Impact of modelling the hysteresis phenomenon of phase change materials on the building performance simulation

The hysteresis of phase change materials (PCMs) is a temperature delay of the enthalpy curves between the melting and solidification. This work assesses the impact of modelling the PCM hysteresis on the building performance simulation. To this end, a series of PCM models, considering and not the hysteresis phenomenon, are implemented in EnergyPlus for a PCM with 3 °C of temperature delay. A commercial building located in Frankfurt is used to perform the annual building energy simulations for the different PCM models. The results reveal important conclusions about the accuracy of the current PCM hysteresis model in EnergyPlus.