Optimization of a solar air heater with phase change materials: Experimental and numerical study
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Author list: Moradi R., Kianifar A., Wongwises S.
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2017
Journal: Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science (0894-1777)
Volume number: 89
Start page: 41
End page: 49
Number of pages: 9
ISSN: 0894-1777
eISSN: 1879-2286
Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)
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Abstract
In this paper, a solar air heater (SAH) with phase change material (PCM)-based energy storage is investigated. Paraffin was placed underneath the absorber plate as the PCM. A transient two-dimensional laminar model was used in the Ansys Fluent 17 software to study the effects of different parameters on the performance of the SAH, such as the air mass flow rate, the amount of paraffin, and the thermal conductivity of the paraffin. The performance of the SAH was optimized by considering two objectives simultaneously: thermal energy efficiency and maximum nocturnal temperature difference between the inlet and the outlet of the SAH. To validate the numerical model, a SAH with a 2-cm paraffin layer and the same dimensions as the numerical model was built and tested. The results of the simulation showed good agreement with the experimental results. ฉ 2017 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords
energy storage, Phase Change Material (PCM), Solar air heater
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