Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Utilization of macro encapsulated phase change materials

for the development of thermal energy storage and structural
lightweight aggregate concrete
Shazim Ali Memon a,b,⇑, H.Z. Cui a,⇑, Hang Zhang a, Feng Xing a
a
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Durability for Marine Civil Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University, China
b
Department of Civil Engineering, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan

h i g h l i g h t s

 Compressive strength of LWAC with Paraffin–LWA was higher than 15 MPa.

 Shrinkage strain with Paraffin–LWA reduced by 41.8%.
 For outdoor testing, temperature at room center with Paraffin–LWA reduced by 2.9 °C.
 Recovery period with Paraffin–LWA was less than average life span of building.
2
 A reduction of 465 kg CO2-eq/year or 12.91 kg CO2-eq/year/m was achieved.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Structural–functional integrated materials are one of directions of rapid development for saving-energy
Received 14 June 2014 materials. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are latent thermal storage materials possessing a large amount
Received in revised form 26 September of heat energy stored during its phase change stage. Porous lightweight aggregate (LWA) can serve as the
2014
carrier for PCM. In this research, a structural concrete with function of indoor temperature control were
Accepted 10 November 2014
Available online 29 November 2014
prepared by using macro encapsulated PCM–LWA. The indoor and outdoor tests were performed to
determine the thermal performance of the lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) containing macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. The compressive strength and shrinkage strain of LWAC with macro
Keywords:
Phase change material
encapsulated PCM–LWA were evaluated. Finally, the economic and environmental aspects of application
Macro encapsulation of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in a typical floor area of public housing rental flat in Hong Kong
Thermal energy storage concrete were assessed.
Lightweight aggregate concrete From indoor thermal performance test, it was found that LWAC incorporated with macro encapsulated
Thermal performance Paraffin–LWA has a function of reducing the energy consumption by decreasing the indoor temperature;
flatten the fluctuation of indoor temperature and shifting the loads away from the peak periods. More-
over, from outdoor thermal performance test, it was found that the performance of macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA in adjusting the room temperature was optimized when there was a remarkable temper-
ature difference between the day and night. Test results showed that the compressive strengths of LWAC
incorporating macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA at 28 days was higher than control LWAC (without
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA) and was found to be over 15 MPa. The shrinkage strain reduced with
the incorporation of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in LWAC and therefore has a beneficial effect on
the volume stability of LWAC. From simple economic evaluation of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in
a typical floor area of public housing rental flat in Hong Kong, the recovery or payback period was found
to be less than the average life span of a residential building in Hong Kong. Therefore, incorporation of
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in LWAC building walls is economically feasible. Finally, from environ-
mental prospect, a reduction of 465 kg CO2-eq/year or 12.91 kg CO2-eq/year/m2 was achieved. This

Abbreviations: LWA, lightweight aggregate; LWAC, lightweight aggregate Concrete; MIP, mercury intrusion porosimetry; SEM, scanning electron microscopy; PCM, phase
change material; OR, outer surface; IR, inner surface; WLWA–PCM, weight of LWA with Paraffin; WLWA, oven dried weight of LWA; g, the mass percentage of Paraffin in LWA;
DHcomp, measured latent heat of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA; DHpcm, measured latent heat of pure Paraffin respectively.
⇑ Corresponding authors at: Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Durability for Marine Civil Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Shenzhen University, China. Tel.:
+86 755 26733213 (S.A. Memon), tel.: +86 755 26916424 (H.Z. Cui).
E-mail addresses: shazim@ciit.net.pk, shazimalimemon@gmail.com (S.A. Memon), h.z.cui@szu.edu.cn (H.Z. Cui).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.11.022
0306-2619/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
44 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55

reduction would contribute to mitigate Greenhouse Gases emissions over the life span of building. It can
therefore be concluded that the developed macro encapsulated PCM LWAC can be used for thermal and
structural applications in buildings.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction with vacuum impregnation technique. Test results showed that

