Building Energy Efficiency Enhancement through Load Reduction in Air Conditioning System
Abstract
The thermal comfort of occupants is a primary consideration in a building, and HVAC systems are deployed for ensuring the conditions of the building as per the guidelines. With the onset of COVID-19, ASHRAE and ISHRAE has suggested the mandatory incorporation of ambient air into the recirculation air to minimise the contamination level in a building envelope. It will increase energy consumption as the ambient air temperature is higher than the recirculated room air. Latent heat storage systems have provided a solution to reducing the energy demand of a building. In this research work, a PCM based heat exchanger is designed to reduce ambient air temperature at the inlet, thus decreasing the energy required by the air conditioning system of the building. Incorporation of a heat exchanger reduced the ambient air temperature by 4 K. Retrofitting with an air conditioning system provides an energy savings of 3%, which goes up to 5% with 6 fins of 50 mm x 5 mm fins and 8% for 6 fins of 75 mm x 5 mm configuration.