International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application

Thermal Performance Optimisation, Energy Efficiency Analysis, and Parametric CFD Modelling of Phase Change Material-Integrated Hollow Clay Brick Wall Systems for Hot-Arid Climatic Conditions in Rajasthan, India

Author(s):Suresh Joshi, Pratap Chouhan

Affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Thermal Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Page No: 7-13

Volume issue & Publishing Year: Volume 3, Issue 6, 2026/06/02

Journal: International Journal of Advanced Engineering Application (IJAEA)

ISSN NO: 3048-6807

DOI:

Download PDF Cite this article

Abstract:
The built environment accounts for approximately 33% of India's total final energy consumption, with space cooling in hot-arid climatic zones — principally Rajasthan, Gujarat, and parts of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh — representing the fastest-growing energy demand component as urbanisation, rising incomes, and worsening urban heat island intensity converge to drive near-universal air conditioning adoption. Passive building envelope strategies that attenuate peak indoor temperature and time-shift thermal load from peak grid hours can substantially reduce both cooling energy demand and peak electrical demand on distribution infrastructure whose upgrade cost in Rajasthan's secondary cities is estimated at ₹4,200 crore by 2030. Phase Change Materials (PCMs), which exploit the high latent heat of solid-liquid phase transitions to store and release thermal energy at near-isothermal temperatures, represent an emerging envelope technology whose integration into conventional hollow clay brick masonry — the dominant wall construction typology in Rajasthan — has been investigated at component level but not at the whole-wall or building energy performance level under representative Rajasthani climate boundary conditions.
This study presents: (i) laboratory thermal characterisation of three commercial PCMs (RT28HC, RT42, and HS29) encapsulated in the hollow cores of standard IS 2180:1988 hollow clay bricks at three fill ratios (25%, 50%, 75% core volume); (ii) experimental measurement of dynamic thermal transmittance (U-value), decrement factor (f), and time lag (φ) for nine PCM-brick wall assemblies relative to a conventional hollow clay brick control wall in a calibrated outdoor test cell in Jaipur (26.9°N, 75.8°E) during peak summer (May-June 2023); and (iii) parametric CFD simulation in ANSYS Fluent using the enthalpy-porosity method for PCM melting-solidification, validated against experimental data, to explore the sensitivity of thermal performance to PCM selection, fill ratio, brick orientation, and wall thickness. Peak indoor temperature reduction of 4.8°C and time lag extension of 3.2 hours were achieved with RT28HC at 75% fill ratio in a 230 mm double-skin wall configuration relative to the unmodified hollow clay brick control. Building energy simulation in EnergyPlus, using the validated wall thermal model as input, predicts annual cooling energy savings of 18.4–31.6 kWh/m² depending on building typology and occupancy schedule, representing 22–38% reduction in space cooling energy consumption for representative Rajasthani residential and commercial building archetypes.

Keywords: phase change material, hollow clay brick, thermal energy storage, building envelope, hot-arid climate, CFD, enthalpy-porosity method, decrement factor, time lag, EnergyPlus, Rajasthan, passive cooling

Reference:

• 1. Arkar, C., & Medved, S. (2005). Influence of accuracy of thermal property data of a phase change material on the result of a numerical model of a packed bed latent heat storage with spheres. Thermochimica Acta, 438(1-2), 192-201.
• 2. Baetens, R., Jelle, B. P., & Gustavsen, A. (2010). Phase change materials for building applications: A state-of-the-art review. Energy and Buildings, 42(9), 1361-1368.
• 3. Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). (2022). Eco-Niwas Samhita 2021: Energy Conservation Building Code for Residential Buildings. Ministry of Power, Government of India.
• 4. Bureau of Indian Standards. (1988). IS 2180:1988 — Specification for heavy-duty burnt clay building bricks (2nd rev.). BIS.
• 5. Dutil, Y., Rousse, D. R., Salah, N. B., Lassue, S., & Zalewski, L. (2011). A review on phase-change materials: Mathematical modeling and simulations. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(1), 112-130.
• 6. International Organisation for Standardisation. (2017). ISO 13786:2017 — Thermal performance of building components: Dynamic thermal characteristics. ISO.
• 7. Khudhair, A. M., & Farid, M. M. (2004). A review on energy conservation in building applications with thermal storage by latent heat using phase change materials. Energy Conversion and Management, 45(2), 263-275.
• 8. Lamberg, P., Lehtiniemi, R., & Henell, A. M. (2004). Numerical and experimental investigation of melting and freezing processes in phase change storage. International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 43(3), 277-287.
• 9. Mehling, H., & Cabeza, L. F. (2008). Heat and cold storage with PCM. Springer.
• 10. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). (2023). Energy Statistics India 2023. Government of India.
• 11. Rajasthan Discoms. (2023). Schedule of Tariff 2023-24: Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited. RVPN.
• 12. Sharma, A., Tyagi, V. V., Chen, C. R., & Buddhi, D. (2009). Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13(2), 318-345.
• 13. Tyagi, V. V., & Buddhi, D. (2007). PCM thermal storage in buildings: A state of art. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11(6), 1146-1166.
• 14. Voller, V. R., & Prakash, C. (1987). A fixed grid numerical modelling methodology for convection-diffusion mushy region phase-change problems. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 30(8), 1709-1719.
• 15. Zhou, D., Zhao, C. Y., & Tian, Y. (2012). Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials (PCMs) in building applications. Applied Energy, 92, 593-605.