Concrete is the most widely used construction material with
annual production of around 11 billion metric tonnes. Man con-
sumes no material except water in such tremendous quantities
[1]. The large thermal mass of the concrete walls can be advanta-
geous especially in moderate climates where it can be used to store
energy during the day and release it during night time therefore
reducing the need for auxiliary cooling and heating [2]. The energy
storage capacity of concrete can further be enhanced by the incor-
poration of PCM into the concrete mixtures. Thermocrete, a PCM
enhanced concrete, combines an appropriate PCM with a concrete
matrix producing concrete with structural and thermostatic prop-
erties [3,4]. Concrete is considered suitable for incorporation of
PCM because (a) they are most widely used construction materials;
(b) they can be formed into a variety of shapes and sizes; (c) they
have larger heat exchange area and smaller heat exchange depth;
(d) production and quality control can be easily achieved; (e) ease
of testing, etc. [5]. Some of the other advantages of incorporating
PCM in concrete are (a) it can be used to reduce temperature rise
of a massive concrete section to minimize thermal cracking during
curing [2]; (b) it can be used extend the service life of bridge decks
by reducing the freeze/thaw damage [6].
The PCM can be incorporated in concrete by direct incorpora-
tion and immersion [2,6–8], form-stable composite PCM [9,10]
and encapsulation [11–16]. For the direct incorporation and
immersion technique, which are most practicable and economical,
the leakage of PCM especially after large number of thermal cycling
may interfere with the hydration products and may also affect the
mechanical and durability properties [17–20]. To overcome the
leakage issue, many form-stable composite PCMs were developed
[21–24]. In form-stable composite PCM, the PCM after being con-
fined into the porous media is utilized to produce thermal energy
storage mortar or concrete. However, the incorporation of form-
stable composite PCM has been found to affect the mechanical
properties of cement based composites [9,10]. Moreover, the
PCM sticking to the surface of form-stable composite PCM may
interfere with the hydration products. For example in Zhang
et al. [10] research, the incorporation of only 2.5 wt% of n-octade-
cane/expanded graphite composite PCM in cement mortar reduced
the compressive strength by 55%. In order to overcome some of the
above issues, researchers have successfully developed micro
encapsulated PCM [13–16,25–29]. Hunger et al. [13] incorporated
different percentages of micro encapsulated PCM (1%, 3%, 5%) in
the maximum absorption of PCM by porous aggregates was
68 wt%. It was found that porous aggregates and PCM are
chemically compatible, have large thermal energy storage density
and are feasible for large scale processing. However, the following
issues still need to be addressed.
(a) The indoor and outdoor tests were not performed to evalu-
ate the thermal performance of macro encapsulated PCM
in concrete.
(b) Macro encapsulated PCM embedded in concrete, may affect
the compressive strength of resulting concrete. Furthermore,
the literature on the mechanical properties of concrete
incorporating macro encapsulated PCM is scarce.
(c) No data is available on the shrinkage of concrete incorporat-
ing macro encapsulated PCM.
(d) An economic and environmental assessment/analysis of the
application of macro encapsulated PCM in buildings have
never been documented.
Therefore, in order to address these issues, we focused on the
application of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in LWAC. The
compressive strength and shrinkage strain of thermal energy
storage LWAC were evaluated. Moreover, indoor and outdoor tests
were carried out to evaluate the thermal performance of LWAC
containing macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. The economic
feasibility of application of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in
a typical selected floor area for public housing rental flat in Hong
Kong was assessed. Finally, the reduction in CO2-eq/year for this
selected flat was determined.
2. Experimental investigation
2.1. Materials, preparation and characterization of the developed
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA
Technical grade Paraffin (procured from China) having latent
heat storage capacity of 149.1 J/g was used as PCM, a synthetic
LWA manufactured from expanded clay (Table 1) was used as con-
tainer for PCM while epoxy resin adhesive and hardener complying
Table 1
Physical properties and chemical composition of LWA.

