Experimental Study of the Unsteady Heat Transfer of the Wall with Phase Change Interlayer

The application of phase change materials (PCMs) in prefabricated buildings plays an important role in green building energy savings. In this paper, the wall with a phase change interlayer is composed of common building materials, and a phase change interlayer is filled with paraffin and nylon solid skeletons printed using 3D technology. The ordinary wall as the reference object is made of only common building materials, and its dimensions are the same as those of the composite wall with PCM interlayer. A comparison of unsteady heat transfer characteristics between ordinary wall and wall with a phase change interlayer is studied experimentally by infrared image and accurate temperature measurement. The experimental results show that the thickness, position of the phase change interlayer, and heating temperature have an important impact on the thermal insulating performance of the wall. According to the experimental data, when the interlayer thickness is 3 cm and located on the inner side of the wall with a heating temperature of 55°C, the wall not only has the desired insulation performance but also has a high utilization rate of phase change materials. The research results provide a basis for further improvement of the wall by proposing a new application of phase change materials in prefabricated buildings.