Experimental Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Phase Change Materials Mixed with Pure Clay and Cement-Stabilized Clay for Reducing Indoor Temperatures in Buildings

This paper examines the thermal performance and effectiveness of phase change material (PCMS) when integrated with supporting materials at varying concentration ratios and the study adopted an experimental approach. Whereas PCMS offer high latent heat storage capacity, their application is often limited by low thermal conductivity and leakage issues. To address these challenges, composite samples were prepared by incorporating (sand, cement or mud) in the form of panels of various sizes, such as (300×300×20mm) and (300×300×10mm), in order to figure out their effectiveness and to reduce the high temperature inside the building. The experimental results demonstrated that increasing the percentage of the additive significantly improved the thermal conductivity. Finally, we can conclude that the thermal conductivity of macro-encapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) was studied with the addition of clay, cement, and sand to determine the effect of each. The results showed that (PCMs) can be efficiently combined with clay as an environmentally friendly material, making them suitable for use as part of building materials. Furthermore, considering the known disadvantage of PCMs their low heat transfer capacity, the additives demonstrated their ability to improve thermal conductivity, enhancing the material's performance by increasing its heat absorption and release capacity, and reducing the thermal lag by 20%-40%