self compacting concrete and found that micro encapsulated PCM Density 600 kg/m3
significantly improved the thermal performance of concrete. How- Porosity (MIP) 77.75%
ever, the incorporation of just 5% PCM reduced the compressive Water absorbing capacity by simple immersion (1 h) 18%
Water absorbing capacity by vacuum immersion (1 h) 73.85%
strength by up to 69%. The reduction in compressive strength of
concrete incorporating micro capsule is due to (a) significant dis- Chemical composition (%)
Silicon dioxide (SiO2) 53.39
parity between the intrinsic strength of the microcapsules and Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) 21.50
the concrete constituents and (b) damage of micro capsules during Iron oxide (Fe2O3) 15.84
mixing resulting in leakage of PCM and subsequent interference Potassium oxide (K2O) 2.56
with the surrounding matrix [13]. Due to these reasons, macro Calcium oxide (CaO) 2.30
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 1.42
encapsulation with strong shell is preferred. Zhang et al. [11,12]
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) 1.17
developed thermal energy storage concrete by incorporating PCM Manganese oxide (MnO) 0.80
in porous LWAs. Thermal energy storage aggregates (expanded Sulfate as SO3 0.58
clay, normal clay and expanded shale aggregates) were prepared Sodium oxide (Na2O) 0.43
 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55
with JB 887-2001 were used as coating materials for the porous
LWA loaded with technical grade Paraffin. The mixing ratio of
the adhesive and the hardener was kept as 1:1. Moreover, graphite
powder complying with GB/T 3519-2008 was used to improve the
thermal conductivity of the macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA
while silica fume obtained from local manufacturer was used to
separate Paraffin–LWA particles coated with epoxy.
The Paraffin–LWA was prepared using vacuum impregnation
setup. At first, the LWAs along with melted PCM were put in the
beaker placed inside the vacuum chamber. Afterwards, the sample
was vacuumed for 60 min at a pressure of 0.1 MPa. Finally, the Par-
affin–LWA sample was taken out and put in the refrigerator at 4 °C
so as to make sure that the PCM becomes solid. The percentage of
Paraffin retained by LWA was calculated by the following formula
as 70 wt%. The uncertainty in mass was found to be 0.012%.
Percentage of Paraffin retained by LWA
¼ ðW LWA—PCM  W LWA Þ  100=W LWA
where WLWA–PCM is the weight of LWA with Paraffin
WLWA is the oven dried weight of LWA. The sample was oven
dried for 24 h at 100 °C.
After vacuum impregnation process, PCM–LWAs were
immersed in the mixture of epoxy and graphite powder for 5 min.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 1. Illustration of macro encapsulated thermal energy storage LWA (a) vacuum impregnation of LWA in Paraffin; (b) Paraffin–LWA coated with mixture of epoxy and
graphite powder; (c) Paraffin–LWA–epoxy graphite powder sample coated with silica fume.
45
The thermal conductivity of epoxy mixture (determined by thermal
conductivity tester model number KY-DRX-RW) with 15 wt% of
graphite powder was found to be optimum and was therefore used
for the development of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. The pur-
pose of adding the graphite powder to epoxy was to enhance its
thermal conductivity so as to improve the working efficiency of
thermal energy storage LWAC. Thereafter, the Paraffin–LWAs were
taken out and put in the tray filled with silica fume. This was done
so as to separate the coated Paraffin–LWA. The preparation of
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA is shown in Fig. 1.
In this research, Micromeritics Instrument Corporations’
AutoPore IV 9500, which is based on mercury intrusion porosime-
try technique, was used for the characterization of the porous LWA.
The micro morphology of LWA was examined through JSM-5910LV
in backscattered electron detection mode at an accelerating volt-
age 10 kV. In order to clearly see the pore features of LWA, it was
vacuum impregnated for 60 min at a pressure of 0.1 MPa with a
mixture of Specifix-20 curing agent and resin in 1:7 ratio by
weight. The prepared sample was then cut, polished (with #400
and #2000 fineness papers) and further treated for preparations
normally performed for SEM including vacuum drying and gold
coating.
The developed macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA was found to
be chemically compatible, thermal stable and reliable. The results
LWA and melted paraffin
46 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55
of chemical compatibility, thermal properties, thermal stability
and reliability are being considered elsewhere for publication.
However, for the convenience of the readers, the thermal proper-
ties of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA would also be discussed
in this paper.
The thermal properties of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA
were determined using TA instrument MDSC2910. The maximum
deviation in the phase change temperature and latent heat values
were found to be ±0.12 °C and ±0.24 J/g respectively. For the whole
experiment, nitrogen with a flow rate of 50 ml min1 was used as
purge gas.
2.2. Materials and mix design-thermal energy storage LWAC
Ordinary Portland cement complying with GB 175-2007 was
used in all mixes. River sand complying with the requirements of
BS 882:1992 was used as fine aggregate while a synthetic LWA
manufactured from expanded clay was used as coarse aggregate.
The density and fineness modulus of fine aggregate were found
to be 2600 kg/m3 and 2.67 while the density of coarse aggregate
was found to be 600 kg/m3. Furthermore, polycarboxylate ether
based superplasticizer was used to achieve required workability
in the concrete mixes.
A total of 3 mixes were designed for this investigation (Table 2).
Mix 1 (LC) represents control LWAC without macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA, Mix 2 (LC–100%PCM–LWA) represents LWAC with
100% LWA replaced by macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA while
Mix 3 (LC–50%PCM–LWA) represents 50% LWA replaced by macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. All these mixes were designed for a
constant water cement ratio of 0.35. Moreover, the LWAs were
pre-wetted for half hour before mixing.
2.3. Concrete mixing
For control concrete (LC), all the solid particles were firstly
mixed in dry state for 1 min. Thereafter, water along with superp-
lasticizer was added to the dry mixture and the mixing was contin-
ued for 2 min. The mixing of thermal energy storage LWAC was
carried out in several steps. All solid particles excluding the Paraf-
fin–LWA were firstly mixed in dry state for 1 min. Thereafter,
water along with superplasticizer was added to the dry mixture
and the mixing was continued for 1 min. Finally, Paraffin–LWA
was added and the mixing was continued for another 1 min. It is
important to add the Paraffin–LWA as the last component in order
to avoid the damage of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA during
the mixing process.
2.4. Test methods for determining the properties of LWAC
2.4.1. Compressive strength test
The compressive strength of cube was determined at the age of
7 and 28 days in accordance with GB/T 50081-2002. The compres-
sive strength represents the average of three specimens and the
deviation from the average value was found to be 0.8 N/mm2.
Table 2
Mix proportion of LWAC with and without Paraffin–LWA.
Mix designation Cement (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3)
1 LC 400 140
2 LC–100%PCM–LWA 400 140
3 LC–50%PCM–LWA 400 140
2.4.2. Shrinkage test
The shrinkage of thermal energy storage LWAC was determined
on three samples having size of 75 mm  75 mm  285 mm. Initial
lengths of the samples were recorded after they were demoulded
at 24 h. Thereafter, specimens were placed in a curing room with
relative humidity of 50% and temperature of 23 °C. The change in
the length of sample was periodically recorded up to the age of
57 days. The maximum standard deviation noted was found to
be 0.004%.
2.4.3. Microstructure analysis
The microstructure of thermal energy storage LWAC was
observed using JSM-5910LV operated in secondary electron
detection mode. Concrete cubes were cut into thin strips using
rotary saw followed by cutting the sample into thin slice
(20 mm  20 mm  3–4 mm) using a precision diamond saw.
Thereafter, the samples were polished with #400 and #2000 fine-
ness papers. Finally, the specimens were treated for preparations
normally performed for SEM which include vacuum drying and
gold coating.
2.4.4. Thermal performance of LWAC panels- Indoor test
The self designed indoor thermal performance test setup con-
sisted of the following components (Fig. 2).
(a) A small test room consisting of six panels out of which five
were made up of wood while the top panel (with LC and
LC–100%PCM–LWA mixes) was used to evaluate the thermal
performance. The dimensions of top panel were
200 mm  200 mm  40 mm.
(b) A 500 W lamp, used as a heating source, was placed at a dis-
tance of 600 mm from the top panel.
(c) A hollow PVC envelope with reflective paper coated inside
for creating a uniform and steady temperature field [9].
(d) A wooden plate 500 mm  500 mm  15 mm with an open-
ing of 200 mm  200 mm  15 mm placed between the PVC
envelope and the test room. The purpose of keeping the
wooden plate with the top surface coated with reflective
paper was to avoid heating the side panels of the room.
(e) Thermocouples placed in the center of the test room and at
the mid height of inner surface of top panel.
(f) Computer recording system connected with a data-logger.
For this test, the top panel was heated for 2 h and was then
allowed to cool naturally for another 2 h. Moreover, the external
temperature around the test room was maintained at 18 °C.
2.4.5. Thermal performance of thermal energy storage LWAC room
models-outdoor test
2.4.5.1. Description of room model. The thermal performance of LC
and LC–100%PCM–LWA room models having dimensions of
500 mm  500 mm  500mm (Fig. 3) were evaluated at the age
of 28 days. The walls and windows of control room model were
made with Mix 1 (LC) while the walls and windows of macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA were made with Mix 2 (LC–
100%PCM–LWA). Each room consisted of windows on the south,
east and west walls and a wooden door (density 1490 kg/m3 and
Sand (kg/m3) LWA (kg/m3) PCM–LWA (kg/m3)
507 316 0
507 0 600
507 158 300
 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55 47

