., n-1), cp(tj) can be approximately written as a 3.5. Solving procedure
cubic function of the temperature tj, as follows
The algebraic equation set, revealing air temperature variation
cp;j ðtÞ ¼ aj t3 þ bj t2 þ cj t þ dj ð18Þ
along the vertical air passage and its influence on APVW-L’s tem-
The second derivative of Eq. (18) is a function of the tempera- perature field, could be solved using MATLAB, and corresponding
ture tj, and let cp, j‘‘(tj) = Mj, cp,j‘‘(tj+1) = Mj+1, hj = tj+1-tj, then, iterative computing algorithm is as shown in Fig. 4.
5
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 4. Solving procedure of APVW-L’s mathematical model.

X N 

X


2
The input data include APVW-L’s physical and operating param- N



eters, outdoor meteorological parameters and indoor air tempera- IA ¼ 1  vi  gi 2 =


vi  vpav e
þ
gi  gpav e
ð30Þ
i¼1 i¼1
ture, etc. The numerical results could show APVW-L’s temperature
field and air temperature variation along the air passage. The solu- Pn
i¼1 ðgi  vi Þ
tion convergence standard in this mathematical model is 0.01 ℃. NMBE ¼  100 ð31Þ
ðn  1Þ  gpav e
The time-step value describing the changes in the observed data
is 30 s. The step lengths along the thickness (Y-axis) and length sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
(X-axis) are 0.005 m, and the step length along the height (Z- P n
ðgi  vi Þ2 =ðn  1Þ
axis) is 0.05 m. i¼1
RMSE ¼  100 ð32Þ
gpav e
3.6. Evaluation methods of the APVW-L’s mathematical model
where gi is the ith measured value, vi is the ith simulate value, gpave is
Besides using absolute error and relative error, this study also the actual mean value, vpave is the average of all calculation data.
used index of agreement (IA) [19,32], normalized mean bias error
(NMBE) [39] and root mean square error (RMSE) [39]. For IA, the 4. Experimental validation of APVW-L’s mathematical model
closer this value is to 1, the better the numerical values agreement
with measured values. For the values of NMBE and RMSE, the 4.1. Experiment setup
numerical results shall have a NMBE of less than 10% and a RMSE
of less than 30% relative to hourly calibration. IA, NMBE and RMSE Considering the difficulty in measuring the APVW-L’s tempera-
can be calculated by Eqs. (30)–(32), respectively. ture field in the actual greenhouses, a laboratory experiment setup

6
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

of the APVW-L (Fig. 5) is used to validate the presented mathemat- Apart from being installed at the vertical air passage’s inlet and
ical model’s accuracy. This experiment setup consists of the APVW- outlet and in the surrounding environment of the APVW-L, the K-
L (1.76 m long, 1.15 m high and 0.28 m thick), indoor air- type thermocouples were installed on the horizontal section
conditioning system, air heater, fan, anemometer and temperature 0.575 m higher than the vertical air passage’s outlet (see Fig. 6).
logger Agilent 34970A with some K-type thermocouples, etc. The accuracy of K-type thermocouples was ± 0.3 ℃. The air velocity
In Fig. 5, the GH-20 composite phase change wallboard is in the vertical air passage was measured by using the Testo-435
40 mm thick, the polyphenyl insulation board is 50 mm thick, hot-wire anemometer, and its accuracy was ± 0.01 m/s. This test
and the cement block/brick wall is 190 mm thick. The length, lasted for 8 h and the sampling frequency of experimental values
width and height of the vertical air passage are 0.13 m, 0.14 m was 30 s.
and 1.15 m, respectively. Materials’ thermal performance parame-
ters can be consulted in Table 1 and Fig. 2.
4.3. Error analysis of the numerical calculation

4.2. Experimental scheme and data acquisition Fig. 7 shows the comparison of calculated and measured tem-
peratures along the APVW-L’s length direction (y = 135 mm,
During the experiments, the indoor air-conditioning system z = 575 mm). Fig. 8 shows the comparison of calculated and mea-
was used for maintaining indoor temperature at 23.5 ± 0.5 ℃, sured temperatures along the APVW-L’s thickness direction
and the air heater was used to produce the hot air at 60 ± 0.5 ℃. (x = 90 mm, z = 575 mm). By these comparisons, the average rela-
Under the action of a small fan, the hot air was sent to the air inlet tive error and maximum absolute error of this model were 2.5%
of the vertical air passage. The air velocity inside the vertical air and ±2.3 ℃, respectively. The NMBE and RMSE of this model were
passage was 0.26 m/s. The APVW-L’s initial temperature field 0.96% and 5.87%, respectively. So this model can accurately simu-
was consistent with the laboratory’s indoor temperature. late the APVW-L’s temperature field under laboratory conditions.

