Optimization of a solar air heater with phase change materials: Experimental and numerical study

• Published in: Experimental thermal and fluid science Vol. 89; pp. 41 - 49
• Main Authors: Moradi, Ramin, Kianifar, Ali, Wongwises, Somchai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Elsevier Inc 01.12.2017; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Energy efficiency; Energy storage; Flow rates; Heat conductivity; Heat transfer; Mass flow rate; Mathematical models; Model testing; Optimization; Paraffin; Phase Change Material (PCM); Phase change materials; Simulation; Software; Solar air heater; Solar energy; Thermal conductivity; Thermal energy; Two dimensional models; Phase Change Material (PCM); Solar air heater; Solar energy; Energy storage
• ISSN: 0894-1777; 1879-2286
• DOI: 10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2017.07.011

•A solar air heater with phase change material is investigated.•Effects of different parameters on the performance of the solar air heater are studied.•The solar air heater kept the average nocturnal temperature difference of 4.5°C at the best performance.•The total energy efficiency was about 37%.•The results of the simulation showed a good agreement with experimental. 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.