Fig. 2. Schematic of thermal performance test-indoor test.

thermal conductivity = 0.096 W/mK) on the north wall. All the gaps
were sealed with silicon sealant. The details of walls, windows and
door are shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and Table 3.
2.4.5.2. Instrumentation and measurements. The temperature
measurements were made using Type K thermocouples having res-
olution of ±0.3 °C. Each room was equipped with 21 temperature
sensors. Two sensors each were placed on the external/outer and
internal/inner surfaces of the walls (including the roof) while one
sensor was placed at the center of the room model for recording
the indoor center temperature (Fig. 4). All readings were collected
by the data logger at a recording time interval of 10 min. It needs to
be pointed out here that the environmental air temperature was
also recorded.
2.4.5.3. Location and date of testing. The outdoor test was carried
out in Shenzhen, which is a major city in the south of Southern
China’s Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a warm, monsoon-
influenced, humid subtropical climate. The room models were
placed on the roof top of South campus of Shenzhen University
from 28 October, 2013 to 6 November 2013.
3. Test results and discussion
3.1. Mercury intrusion porosimetry
Mercury intrusion porosimetry, a well established technique,
was used for the characterization of porous LWA. It is one of the
few analytical techniques that permits analyst to obtain data over
a wide range of pore sizes using a single theoretical model [30].
According to the literature [30], it is usually applied over a capillary
diameter ranging from 0.003 lm to 360 lm i.e. five order of
magnitude. In other words, the same tool is used to measure with
48 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55

Table 3
Details of walls, windows and door.

Direction Walls (mm3) Door (mm3) Windows (mm3)

North 420  420  40 100  250  40
West 420  500  40 200  200  40
South 420  420  40 200  200  40
East 420  500  40 200  200  40
Ceiling 500  500  40
Floor 500  500  40

Cumulative Pore Volume (mL/g)

1.6
(a)
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
Fig. 3. LWAC room model with PCM windows.
0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
accuracy and precision the diameter of a grain of sand and the Pore Diameter (micron meter)
height of 30-storey building [30]. Fig. 5 shows the pore size distri-
bution of LWA. It can be seen that the LWA is highly porous
Incremental Pore Volume (mL/g)
0.3
(77.75% see Table 1) and that is why it was able to absorb more (b)
0.25
quantity of liquid PCM. Moreover, the rapidly increasing phase in
the cumulative pore volume curve in the pore diameter range from 0.2
0.1 to 10 lm corresponds to main peak on the incremental pore 0.15
volume curve of expanded LWA.
0.1

0.05
3.2. Influence of viscosity on absorption capacity of LWA
0
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
The absorption capacity of porous LWA for different liquids
(water and Paraffin) and at different conditions (simple immersion Pore Diameter (micron meter)
and vacuum impregnation) is shown in Fig. 6. Three interesting
Fig. 5. MIP results of porous LWA (a) cumulative pore volume vs. pore diameter and
points were found. (b) incremental pore volume vs. pore diameter.