Fig. 5. Experimental setup of the laboratory prototype and instrumentations.

Fig. 6. Distribution of temperature measuring points on the horizontal section of the APVW-L.

7
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 7. Comparison of calculated and measured temperatures along the APVW-L’s length direction (y = 135 mm, z = 575 mm).

Fig. 8. Comparison of calculated and measured temperatures along the APVW-L’s thickness direction (x = 90 mm, z = 575 mm).

Using this model, the dynamic variation of the APVW-L’s tem- in Beijing, China was selected as a reference. For this conventional
perature field and the air temperature inside the vertical air pas- greenhouse’s back-wall, which was different from the proposed
sage with time can be calculated. Then, the APVW-L’s heat one, its inner surface is the cement block/brick wall and 390 mm
storage capacity, GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s in thickness, with no vertical air passages inside, while its outer
phase change rate, APVW-L’s heat release capacity, etc. can be cal- surface is the polyphenyl insulation board and 100 mm in
culated dynamically. Using these calculation results, the optimiza- thickness.
tion design and operation strategy of APVW-L in the solar The following numerical analysis was performed on a sunny
greenhouse can be obtained for improving the utilization of solar day in winter in Beijing, and solar radiation intensity, outdoor tem-
energy. perature, outdoor wind speed, indoor temperature in the conven-
tional greenhouse, see Fig. 9, were selected as the input
parameters. The initial value of APVW-L’s temperature field was
5. Optimization design method of the APVW-L in the solar
set as the indoor temperature of 6.45 ℃ at 8:30 am, and two days’
greenhouse
trial calculation was required before the formal calculation. Con-
sidering that the indoor environment of the greenhouse was rela-
5.1. Numerical strategy for a proposed greenhouse
tively closed in winter, the indoor wind speed was low and
assumed to be 0.2 m/s in the following numerical analysis.
To provide the optimization design of APVW-L in a proposed
greenhouse and measure its benefits, a conventional greenhouse

Fig. 9. Outdoor meteorological conditions and indoor air temperature (a sunny day).

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F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

5.2. Calculation methods of the thermal performance parameters where H and Hmax are the GH-20 composite phase change wall-
board’s enthalpies in a certain temperature region and after com-
(1) Cement block/brick layer’s sensible heat storage plete phase transformation, respectively, kJ/(kg ℃).
During the daytime, the cement block/brick layer can store sen-
sible heat from hot air. This part of heat storage capacity Qx can be (4) Heat transfer of APVW-L’s surface
calculated by Eq. (33). Since the initial time ti0, if Qx increases pos-
Heat transfer of APVW-L’s surface can show the heating capac-
itively, the cement block/brick layer is in the process of heat stor-
ity of APVW-L to the solar greenhouse, and the heat insulation abil-
age. Otherwise, the cement block/brick layer is in the process of
ity of its outer layer, which is determined as follows:
heat release.
n Z
X ti Q f ¼ hq Sðtw  tf Þ ð36Þ
Qx ¼ ð qðxi ;yi ;zi Þ cpðxi ;yi ;zi Þ V ðxi ;yi ;zi Þ tðxi ;yi ;zi ;tiÞ dtiÞ ð33Þ
i¼1 ti0 where hq can be calculated by Eq. (7) [36,37], which considers the
combined impacts from convective heat transfer and radiation heat
transfer [37].

(2) GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s heat storage


5.3. Numerical analysis and optimization
capacity
During the daytime, GH-20 composite phase change wallboard 5.3.1. Variation in the APVW-L’s temperature field on a sunny day
not only stores sensible heat, but also stores latent heat. According Fig. 10 presents the variation in the APVW-L’s temperature field
to Fig. 2, its total heat storage capacity Qq can be calculated by Eq. in a sunny day. During the daytime (8:30 to 16:30), the APVW-L
(34). accumulates heat by passively absorbing solar energy and actively
8 storing heat from hot air. The APVW-L’s heat storage capacity
>
> 2:44qVðt  t ti0 Þ ðt 6 tb Þ
< Rt reaches the maximum value at 16:30. At night (16:30 until 8:30
Qq ¼ c ðtÞqVdt þ 2:44qVðtb  tti0 Þ ðt b 6 t < t e Þ
tb p of the next day), the APVW-L emits heat. As shown in Fig. 10b,
>
: R te c ðtÞqVdt þ 2:44qVðt  t Þ þ 2:07qVðt  t Þ ðt P t Þ
> the heat from hot air and solar radiation have little effect on the
t p b ti0 e e
b place more than 250 mm away from the air passage and 50 mm
ð34Þ away from APVW-L’s inner surface, respectively. So, the suitable
where tb is the phase change onset temperature, ℃, te is the phase distance between two air passages inside APVW-L is 500 mm.
change offset temperature, ℃. They depend on differential scanning
calorimeter (DSC) measurement. 5.3.2. Effect of the air velocity inside the vertical air passage
Fig. 11 shows the variation in the APVW-L’s heat storage capac-
(3) GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s phase change ity and the GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s phase
rate change rate as air velocity function with the simulated inlet air
temperature of 60 ℃. As shown in Fig. 11, GH-20 composite phase
Phase change rate refers to the ratio of PCM’s mass which expe- change wallboard’s maximum heat storage capacity is 1.7 times of
riences phase transition per unit time [40]. The larger this param- that of the cement block/bricks layer, but its thickness is much
eter, the greater is the degree of phase transition. thinner than cement block/bricks layer’s thickness. At night, GH-
20 composite phase change wallboard’s heat release process is
g ¼ H=Hmax ð35Þ quicker than that of the cement block/bricks layer, and heat stor-

