Feasibility analysis of a solar air collector integrated phase change material in building heating systems based on TRNSYS

Zhang J. Zhang N. Zhang Z. Xu K. Yuan Y. Memon S.A.
15 October 2025 Elsevier Ltd

Energy and Buildings
2025 #345

This paper develops a TRNSYS-based solar air collector integrated phase change material (SAC-PCM) module (Type 1001) for simulating building heating systems. The module employs a coupled implicit finite difference method and heat capacity method to solve the two-dimensional heat conduction equation while considering the non-ideal phase change characteristics of phase change material (PCM). Experimental validation was conducted, and the developed module is in good agreement with the experimental data. In this paper, a simulation model for different SAC-PCM-based building heating systems was established, and the feasibility of SAC-PCM in building heating systems was analyzed. The simulation results show that, compared to a system using only active heating devices (Mode 3), systems integrating SAC-PCM with active heating devices in parallel (Mode 4) and in series (Mode 5) saved 32% and 78% of energy, respectively. Among them, Mode 5 consumes only 258 kW·h of electricity during the entire heating period, providing 4515MJ thermal energy. It is estimated that CO₂ emissions can be reduced by up to 5080 kg over the entire system lifecycle, and the annual cost is only 1000 CNY. This indicates that the application of SAC-PCM in building heating systems is feasible and has great potential in the development of green buildings.

Feasibility analysis , Numerical simulation , Phase change material , Solar air collector , TRNSYS

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School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China
Tangshan Institute of Southwest Jiaotong University, Tangshan, 063000, China
School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan

School of Mechanical Engineering
Tangshan Institute of Southwest Jiaotong University
School of Engineering and Digital Sciences

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