 Due to the low viscosity of water, it was able to penetrate into

the pore space with smaller diameter and hence occupy more
pore space than the PCM at the same vacuum pressure.
 For the same liquid (water), different pressures can bring the
liquid to different void levels and occupy different volume of
porous structure.
 The shape of the curve is similar to that of the cumulative pore
volume curve (Fig. 6) implying that different liquids under
different pressures can reach pore space with different diame-
ters [11].
3.3. Scanning electron microscopy of LWA
The microscopic images of porous LWA are shown in Figs. 7
and 8. The dark colored area in these images represents the pore
while the light colored area is the pore skeleton. It can clearly be
seen that the LWA is highly porous and pore structure is well
interconnected. Moreover, a continuous transport tunnel in the
boundary part exists. Therefore, high porosity and continuous

Fig. 4. LWAC panels along with the position of sensors.

 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55 49

80

70

60
Absorpon capacity (%)

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 2 3

1: Water absorpon capacity by vacuum impregnaon

2: PCM absorpon capacity by vacuum impregnaon
3: Water absorpon capacity by simple immersion

Fig. 6. Absorption behavior of porous LWA.

Fig. 7. SEM of LWA in backscattered mode showing core of porous LWA filled with
epoxy. Fig. 9. DSC curve of (a) Paraffin–Endo (b) Paraffin–Exo.

25.39 °C and 28.17 °C for macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. This

Fig. 8. SEM of LWA in backscattered mode showing boundary part of LWA.
transport tunnel in the boundary part allow high absorption of
PCM by LWA.
3.4. Thermal properties of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA
The DSC curves of Paraffin and macro encapsulated Paraffin–
LWA are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The melting and freezing
temperatures are found to be 22.4 °C and 27 °C for Paraffin and
shows that the melting and freezing temperatures increased by
2.99 °C and 1.17 °C in macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. In
[31,32], it was pointed out that the interaction between the com-
ponents of the composite play an important role in deciding the
shift direction of the phase change temperature in porous media.
According to the authors, for strong attractive interaction between
the PCM and porous surface, an elevation of phase change temper-
ature will occur while for repulsive and weakly attractive type, a
depression in phase change temperature will appear. The porous
LWA (Table 1) shows some degree of alkalinity in the form of
K2O, Na2O and CaO while for Paraffin the functional groups CH2
and CH3 are relatively inactive in comparison to for example COOH
functional group. Therefore, it is believed that the interaction
between the inner surface of porous LWA and Paraffin is not strong
leading to a depression of the phase change temperature in porous
LWA. Conversely, according to Clapeyron equation, the volume and
pressure increments lead to elevation of melting temperature.
Therefore, the phase change temperature for Paraffin will increase
in porous LWA. In conclusion, these two opposite affect led to
increase of the phase change temperature of Paraffin in porous
LWA.
The latent heat of melting and freezing stored in unit weight are
149.1 J/g and 149 J/g for Paraffin and 102.5 J/g and 102.2 J/g for
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. Thus, the prepared macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA is a promising candidate for thermal
50 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55

Compressive Strength (N/mm2)

18.00
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
LWAC
8.00
6.00 LC-100%PCM-LWA
4.00 LC-50%PCM-LWA
2.00
0.00
7 28
Days

Fig. 11. Compressive strength of LWAC with and without macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA.

% Increase in Compressive
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00

Strength
8.00
LC-100%PCM-LWA
6.00
LC-50%PCM-LWA
4.00
2.00
0.00
7 28
Days

Fig. 12. Percentage increase in compressive strength of macro encapsulated

Paraffin–LWA with respect to LC mix.

 At 7 days, the percentage increase in compressive strength with

respect to LC was found to be 14% for LC–100%PCM–LWA and
9% for LC–50%PCM–LWA while at the age of 28 days, the
percentage increase in compressive strength was found to be
13% for LC–100%PCM–LWA and 7% for LC–50%PCM–LWA.

In comparison to LC mix, the increase in compressive strength

Fig. 10. DSC curve of macro encapsulated (a) Paraffin–LWA–Endo (b) Paraffin–
LWA–Exo.
energy storage applications and can be used to decrease heating,
ventilating, and air conditioning loads in buildings. Moreover, the
percentage of Paraffin in macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA
estimated from Eq. (1) was found to be 68.74%. It implies that
the Paraffin is well impregnated into porous LWA.
gð%Þ ¼ DHcomp =DHpcm  100%
where g represents the mass percentage of Paraffin in LWA, DHcomp
and DHpcm are measured latent heat of macro encapsulated Paraf-
fin–LWA and pure Paraffin respectively.
for mixes containing 100% and 50% macro encapsulated PCM can
be attributed to the higher strength of coating material i.e. epoxy
and inclusion of silica fume as a layer of coating material
(Fig. 13). Hence, PCM in LWA was properly encapsulated and did
not affect the compressive strength of LWAC. Moreover, since the
compressive strength of macro encapsulated PCM LWAC at 28 days
is higher than 15 MPa [33] therefore the developed LWAC can be
used for structural applications.
3.6. Shrinkage of thermal energy storage LWAC
ð1Þ
The evaluation of potential for volumetric contraction or expan-
sion of concrete due to various causes other than applied force or