Fig. 10. Variation in the APVW-L’s temperature field with time.

9
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 11. Effect of air velocity on the heat storage capacity and phase change rate.

Fig. 12. Effect of air velocity on the heat transfer of the APVW-L’s surfaces.

age capacity inside cement block/bricks layer only reduces by 27%. air temperature of 60 ℃. As shown in Fig. 12a, the increasing air
With the increasing of air velocity inside vertical air passage, the velocity mainly exerts positive effects on the heat transfer of the
increasing trends of heat storage capacity and phase change rate APVW-L’s inner surface in the afternoon and after midnight. While
gradually decreases. And the air velocity greater than 0.45 m/s this increasing trend with the increasing of air velocity becomes
has little influence on the heat storage capacity and phase change more and more obvious with time after midnight. This phe-
rate. nomenon is very important, because the indoor heat load gradually
Fig. 12 presents the variation in the heat transfer of the APVW- reaches the maximum during this period. But the air velocity
L’s surfaces as functions of the air velocity with the simulated inlet greater than 0.45 m/s has little influence on this trend. So the suit-

Fig. 13. Effect of inlet air temperature on the heat storage capacity and phase change rate.

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F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 14. Effect of inlet air temperature on the heat transfer of the APVW-L’s surfaces.

Table 2
Effects of inlet air temperature and air velocity on the heat transfer of the APVW-L’s surfaces throughout the day.

Inlet air temperature, ℃ 6060 40 50 60 70


Air velocity, m/s0 0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.45
Heat transfer, MJ/m2 Inner surface 8.2 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.1 8.34 8.6 8.7
External surface 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.7

Table 3
Conditional assumptions.

Case Inlet air temperature, ℃ Air velocity, m/s Thickness of phase change layer, m Thickness of insulation layer, m
Case1 60 0.45 0.04 0.06 ~ 0.18
Case2 60 0.45 0.03 ~ 0.05 0.15

able air velocity should be about 0.45 m/s. Fig. 12b shows that the the air velocity of 0.45 m/s. As shown in Fig. 13, when inlet air tem-
positive effects of the heat transfer of the external surface caused perature increases, the heat storage capacity and phase change rate
by air velocity mainly occur during daytime. increase almost linearly.
Fig. 14 presents the variation in the heat transfer of the APVW-
L’s surfaces as inlet air temperature function with the simulated
5.3.3. Effect of inlet air temperature of the vertical air passage
the air velocity of 0.45 m/s. As shown in Fig. 14, higher air inlet
Fig. 13 presents the variation in the APVW-L’s heat storage
temperature can effectively improve the heat transfer of the
capacity and GH-20 composite phase change wallboard’s phase
APVW-L’s surfaces. As shown in Table 2, on a sunny day, heat loss
change rate as inlet air temperature function with the simulated

Fig. 15. Effect of insulation layer’s thickness on APVW-L’s thermal performance (Case 1).

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F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 16. Effect of the PCM layer’s thickness on APVW-L’s thermal performance (Case 2).

from external surface accounts for 18.5% of that from the inner sur-
face. So, the thermal insulation performance of the external layer is
important for the APVW-L’s heat storage performance.

