Theoretical Model of a Flat Plate Solar Collector Integrated with Phase Change Material

Abstract—The objective of this work was to develop a theoretical model to study the dynamic thermal behavior of a flat plate solar collector integrated with a phase change material (PCM). The PCM acted as a heat source for the solar system during low intensity solar radiation and night. The energy balance equations for the various components of the collector as well as for the PCM were formulated and numerically solved using Matlab computational program. The effect of natural convection on heat during the melting process was taken into account by using an effective thermal conductivity. The model was used to investigate the effect of inlet water temperature, water mass flow rate, and PCM thickness on the outlet water temperature and the melt fraction during charging and discharging modes. A comparison with a collector without PCM was made. Results showed that charging and discharging processes of PCM have six stages. The adding of PCM caused a decrease in temperature during charge and an increase during discharge. The rise was most enhanced for higher inlet water temperature, PCM thickness and for lower mass flow rate. Analysis indicated that the complete melting time was shorter than the solidification time due to the high heat transfer coefficient during melting. The increases in PCM height and mass flow rate were not linear with the melting and solidification times.

[2]  M. Perino,et al.  Design of a low-temperature solar heating system based on a slurry Phase Change Material (PCS) , 2015 .

[3]  Amenallah Guizani,et al.  Enhancement of latent heat storage in a rectangular cavity: Solar water heater case study , 2014 .

[4]  L. Pires,et al.  Transient behaviour of a latent-heat thermal-energy store: numerical and experimental studies , 2002 .

[5]  P ? ? ? ? ? ? ? % ? ? ? ? , 1991 .

[6]  A. Kürklü,et al.  Thermal performance of a water-phase change material solar collector , 2002 .

[7]  L. Cabeza,et al.  Experimentation with a water tank including a PCM module , 2006 .

[8]  W. Beckman,et al.  Solar energy thermal processes , 1974 .

[9]  A. K. Bhargava.  A solar water heater based on phase-changing material , 1983 .

[10]  A. B. Crowley,et al.  Numerical solution of stefan problems , 1978 .

[11]  Xiaosong Zhang,et al.  Thermal performance of a solar storage packed bed using spherical capsules filled with PCM having different melting points , 2014 .

[12]  Philippe Bournot,et al.  Thermal performance of an integrated collector storage solar water heater (ICSSWH) with phase change materials (PCM) , 2014 .

[13]  Marcel Lacroix,et al.  Thermal performance of a latent heat energy storage ventilated panel for electric load management , 1999 .

[14]  B. Mikic,et al.  Integrated solar collector storage system based on a salt-hydrate phase-change material , 1995 .

[15]  M. K. Gaur,et al.  Development of empirical relation to evaluate the heat transfer coefficients and fractional energy in basin type hybrid (PV/T) active solar still , 2010 .

[16]  G. N. Tiwari,et al.  Performance prediction of PCCM collection-cum-storage water heater: Quasi-steady state solution , 1988 .