3.5. Compressive strength of thermal energy storage LWAC

LWA
The compressive strength of three mixes i.e. LWAC without
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA (LC), LWAC with 100% LWA
replaced by macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA (LC–100%PCM–
LWA) and LWAC with 50% LWA replaced by macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA (LC–50%PCM–LWA) was determined at the age of 7
and 28 days. The results are shown in Figs. 11 and 12. Following Epoxy Coating
observations can be made: Cement mortar

 The mixes incorporating 100% and 50% Paraffin–LWA showed

Fig. 13. SEM image of LC–50%PCM–LWA showing contact of coating with the
higher compressive strength at all ages of testing. cement mortar.
 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55 51

Days
0.000
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56

-0.020
Length change (%)

-0.040

-0.060 LC
LC-100%PCM-LWA
LC-50%PCM-LWA
-0.080

Fig. 14. Shrinkage of LWAC with and without macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA.

temperature change was made by taking the measurement of

length change in the concrete specimens exposed to controlled
conditions of temperature and moisture. The results of length
change of LWAC with and without macro encapsulated Paraffin–
LWA are shown in Fig. 14. It can be seen that in comparison to
LC mix, addition of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA clearly led
to reduce shrinkage strain. With the increase in the percentage of
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA, the shrinkage strain is obvi-
ously decreased. Moreover, in comparison to LC mix and at the
age of 57 days, LC–100%PCM–LWA shows 41.8% reduction in
shrinkage strain. The reduction in shrinkage strain with macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA may be attributed to the incorporation
of Paraffin in LWA and inclusion of epoxy, as a layer of coating
material, which increases the rigidity of LWA. Moreover, the inclu-
sion of silica fume, which increased the superplasticizer demand of
thermal energy storage concrete mixes, on shrinkage cannot be
discounted, but was not investigated here. To sum up, the
incorporation of macro-encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in LWAC has
a beneficial effect on the volume stability of LWAC.

3.7. Thermal performance of thermal energy storage LWAC – indoor

testing
The thermal performance of the small wood room model was
evaluated by monitoring the temperature variation at the inner
surface of the panel and at the center of the room during the test
period of 4 h. The temperature variation curves of the room model
with the top panel prepared with and without macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA are shown in Fig. 15. In comparison to the control
room model (made with LC mix), the rooms prepared with macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA show lower indoor temperature, right-
shifted and have a flatter profile. The maximum temperatures at
the center of the room and at the inner surface of the panel are
found to be 33.1 °C and 45.3 °C for the control and 28.4 °C and
37.8 °C for macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA room model. This
shows that the difference in the maximum indoor center temper-
ature is 4.7 °C while this difference is 7.5 °C at the inner surface
of the panel. Therefore, macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA panel
can reduce the indoor temperature during the charging process
of Paraffin. When the cooling curves for the room models are com-
pared, it is found that the temperature at the center of the room
and at the inner surface of the panel reduced by 9 °C and 19.4 °C
for control and 5.3 °C and 11.2 °C for Paraffin room model during
2 h cooling period. This shows that macro encapsulated Paraffin–
LWA room models are less vulnerable to indoor temperature fluc-
tuations. Based on the test results, it can be concluded that macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA has a function of reducing the energy
consumption by decreasing the temperature and shifting the loads
away from the peak periods and hence is a promising candidate for
Fig. 15. Thermal performance comparison between LWAC with and without
Paraffin–LWA (a) comparison of temperature at the center of the small wood box
and (b) sample indoor surface temperature comparison.
thermal energy storage application in buildings. Moreover, the cal-
culated thermal energy storage density of LWAC panels made with
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA (LC–100%PCM–LWA) was found
to be 30.75 MJ/m3.
3.8. Evaluation of thermal performance of thermal energy storage
LWAC – outdoor testing
3.8.1. Evaluation of temperature profile at the center of the room
models
The thermal performance of LWAC room models with and
without macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA was evaluated by keep-
ing the room models on the roof top of Shenzhen University for
10 days. The 10 days indoor temperature profiles measured at
the center of the rooms prepared with and without macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA are shown in Fig. 16. The ambient
temperature changes are also shown for reference. It can be seen
that the control room model (without macro encapsulated Paraf-
fin–LWA i.e. made with LC mix) showed large indoor temperature
fluctuations and its maximum temperature values were over the
ambient temperature by about 2.9 °C on average. However, the
indoor temperature variations observed in the model with PCM
52 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55

