https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-025-06632-2
Regular Article
Investigation of biochar performance for phase change material integration in building applications: effects of raw material type and pyrolysis parameters
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, 58140, Sivas, Turkey
Received:
14
April
2025
Accepted:
5
July
2025
Published online:
22
July
2025
This study focuses on the use of biochars produced under different conditions as support materials to enable the shape-stable application of phase change materials (PCMs) in building components. For this purpose, the effects of incorporating PCM/biochar composites into building wall components on performance improvements were comprehensively investigated. In this context, the performance of biochars was systematically examined in terms of their energy storage capacity, considering both raw material variations and different pyrolysis conditions. For this purpose, bio-based waste materials such as hazelnut outer shells, peanut outer shells, pine sawdust, and poplar sawdust were converted into biochar under identical pyrolysis conditions. The potential of the obtained biochars to be used as support materials for PCM, which exhibit solid-to-liquid phase transitions, was comparatively analyzed based on the latent heat storage performance of the PCM/Biochar composites. According to the evaluations, the PCM/poplar sawdust biochar composite was identified as the most suitable material, with a latent heat storage capacity of 75.12 J/g. In the subsequent phase of the study, the effects of different pyrolysis conditions on the latent heat storage capacity of the PCM/poplar sawdust biochar composite were investigated. In this scope, it was determined that decreasing the maximum pyrolysis temperature resulted in a 35.6% improvement in latent heat storage capacity, increasing the heating rate led to an 18.5% improvement, and extending the pyrolysis residence time provided a 2.47% improvement. By incorporating the PCM/poplar sawdust biochar composites produced under optimal pyrolysis conditions into cement mortar, a building component was developed that possesses both energy storage capacity and reduced thermal conductivity. Following equal-duration heating and cooling processes, it was found that the developed component reduced temperature fluctuations by 5.9 °C on the inner wall surface and by 3 °C in the room temperature.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.