5.3.4. Effect of the thickness of each material layer inside the APVW-L
The control variable method was taken for quantitatively ana-
lyzing the effect of insulation layer’s thickness and GH-20 compos-
ite phase change wallboard’s thickness on the APVW-L’s thermal
performance. See Table 3, the numerical cases are Case1 and Case
2 respectively.
Fig. 15 shows the effect of insulation layer’s thickness on the
APVW-L’s thermal performance (Case 1). As shown in Fig. 15a,
the increasing of insulation layer’s thickness affects the cement
block/bricks layer’s heat storage capacity, but this effect is weak-
ened gradually with the increasing of insulation layer’s thickness.
As shown in Fig. 15b, as insulation layer’s thickness increases, heat Fig. 17. Appearance of the APVW-L integrated into a solar greenhouse’s back-wall.
loss from external surface gradually decreases, and this tend to be
stable after 0.14 m. Therefore, when the APVW-L is applied in Bei- structural dimensions, materials and test procedures of this exper-
jing, the insulation layer’s thickness should not be less than 0.14 m. imental greenhouse were identical to those of the conventional
Fig. 16 shows the effect of phase change material layer’s thick- greenhouse. The solar air collector system ran from 8:30 to 16:30
ness on the APVW-L’s thermal performance (Case 2). For each on sunny days. The APVW-L’s air velocity was set according to
0.01 m increase in the phase change material layer’s thickness, the design air velocity of 0.45 m/s proposed in Section 5.3.2. The
phase change material layer’s heat storage capacity increases, but experimental tests and data acquisition methods are consistent
cement block/bricks layer’s maximum heat storage capacity, phase with [32].
change material layer’s maximum phase change rate and the The APVW-L’s mathematical model proposed in Section 3 can
change after midnight of cement block/bricks layer’s heat storage be used for predicting its thermal performance in practical pro-
capacity decrease. Accordingly, a very thick PCM layer is neither jects. Fig. 18 presents the simulated and measured values of the
conducive to this wall for absorbing solar energy during daytime APVW-L’s surface temperatures and vertical air passage’s outlet
nor to releasing the heat inside the wall to the room at night. So air temperature between December 19, 2019 to December 22,
phase change material layer’s proper thickness should be 0.04 m 2019. Compared to [30], the average absolute error and maximum
when the APVW-L is applied in Beijing. absolute error of the proposed model in predicting the APVW-L’s
In conclusion, the optimized APVW-L could store 5.63 MJ/(m2- inner surface temperatures were smaller. This model also verified
day) of solar energy in an active–passive way in Beijing, and phase the APVW-L’s external surface temperature and vertical air pas-
change material layer’s phase change rate was 77.7%. After the sage’s outlet air temperature against the experimental results,
whole night, the heat storage capacity of phase change material and exhibited a high accuracy. As shown in Table 4, The IA, NMBE
layer and cement block/bricks layer decreased by 86% and 21% and RMSE were 1.74%–5.81%, 1.40%–3.20% and 0.992–0.996,
respectively. respectively. Combined with the analyses in section 4.3, the pro-
posed model could dynamically predict the APVW-L’s thermal per-
6. Experimental analysis of APVW-L in the solar greenhouse formance under changeable meteorological conditions.
Fig. 19 shows the experimental values in the experimental
After optimization as described in Section 5, a full-scale and greenhouse and the conventional greenhouse. These values were
optimized APVW-L equipped with solar air collector system was obtained during the period between 23 January 2020 and 19
integrated into the back-wall of an experimental greenhouse in February 2020, when it was the coldest in Beijing. The experimen-
Beijing. Fig. 17 shows the appearance of the system with APVW- tal results demonstrated that the indoor air temperature reached
L in the experimental greenhouse. Except for the back-wall, the the lowest level after midnight. The APVW-L promoted the back-
12
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

Fig. 18. Simulated and measured values of the APVW-L in an experimental greenhouse.

Table 4
Error analysis of numerical calculation.

Index Mean absolute error, ℃ Maximum absolute error, ℃ IA NMBE, % RMSE, %


Interior surface 0.85 2.98 0.996 5.81 1.40
Outer surface 1.07 3.29 0.992 4.77 2.28
Outlet air 0.45 1.90 0.993 1.74 3.20

Fig. 19. Application outcome of the APVW-L in the solar greenhouse in winter.

wall’s average interior surface by 2.2–3.4 ℃ and average indoor air 7. Conclusions
temperature by 0.8–1.4 ℃ after midnight. February 14, 2020 was a
cloudy and snowy day (the 23rd day in Fig. 19) and the outdoor 1. A proposed design of an APVW-L, measured in a laboratory pro-
solar radiation in the daytime was not enough for operating the totype, was integrated into a solar greenhouse by deploying a
MSC-DRTs. On that day, the system still increased the back-wall’s full-scale prototype. And an APVW-L’s mathematical model
average interior surface by 2.2 ℃ and average indoor air tempera- was proposed and well-validated against the measured data
ture by 0.8 ℃ after midnight. from both laboratory and full-scale prototypes.
13
F. Han, C. Chen, Q. Hu et al. Energy & Buildings 238 (2021) 110840

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