Aluminium Foam Heat Exchangers for Future Cooling/Heating Systems

Abstract

Maintaining thermal comfort in residential and industrial buildings remains a significant energy challenge. Traditional Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are energy-intensive, contributing substantially to both operational costs and greenhouse gas emissions. As the building sector seeks to improve energy performance, attention has increasingly turned to heat storage and passive energy management strategies. This contribution goes significantly beyond the current state of the art by introducing a novel, compact, and modular heat storage solution that leverages Phase Change Materials (PCMs) heat exchangers reinforced with aluminium foam skeletons, integrated into an underground water/ice reservoir. The use of various bio-based PCMs offers a low-carbon alternative to petroleum-derived materials. Reinforcement with aluminium foams significantly improves thermal conductivity and prevents leakage, solving two core limitations of conventional PCM systems. A heat exchanger embedded at the base, constructed from PCM-aluminium foam composites, enables the repeatable storage and release of latent heat for ventilation air conditioning. The use of renewable, biodegradable PCMs, combined with low-energy seasonal storage, supports circular economy principles and offers a path to Net-Zero building operation. This contribution addresses a new generation of high-performance, bio-based heat storage systems that offer practical, scalable, and climate-resilient alternatives to current technologies.