BUILDING | CONSTRUCTION
FloraHolland offices retrofitted with PCM-based induction units
Two years ago, Orange Climate Autarkis and Verkade Klimaat began installing PCM-based induction units in one floor of Royal FloraHolland’s 10-story office building in Naaldwijk, Netherlands. Known as Crystal Beam Modules, the Autarkis units are designed to enhance occupant comfort and reduce cooling costs by 20 percent.
 Royal FloraHolland office building in Naaldwijk, Netherlands. |
Walter van Kampen, Autarkis commercial adviser, says the flower industry trade organization liked the results and asked his company to retrofit additional floors. So far, Crystal Beam Modules have been installed on five floors. On another, a modular, PCM-based Crystal Climate Ceiling has been installed. Each floor is about 500 square meters.
“We changed from PCM beam modules to the Crystal Climate Ceiling on the eighth floor because more ventilation air was needed (it’s a mainly a big conference floor with meeting rooms) and because the customer wanted a different look,” van Kampen said.
How do the systems work?
“The building’s big chillers are only cooling down the fresh air to about 16-18 Celsius,” he explained. “Total cooling is achieved by the smaller chillers and the PCM material. Our customer compared the indoor to ‘a turtle.’ It remains nice and stable for a very long time and it does so every day.”
Autarkis hopes to convert more floors next year. In an email interview, he provided additional information about the project and his company.
Q: Tell me about the history of Orange Climate Autarkis.
A: Orange Climate Autarkis has been focusing on PCM to air systems since 2009, mainly in the Netherlands. We have our own testing facilities (laboratory) in the town of Holten.
Our main focus is using PCM in three main areas:
1. Offices, micro datacenter and residential houses. In office buildings to reduce power, energy and CO2 emissions. We are able to do that with the highest standards in thermal comfort and a healthy (fresh air) working environment.
2. For micro datacenters we have a 90% energy reducing, without any HCFC or CFC. It’s an eco-friendly method of cooling smaller datacenters. These MER / SER datacenters are everywhere: in office buildings, in power plants in hospitals and so on.
3. We supply a PCM floor heating system that in combination with a heat pump and solar panels can store solar energy in the thermal “PCM battery” inside the floor heating system. All our products are installed and mounted by us with the help of our PCM knowledge partners.
Q: What is your role at the company?
 An inorganic salt-hydrate PCM is stored inside HDPE panels. |
A: I am a specialist in a lot of building-related topics – energy, ventilation, HVAC, cooling, heating, sustainability and so on. My role is both technical and commercial. I got intrigued by PCM because of the simplicity of the idea. All of the products and PCM services we deliver have been co-created by my colleagues Harry Schmitz (R&D), Henk Willem van Dorp (owner) and myself. I am also the only (lonely) person who travels to customers to see how our PCM solutions can help them with their efforts to create a sustainable solution.
Q: Who makes the PCM you use in your products?
A: PCM Technology produces our PCM and our PCM storage panels. It is co-owned by Salca BV and Autarkis. We mainly use an inorganic salt-hydrate stored inside a HDPE container.
Q: Do you or Verkade Klimaat have data quantifying the effect of your technology on energy consumption and cost?
A: We have not quantified the data in that way. We kept the main power for cooling and heating to basic levels and added PCM to create the most perfect and comfortable indoor climate. Without adding to the energy bill. And no complaints from people at all.
PATENTS
Lubricating composition with phase change material
U.S. patent application 20170349850 (applicant Total Marketing Services, Puteaux, France):
“Disclosed is a monophasic lubricating composition including a base oil, an oil chosen from the polyalkylene glycols (PAG) and a phase-change material, in particular water. The monophasic lubricating composition can be used, in particular, for lubricating a vehicle engine. It has improved thermal performance relative to the lubricant compositions of the prior art. It also helps reduce fouling of the engine parts.”
Lightweight, breathable, waterproof, soft shell composite apparel
U.S. patent application 20170347730 (applicant Solid Water Holdings, Farmington, Maine)
“The apparel is constructed from various combinations of layers of materials with moisture transfer properties. A first liner of moisture transfer fabrics abuts a second layer of structural material such as open-cell foam. The second layer can abut a breathable membrane and/or an insulating material. … The breathable moisture transfer composite system may be enhanced with Phase Change Technologies for additional thermal benefits and may be used as a single layer or composite layer in the moisture transfer system.”
IN BRIEF
• Silver Star Apartments, the first multifamily affordable housing development to achieve the net-zero energy designation in Los Angeles, is reducing heat gain through the use of phase change material in the walls. Energy consultant Green Dinosaur, which worked on the 49-unit development, identifies the PCM as Phase Change Energy Solutions‘ BioPCM, 23Q-M27.
• New from QY Research: “Global Advanced Phase Change Material (PCM) Market Research Report 2017”
RESEARCH ROUNDUP
For our full list of recent academic research, see puretemp.com/academic. Here are highlights from the past week:
From Environmental Engineering, 10th International Conference:• Experimental Investigation and Mathematical Modelling of Thermal Performance Characteristics of Textiles Incorporating Phase Change Materials
From Journal of Energy Storage:
• Review of latent heat thermal energy storage for improved material stability and effective load management
• Studies on the inward spherical solidification of a phase change material dispersed with macro particles
• Study of thermo-physical properties and cycling stability of d-mannitol-copper oxide nanocomposites as phase change materials
From Physical Rendering:
• Thermal storage of solar energy
From Energy Conversion and Management:
• The effects of modified carbon nanotubes on the thermal properties of erythritol as phase change materials
From Procedia Engineering:
• Experimental study on the cooling charge and discharge characteristics of a PCM based fin-tube thermal energy storage exchanger
From Fashion and Textiles:
• Evaluation of two cooling devices for construction workers by a thermal manikin
From International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer:
• Theoretical and numerical analysis on phase change materials (PCM): A case study of the solidification process of erythritol in spheres
From Applied Thermal Energy:
• System-Level Analysis of a Novel Air-Cooled Condenser using Spray Freezing of Phase Change Materials
From Applied Energy:
• Solidification enhancement of PCM in a triplex-tube thermal energy storage system with nanoparticles and fins
• Optimisation analysis of PCM-enhanced opaque building envelope components for the energy retrofitting of office buildings in Mediterranean climates
From Applied Sciences:
• Energy Saving Potential of PCMs in Buildings under Future Climate Conditions [pdf]
NETWORKING
Connect with PCM experts and industry leaders on LinkedIn
More than 1,100 people have joined a LinkedIn group devoted to the discussion of phase change material and thermal energy storage. The Phase Change Matters group is an interactive complement to the award-winning blog and newsletter of the same name.
You are invited to join the group and connect with PCM and TES experts from around the world. New members include Frederik Wunder, academic assistant in energy storage and phase change materials at Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany; Bhagya Athukorallage, postdoctoral research associate at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas; Eva Yu, trade director at Weihai Perfect Trade Co. Ltd., Shandon, China; and Roberto Bianco, export manager at Cold Car S.p.a, Occimiano, Italy.