Experimental study on the thermodynamic performance optimization of phase change energy storage permeable concrete

To prepare Phase Change Energy Storage Permeable Concrete (PCESPC) with excellent thermodynamic performance, it is necessary to determine the optimal volume fraction of Microencapsulated Phase Change Material (MPCM), volume fraction of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs), and Water-Binder ratio (W/B). In this study, we utilized the response surface methodology Box-Behnken Design (RSM-BBD) in Design-Expert software to optimize the experimental design and establish regression models to investigate the effects of the three aforementioned parameters on PCESPC's compressive strength, permeability coefficient, temperature change range, and snow melting rate. This approach aims to optimize the relationship between key factors and response variables in studying complex systems, helping researchers find the optimal process conditions to achieve the best response variable results. The study revealed that the optimal formulation includes 1.39 % volume content of MPCM, 0.3 % volume content of CNTs, and W/B of 0.33. This formulation yields PCESPC with compressive strength of 20.25 MPa, permeability coefficient of 1.25 mm/s, temperature drop amplitude of 3.97 ℃, temperature rise amplitude of − 4.96 ℃, and snow melting rate of 11.40 g/min. After experimental validation, the error between the predicted results and the experimental values was found to be less than 5 %, indicating the accuracy and reliability of the optimized results. Furthermore, the introduction of two MPCM with distinct phase change temperature ranges enabled dual-temperature regulation and snow melting effects for permeable concrete pavement under both high and low temperature conditions, which can provide valuable insights for the optimization of PCESPC composition and road surface temperature control.