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Phase change materials (PCM) are used in many industrial and residential applications for their advantageous characteristic of high capacity of latent thermal storage by means of an isothermal process. In this context, it is very useful to have predictive mathematical models for the analysis of the thermal performance and for the thermal design of these layers. In this work, an experimental validation of an analytical model that resolves the steady periodic heat transfer problem in a finite layer of PCM is presented. The experimental investigation was conducted employing a PCM with thermophysical and thermochemical behavior very close to those hypothesized in the formulation of the analytical model. For the evaluation of the thermophysical properties of the PCM sample used, an experimental procedure created by the authors was employed. In all tests realized in a sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal periodic regime, the comparison between the measured and calculated trends of the temperature at different sample heights and of the surface heat fluxes show an excellent agreement. Moreover, also having verified the analytical total stored energy, the analytical model constitutes a valid instrument for the evaluation of the latent and sensible contribution and the trend in time of the position of the bi-phase interface. Peer Reviewed

Phase change materials (PCM) are used in many industrial and residential applications for their advantageous characteristic of high capacity of latent thermal storage by means of an isothermal process. In this context, it is very useful to have predictive mathematical models for the analysis of the thermal performance and for the thermal design of these layers. In this work, an experimental validation of an analytical model that resolves the steady periodic heat transfer problem in a finite layer of PCM is presented. The experimental investigation was conducted employing a PCM with thermophysical and thermochemical behavior very close to those hypothesized in the formulation of the analytical model. For the evaluation of the thermophysical properties of the PCM sample used, an experimental procedure created by the authors was employed. In all tests realized in a sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal periodic regime, the comparison between the measured and calculated trends of the temperature at different sample heights and of the surface heat fluxes show an excellent agreement. Moreover, also having verified the analytical total stored energy, the analytical model constitutes a valid instrument for the evaluation of the latent and sensible contribution and the trend in time of the position of the bi-phase interface. Peer Reviewed

The EU-funded project called SEAM4US (Sustainable Energy mAnageMent for Underground Stations) is targeted to define advanced control systems for cost-effective management of subway stations, which will be applied to the pilot Peer Reviewed

The EU-funded project called SEAM4US (Sustainable Energy mAnageMent for Underground Stations) is targeted to define advanced control systems for cost-effective management of subway stations, which will be applied to the pilot Peer Reviewed

Large scale mitigation strategies showed to represent promising solutions for enhancing liveability in dense urban contexts. Therefore, most of the researches are focused on assessing the effect of high albedo surfaces and greenery. The paper deals with a numerical and experimental analysis of these evapotranspiration and high-reflectance surfaces in a full scale experimental set-up where more than 20 cubicles are monitored in a Mediterranean continental climate. The experimental set-up itself covers an intermediate inter-building perspective between the lab scale and the real urban contexts, which compromises the possibility to generalize final results. This scale is able to better control geometry of area, but allows real microclimate monitoring and calibration of CFD models. Starting from a validated model, this study simulated alternative scenarios with gradually varying the presence of common mitigation strategies with the scope to evaluate their effect to this aim. Results showed that high albedo solutions best mitigate summer overheating reducing the air temperature, while greenery was more effective in the densest configurations with low albedo envelopes, showing how geometry related variables may play a key role in determining the optima configurations of microclimate mitigation strategies, also important for the best exploitation of renewables in the built environment. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd