Energy and exergy analysis of a heat storage tank with a novel eutectic phase change material layer of a solar heater system

Solar energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources, but it is not available every time and every season. Thus, storing of solar energy is important. One of the popular methods of heat storage is use of phase change materials (PCMs) which have large thermal energy storage capacity. In this study, the heat storage tank in a domestic solar water heating system was chosen as control volume. The experiments were performed in the province of Elaz?g, Turkey, in November when solar radiation was weak due to cloudy sky. The heat storage tank of the system was modified to fill PCM between insulation and hot water part. A few PCMs which are Potassium Fluoride, Lithium Metaborate Dihydrate, Strontium Hydroxide Octahydrate, Barium Hydroxide Octahydrate, Aluminum Ammonium Sulfate, and Sodium Hydrogen Phosphate were analyzed to proper operating conditions using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) and the best PCM was obtained with the Aluminum Ammonium Sulfate and Sodium Hydrogen Phosphate mixture. Thus, eutectic PCM was obtained and used in a heat storage tank of the solar water heating system. Energy and exergy analysis of heat storage tank was performed with and without the PCM. Energy and exergy analysis has shown that the heat storage tank with the PCM is more efficient than without the PCM and the maximum exergy efficiency was obtained as 22% with the heat storage tank with the PCM.     

Fatty Acids as Phase Change Materials (PCMs) for Thermal Energy Storage: A Review

Abstract

Thermal energy storage (TES) technologies in general and phase change materials (PCMs) in particular, have been topic in research for the last 20 years. Traditionally, available heat has been stored in the form of sensible heat (typically by raising temperature of water, rocks, etc). Latent heat storage on the other hand, is a novel and developing technology, which has found considerable interest due to its operational advantages of smaller temperature swing, smaller size, and lower weight per unit of storage capacity. The interest on thermal energy storage by using fatty acids as PCM has risen in recent times since they have desired thermodynamic and kinetic criteria for low temperature latent heat storage. An added advantage is that fatty acids are derived from the vegetable and animals oil that provides an assurance of continuous supply. This article will review the development of fatty acids as PCMs for solar thermal energy storage application.     

Thermal energy storage and thermodynamic properties of (E)-3-m-tolylbut-2-enoic acid as a medium temperature phase change material

Phase change materials (PCMs) that can store and release heat energy over the temperature range from 363 to 393 K are crucial for solar absorption cooling, and it is worthy to seek new solid-liquid PCMs candidates that melt and crystallize in this temperature range. In this paper, (E)-3-m-tolylbut-2-enoic acid (mTBEA) was applied as a PCM candidate. Its thermal energy storage properties and thermal stability were systematically investigated. The results showed that mTBEA melted at 382.9 ± 0.5 K and crystallized at about 364 K, with a melting enthalpy (Δ_fusH) of 138.4 ± 6.9 J g^?1 and showed good long-term cyclic stability and thermal stability. The supercooling of mTBEA was stabilized at about 20 K, indicating that the conservation condition of melted mTBEA could be simple. In addition, the melted mTBEA could release all the absorbed thermal energy upon crystallizing. Besides, mTBEA exhibited good thermal stability for it to be applied as PCM. Hence, mTBEA is a promising PCM candidate for solar absorption cooling. Furthermore, the heat capacity of mTBEA was measured by modulated temperature differential scanning calorimetry (MTDSC) over the temperature range from 198.15 to 431.15 K, and the molar thermodynamic functions, [H_T-H_298.15]_m and [S_T-S_298.15]_m, were calculated based on the fitted molar heat capacity data.     

PCM thermal conductivity effect on mechanism of PV/PCM thermal control characteristics

ABSTRACT

According to the structure of photovoltaic/phase change material (PV/PCM), the mechanism of internal heat transfer, transmission, storage, and temperature control is analyzed, and a two-dimensional finite element analysis model of PV/PCM structure is established. This study is carried out on the effect of PCM thermal conductivity on internal temperature distribution characteristics of PV/PCM and temperature control characteristics of solar cells. The results show that the increase in thermal conductivity of PCM can prolong the temperature control time of solar cell in PV/PCM system, for example, when the thermal conductivity is increased from 0.2 W/(m·K) to1.5 W/(m·K) under a thickness of 4 cm, the duration when PV/PCM solar cell temperature is controlled below 40°C and extended from 52 min to 184 min. In addition, PV/PCM experimental prototypes are designed with the LA-SA-EG composite PCM peak melting point of 46°C and thermal conductivity of 0.8 W/(m·K) and 1.1 W/(m·K), respectively. The results indicate that compared with PCM-free solar cells, the maximum temperature of PV/PCM prototype solar cells with thermal conductivity of 0.8 W/(m·K) and 1.1 W/(m·K) is reduced by 10.8°C and 4.6°C, respectively, with average output power increased by 4.1% and 2.2%, respectively, under simulated light sources. Under natural light conditions, the average output power is increased by 6.9% and 4.3%, respectively. The results provide theoretical and experimental basis for the optimization of PV/PCM design by changing the thermal conductivity of PCM.     