were relatively small as its maximum temperature values were

over the ambient temperature by about 1.6 °C on average. It can
also be seen that on 8th and 9th day and in comparison to LWAC
room model without macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA; the macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA room model (LC–100%PCM–LWA) was
not effective in reducing the temperature at the center of the room.
This is due to the reason that PCM was not able to complete the
phase change cycle.
The variation in maximum and minimum values of the indoor
temperature of room models prepared with and without macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA is shown in Fig. 17. It can be seen that
the room model with macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA was effec-
tive in reducing the maximum temperature by up to 2.8 °C over the
room model without PCM. The maximum difference between these
two models was obtained when the ambient temperature was on
the higher side. As far as the minimum temperature values are con-
cerned, the PCM model mostly showed 0–0.4 °C higher values than
the model without PCM. The higher values of minimum
temperature suggest that the model with macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA is releasing more heat than control model during
cooling process. This characteristic is advantageous for application
in buildings where PCM walls can be used to absorb heat during
daytime and release it at night when there are no heat sources
inside.
From the results, it can be stated that the macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA has the ability to control the room temperature
particularly when the temperature difference between day and
night is large. The results show that the function of phase change
material in adjusting the room temperature was optimized when Fig. 17. Maximum (a) and minimum (b) temperatures measured at the center of
there was a remarkable temperature difference between day and the room models prepared with and without macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA
along with the ambient temperature.
night. Thus, it can be deduced that macro encapsulated Paraffin–
LWA can be used to reduce the indoor temperature fluctuations
and maximum temperature values. Hence, is helpful in improving different. Compared to the control model, the model with macro
the indoor thermal environment. encapsulated Paraffin–LWA showed much gentle fluctuation in
the surface temperatures.
Fig. 19 shows the maximum and minimum temperature values
3.8.2. Evaluation of temperature profile at the outer and inner surfaces
obtained at the outer and inner surfaces for the roof panels pre-
of the roof panels
pared with and without macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA. It can
The 10 days inner and outer surface temperature profiles for the
be seen that the model with PCM was effective in reducing the
roof panels prepared with and without macro encapsulated Paraf-
maximum outer and inner surface temperature of the roof by up
fin–LWA along with the ambient temperature are shown in Fig. 18.
to 4.7 °C and 4.6 °C respectively over the model without PCM.
The surface temperature trends over time were basically the same;
The maximum difference between these two models was obtained
however, the peak values and amplitude of fluctuations were
when the ambient temperature was on the higher side. Thus, it can
be concluded that PCM shows better performance when the

Fig. 16. Indoor temperature profiles measured at the center of the room prepared
with and without macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA along with the ambient Fig. 18. Surface temperature profiles for the roof panels prepared with and without
temperature. macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA along with the ambient temperature.
 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55 53

temperature difference between the day and night is large. It

further substantiates that by reducing the outer and inner surface
temperatures, macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA can be used to
adjust and reduce the indoor temperature fluctuations.

