A preliminary experimental study of a novel incorporation of chilled ceiling with phase change materials and transparent membrane cover

Abstract This study presents an experimental investigation into a novel incorporation of chilled ceiling with transparent membrane cover and phase-change material (PCM) to form a new type of PCM chilled ceiling panel. The membrane cover is infrared transparent to facilitate radiant cooling, but serves as a barrier of convection to avoid moisture condensation for applications in humid climate regions. As reliable electricity supply is still not accessible to millions of people, especially in sub-Saharan and South Asian countries where these countries also face the combined problems of high cooling demand and inadequate power supply, the use of solar energy would help to overcome these problems. To address such problems, the proposed PCM chilled ceiling can be applied along with a solar photovoltaic (PV) directly driven vapour-compression cooling system. Electricity generated by the photovoltaic (PV) panels drives the variable speed direct current (DC) compressor for cooling production, while excessive cooling is stored in the PCM packs for use at night. The variable speed compressor can adjust to match fluctuation in solar radiation and hence increases the utilization of solar energy. A small-scale experimental setup was prepared using a mini DC compressor refrigeration system. Integration of salt hydrate type PCM in chilled beam and chilled ceiling, respectively, and application of transparent membrane cover in chilled ceiling were tested to verify the proposed design.