TY  - EJOU
AU  - Zaidan, Rafah H. 
AU  - Jasim, Najim A. 

TI  - Numerical and Experimental Study of Thermal Storage Energy in a Building with Various Pipeline Design under Floor—Case Study
T2  - Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer

PY  - 2025
VL  - 23
IS  - 5
SN  - 2151-8629

AB  - This paper presents a comprehensive experimental and numerical investigation of radiant floor heating (RFH) systems integrated with phase change material (PCM)-based thermal energy storage (TES). The study compares two underfloor pipe configurations: double serpentine and spiral. It also looks at how well a paraffin wax PCM system works with compact heat exchanger-type TES units during winter in Iraq. Key performance indicators including discharge temperature, heat transfer rate, liquid fraction evolution, and temperature uniformity were assessed through <i>in situ</i> experimental measurements and ANSYS fluent simulations. Results demonstrate that the spiral design provides slightly more uniform temperature distribution on the tile surface at an inlet water temperature of 55°C, with an average difference of approximately 0.5%, the serpentine layout exhibits higher slab temperature distribution by about 0.66%. Notably, the serpentine configuration shows superior thermal homogeneity and heat distribution, with a 15.05% increase in heat gain at a 55°C inlet temperature compared to the spiral design. The performance gap between the two layouts narrows as the inlet temperature increases from 50°C in 5°C increments by approximately 4.1%, 3.7%, and 1.7%, respectively. Higher inlet temperatures also improve PCM discharging and charging rates, improving energy storage utilization. The findings provide significant design guidelines for sustainable heating systems for cold climates.
KW  - Radiant floor heating systems; phase change materials (PCM); paraffin wax; thermal energy storage; experimental invistagation; numerical thermal energy

DO  - 10.32604/fhmt.2025.068205