3.9. Economic and environmental evaluation

The economic evaluation is an essential process for assessing

the applicability of PCM in buildings. With respect to economic
return, both electricity tariff and capital cost of PCM are essential
factors affecting the successful application of PCM integrated into
the walls of buildings. Here, for economic evaluation, LC and LC–
100%PCM–LWA mixes are selected.
According to the statistics of Hong Kong Housing Authority [34],
46.5% of public housing rental flats have an internal floor area in
between 30 and 39.9 m2. Hence, for economic evaluation, we
selected a flat having an internal floor area of 36 m2 and height
of 2.5 m. Through information obtained from the mechanical and
electrical services department of Hong Kong [35], the annual
energy consumption for public housing is 528 MJ/m2/annum and
for residential segment, 21% of energy is consumed for space
conditioning [36]. This means that for the selected flat, the energy
consumed would be around 11 MJ/day or 3.08 KW h/day. More-
over, the Hong Kong Electric charges 1.349 HK$/KW h. Hence, the
cost of energy consumed by the selected flat for space conditioning
is around 1495 HK$/year.
In order to produce 11 MJ/day from PCM, we require 12 m2 of
the wall area. Here, the thickness of LWAC walls is taken as
50 mm. The detailed calculations are shown in Tables 4 and 5. It
can be seen that the cost of the material is 21,761 HK$ for LC–
Fig. 19. Maximum (a) and minimum (b) temperatures measured at the inner and
100%PCM–LWA mix. The energy produced by PCM is based on
outer surface of the roof panels prepared with and without macro encapsulated
Paraffin–LWA along with the ambient temperature.
the assumption that it would melt and freeze completely through-
out the test period. However, this would not be possible especially
in Hong Kong which experience different seasons during the year.
Therefore, assuming 50% of the working efficiency and disregard-
ing the time value of money, we would be able to save 750 HK$/
Table 4 year. This would result in a recovery or payback period of 29 years
Economic and environmental evaluation.
for LC–100%PCM–LWA mix used in the walls. Since, the recovery
Economic evaluation period is much smaller than the average life span (60 years) of a
Floor area of flat 36 m2 (height = 2.5 m) residential building in Hong Kong. Therefore, incorporation of
Annual energy consumption (MJ/m2/annum) = 528 PCM in LWAC building walls is economically feasible.
For residential segment energy consumed by space For environmental evaluation, let’s assume that we are able to
conditioning = 21%
save 50% of energy required for space conditioning i.e. 5.5 MJ/day
Energy consumption = (21/100) ⁄ 528 ⁄ 36 = 3991.68 MJ/
Annum = 11.1 MJ/day = 3.08 KW h/day (1.54 KW h/day or 554 KW h/year). According to Hong Kong Elec-
Price of 1 KW h = 1.349 HK$ tric, for each KW h of electricity purchased, it produces 0.84 kg CO2-
Cost of 3.08 KW h = 4.15 HK$/day eq. This means that for selected flat we would have a saving of
Cost = 1495 HK$/year 465 kg CO2-eq/year or 12.91 kg CO2-eq/year/m2. Hence, this reduc-
Assuming 50% saving cost = 750 HK$/year
tion would contribute to mitigate Greenhouse Gases emissions over
Quantities required for 12 m2 the life span of building. It will also help Hong Kong in achieving
LC–100%PCM–LWA mix
(Volume of wall = 0.05 m3)
Emissions reduction target set for 2030 [37]. Moreover, it will
(Wall thickness = 50 mm) contribute to Kyoto-protocol of the United Nations Framework
Items Price
Convention on Climate Change.
LWA = 105 kg 32.55
Paraffin = 74.4 kg 7440
Epoxy = 135 kg 13,365
Table 5
Graphite powder = 20 kg 900
Energy storage capacity of Paraffin LWAC mixes.
Silica fume = 24 kg 24
Total 21,761 HK$ LC–100%PCM–LWA mix
Recovery period = 21,761/750 = 29 years (Volume of wall = 0.05 m3)
Environmental evaluation (Wall thickness = 50 mm
Electricity supplied by Hong Kong Electric = 0.84 kg CO2-eq/ Latent heat of Paraffin = 149.1 kJ/kg
kW h purchased For 74.4 kg = 11,093 kJ
Electricity consumption for flat = 5.5 MJ/day (1.54 KW h/day
Sensible heat of Paraffin = 2.04 kJ/kg °C
or 554 KW h/year)
For 74.4 kg = 151.7 kJ/kg °C
CO2-eq saving for 554 KW h/year = 465 kg CO2-eq/year for
For 6 °C interval = 910 kJ/kg °C
flat (36 m2 floor area)
CO2-eq saving = 12.92 465 CO2-eq/year/m2 Total energy = 12,003 kJ  12 MJ > required energy (11.1 MJ/day)
54 S.A. Memon et al. / Applied Energy 139 (2015) 43–55
We would like to mention here that for economic evaluation,
the transportation charges, etc. were not included. Moreover, for
environmental evaluation, the emissions of CO2 during manufac-
turing of materials (LWA, Paraffin, Epoxy, etc.) were not consid-
ered. Therefore, it can be deduced that the economic and
environmental evaluation is simple and overestimates the whole
efficiency of the system. It is suggested that in future research
these parameters should be considered so as to get the reliable
estimation of saving in energy and CO2 emissions. Also, dynamics
simulations are required to get a reliable estimation of energy
reduction.
4. Conclusions and recommendations
The focus of this research was on the utilization of macro
encapsulated phase change material for the development of ther-
mal energy storage and structural LWAC. Based on the test results,
following conclusions can be drawn:
 From MIP and SEM tests, it was found that high porosity and
continuous transport tunnel in the boundary part allowed high
absorption of PCM by LWA. The absorption capacity of LWA
through vacuum impregnation was found to be 70%.
 The compressive strengths of LWAC incorporating macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA was always higher than the control
(LC) mix. At 28 days, the compressive strength of macro encap-
sulated PCM LWAC was found to be higher than 15 MPa. There-
fore, it can be used for structural applications.
 The shrinkage strain reduced with the increase in the
percentage of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in LWAC. In
comparison to LC mix and at the age of 57 days, LC–
100%PCM–LWA showed 41.8% reduction in shrinkage. There-
fore, the incorporation of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in
LWAC has a beneficial effect on the volume stability of LWAC.
 From indoor thermal performance test, it can be concluded that
LWAC incorporated with macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA has
a function of reducing the energy consumption by decreasing
the indoor temperature; flatten the fluctuation of indoor tem-
perature and shifting the loads away from the peak periods.
Moreover, from outdoor thermal performance test on thermal
energy storage LWAC, it was found that the performance of
macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in adjusting the room tem-
perature was optimized when there was a remarkable temper-
ature difference between the day and night. Therefore, macro
encapsulated Paraffin–LWA can improve the thermal perfor-
mance of building.
 From economic evaluation of macro encapsulated Paraffin–
LWA in a typical floor area of public housing rental flat in
Hong Kong, the recovery or payback period was found to be
29 years for LC–100%PCM–LWA mix. Since, the recovery per-
iod is much smaller than the average life span (60 years) of
a residential building in Hong Kong. Therefore, incorporation
of macro encapsulated Paraffin–LWA in LWAC building walls
is economically feasible.
 From environmental evaluation, a reduction of 465 kg CO2-eq/
year or 12.91 kg CO2-eq/year/m2 was achieved. Therefore, this
reduction would contribute to mitigate Greenhouse Gases emis-
sions over the life span of building.
 The economic and environmental evaluation is simple and over-
estimates the whole efficiency of the system. Dynamics simula-
tions are required to get a reliable estimation of energy
reduction. Moreover, for environmental evaluation, the emis-
sions of CO2 during manufacturing of materials (LWA, Paraffin,
Epoxy, etc.) should be considered.
Acknowledgements
The work described in this paper was fully supported by grants
from Natural Science Foundation of China (51372155) and the Pro-
gram for International Science & Technology Cooperation Projects
of China (2011DFA60290).
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