Heat buffer comprising at least mechanically coupled wall parts, wherein each of the wall parts comprises a substantially plate-like body; a liquid throughflow circuit incorporated in the body; one or more hydraulic couplings accessible from the outer side of the wall part for discharge and supply of liquid to the liquid throughflow circuit and configured for coupling to hydraulic couplings of a similar device; and is coupled at a mutual angle about a substantially vertical axis to a similar wall part, wherein the mechanically coupled devices are connected such that they enclose one space and wherein the heat buffer also comprises a floor and/or cover part for closing the enclosed space on an upper and/or underside.

Subterranean thermal capacitance for an environmental-control apparatus mechanized via a solar thermal system. The method and apparatus use a solar collector and a plurality of heating-energy-storage cells that are each thermally insulated from one another, wherein heating energy-transfer fluid (HETF) coming from the solar collector is transferred to the energy-storage cell having the highest temperature that is greater than the temperature of the HETF, in order to segregate energy-storage cells to more efficiently store heating energy. Some embodiments further include an energy radiator that radiates thermal energy to an environment and thereby cools a cooling-energy-transfer fluid (CETF) and a plurality of cooling-energy-storage cells that are each thermally insulated from one another, wherein the CETF coming from the energy radiator is transferred to the cooling-energy-storage cell having the lowest temperature that is lower than the temperature of the ETF, in order to segregate cooling-energy-storage cells to more efficiently store cooling energy.

Disclosed is a phase-change energy-storage structure for building insulation. The wall structure is provided with a wall base, an insulation layer, an oriented structural board, a shaped phase-change energy-storage insulation board, and an exterior decorative board in sequence from outdoor to indoor. The shaped phase-change energy-storage insulation board is composed of an inorganic composite phase-change material and a packaging sheet. The inorganic composite phase-change material has a phase-change temperature of 10 to 40 C., obtained by compounding an inorganic hydrated salt and a porous structural carrier. In the inorganic composite phase-change material, a mass percentage of the inorganic hydrated salt is 40 to 95%, and the inorganic composite phase-change material is coated with a fire resistant and corrosion resistant light-cured resin. The disclosure has a good insulation effect, wherein the coldness in outdoor air in summer night can be stored in the phase-change energy-storage insulation board, which can be released into the indoor air during the day, so that the time when indoor temperature reaches a maximum value is delayed, and fluctuation of the indoor temperature is mitigated, thereby improving the environmental comfortableness and reducing the energy consumption for air conditioning in summer.

A heat exchanger with integrated thermal storage, for example, having a new tertiary side utilising phase change material in between and in thermal contact with the primary and secondary circuits, e.g. of a plate heat exchanger. The tertiary side helps reduce e.g. leak flows in district heating applications, or reduce energy losses in periods of low flow through the heat exchanger. By including thermal energy storage in a heat exchanger or reactor, response times of the systems are reduced as well as internal energy losses, and external energy storage units are reduced in number or are potentially rendered obsolete.

A ventilation and air conditioning system (6) is for a room (2) containing a heat source and the ventilation and air conditioning system (6) comprising a cooled air supply (12) and a ventilation duct (10). The ventilation duct (10) includes a primary inlet (24) connected to the cooled air supply (12) and an outlet (14) leading into the room (2). A number of heat storage elements (30) is arranged inside the ventilation duct (10) between the primary inlet (24) and the outlet (14), such that during operation of the cooled air supply (12) there is a forced stream of cooled air through the ventilation duct (10), thereby cooling and preferably freezing the heat storage elements (30). A secondary inlet (36) into the ventilation duct (10) is in flow communication with the room (2) and during operation of the cooled air supply (12) is closed by a damper (40). The damper (40) is designed to automatically open in a passive manner when the forced stream of cooled air from the cooled air supply (12) stops, such that a natural convection airflow through the ventilation duct (10) is supported, and the natural convection airflow is cooled by transferring heat to the heat storage elements (30).

The invention relates to a phase-change material reservoir 9 for a heat exchanger of an air-conditioning installation of a vehicle, the reservoir 9 being arranged between two reservoir plates 10a, 10b and having filling means 14, characterized in that the filling means 14 include at least one tube 15 delimiting a filling channel 19 arranged outside the reservoir 9 against a first plate 10a of the reservoir 9.

An apparatus includes multiple layers of phase-stable material, where adjacent layers of the phase-stable material are separated by multiple spaces. The apparatus also includes liquid phase change material in the spaces between the adjacent layers of the phase-stable material. The liquid phase change material is configured to become gaseous phase change material based on thermal energy absorbed by the liquid phase change material. The apparatus further includes at least one release configured to block passage of the liquid phase change material out of the spaces between the adjacent layers of the phase-stable material. The at least one release is also configured to allow passage of the gaseous phase change material out of the spaces between the adjacent layers of the phase-stable material.

A device manages thermal energy applied to a composite patch on a structure having a heat sink. The device includes an enclosure configured to be placed on the structure overlying the composite patch, and a phase change material within the enclosure for absorbing the thermal energy.

A pivot window includes a laminated body capable of rotating in a state where a first plate material is directed outdoors and in a state where a second plate material is directed outdoors. The laminated body uses at least one of solar heat, atmospheric heat, and atmospheric humidity, and provides a humidity control effect to the room in both of the state where the first plate material is directed outdoors and the state where the second plate material is directed outdoors. The laminated body is not limited to the one providing the humidity control effect, but may be the one providing a temperature control effect. The laminated body may use the concentration of a specific gas in the atmosphere such as atmospheric oxygen concentration, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, and atmospheric volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration, and may provide a component concentration adjusting effect to the room.

A pivot window includes a laminated body. The laminated body includes two sheets of a plate material; a peripheral end member provided at a peripheral end parts of the two sheets of the plate material; and a cell array plate material which is interposed between the two sheets of the plate material and which has a plurality of cells respectively having a gas phase and encapsulating a latent heat storage material having a melting point and a freezing point in a specific temperature range. The pivot window further includes a rotation mechanism for causing the laminated body to perform at least half rotation in a vertical direction.