Performance of a large-scale greenhouse solar dryer integrated with phase change material thermal storage system for drying of chili

ABSTRACT

Large-scale greenhouse solar dryers have been used for drying various products and this type of dryer is usually equipped with LPG burner as auxiliary heater, which creates more operating cost. To overcome this problem, phase change material (PCM) thermal storage was proposed to substitute for the LPG burner. In this work, the performance of a large-scale greenhouse solar dryer integrated with a PCM as a latent heat storage for drying of chili was investigated. Experimental studies were conducted to compare the performance of this dryer with that of another large-scale greenhouse solar dryer without the PCM thermal storage and open sun drying. Chili with an initial moisture content of 74.7% (w.b.) was dried to a final moisture content of 10.0% (w.b.) in 2.5 days, 3.5 days, and 11 days using the solar dryer integrated with the PCM thermal storage, the solar dryer without the PCM thermal storage and the open sun drying, respectively. The performance of the solar dryer integrated with the PCM thermal storage was also evaluated using exergy analysis. The exergy efficiency of the drying room of the solar dryer integrated with the PCM thermal storage and the solar dryer without the PCM thermal storage for drying of chili was found to be 13.1% and 11.4%, respectively and the thermal storage helps to dry chili during adverse weather conditions. The results of exergy analysis implied that the exergy losses from the dryer with the PCM should be reduced.     

Fabrication and characterization of electrospun porous cellulose acetate nanofibrous mats incorporated with capric acid as form-stable phase change materials for storing/retrieving thermal energy

Electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibrous mats incorporated with capric acid was studied to fabricate form-stable phase change materials (PCMs) for storing/retrieving thermal energy. Electrospun CA nanofibrous mats with different porous structures and specific surface areas were firstly prepared through regulating the volume ratio of mixture solvent of acetone/dichloromethane (DCM). Effects of different volume ratio of mixture solvent and mat thickness on the morphological structure, specific surface area, and absorption capacity of CA nanofibrous mats were systematically investigated. The results indicated that CA nanofibrous mats were highly porous on the surface; hence, they were capable of absorbing a large amount of capric acid. The maximum absorption capacity of CA mats via electrospinning with volume ratio of acetone/DCM being 5/5 was ~95.8 wt%, due to its higher specific surface area of ~17.1 m²/g. The specific surface area and capric acid absorption capacity of CA nanofibrous mats increased with the increases of mat thickness. As the thickness of nanofibrous mats increased from 10 to 85 μm, the corresponding specific surface area and capric acid absorption capacity of mats increased respectively from 7.2 to 29.0 m²/g and 92.1 to 98.5%. Morphological structures, as well as the properties of thermal energy storage and thermal insulation of the fabricated form-stable PCMs, were studied by scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and measurement of freezing times, respectively. The results indicated that the resulting form-stable PCMs could well maintain their phase transition characteristics and demonstrated great thermal energy storage capability and temperature regulation ability.     

Experimental energy and exergy analyses of a discharging heat exchanger for a small hot-oil domestic storage tank

Experiments are described to investigate the thermal performance of a discharging heat exchanger for a small storage tank filled with oil. Experimental results are presented in terms of the discharging energy rates (power) and the discharging exergy rates for low (~4 ml/s) and high discharging flow rates (~8 ml/s). Water heating energy rates, which are respectively maximized at approximately 600 W and 1200 W at low and high flow-rate discharging, are found to be higher than the discharging energy rates, which are respectively maximized at 450 W and 900 W. These results indicate that the energy rates do not accurately evaluate the thermal performance of the discharging heat exchanger since the energy heating rate of the water is greater than that for the oil that heats it, which is thermodynamically inconsistent. The energy rates should thus be used with caution when the thermal performance of the heat exchanger is evaluated. Water heating exergy rates, which are respectively maximized at approximately 45 W and 130 W at low and high flow-rate discharging, are generally smaller than the discharging exergy rates, which are respectively maximized at 65 W and 170 W. Exergy rate results are thus more consistent in the physical process of water heating, and an exergy factor is suggested as a proper measure for evaluating the performance of the discharging heat exchanger. The maximum value of the exergy factor is found to increase from 0.15 at low flow rates to a maximum value of approximately 0.19 at high flow rates. This implies that to extract more energy from a storage tank to a discharging heat exchanger, the flow rate has to be high, which is consistent with the physical process of heating water faster to higher temperatures. The exergy factor can thus be used as a design parameter for discharging heat exchangers.     

Investigations on an evacuated tube solar water heater using hybrid-nano based organic phase change material

ABSTRACT

This work explores the opportunities to address the setback in thermal energy storage of solar-based water heaters by uniting it with a suitable hybrid-nano composite phase change material (HNCPCM) in a static mode of operation. The experiments were conducted on a natural circulation all-glass evacuated solar water heating system (AGSWH). The investigation was steered in five cases such that the first case without any phase change material (PCM), the second with pure paraffin as PCM, and remaining three cases with three different mass percentage of HNCPCMs (0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% mass fraction of hybrid nanoparticles within PCM) in real-time solar exposure. The system was analyzed based on the first and second law of thermodynamics to assess the performance in all the five cases. Erstwhile, the hybrid nanoparticles were prepared by blending equal mass of SiO₂ and CeO₂ nanoparticles and characterized to gauge its thermal storage properties. The achieved results substantiated that the thermal conductivity had boosted with the accumulation of hybrid nanoparticles within the paraffin matrix, and maximum enhancement of 65.56% was attained with 2.0% mass fraction. The first law and second law investigations revealed that the incorporation of hybrid-nano composites improved the energy and exergy content of the system, distinctly. Among the experimented cases, HNCPCM with 1.0 mass% of hybrid nanoparticles remarkably yielded a better result of 19.4% and 1.28% improvement in energy and exergy efficiencies, respectively. Besides, it evidenced the necessity of choosing the right quantity of nanoparticles for achieving better overall results.     

炼化企业热媒水低温余热回收利用方案

对典型炼化企业热媒水的温度、压力、流量及气分、伴热装置的蒸汽使用情况等进行调研,根据低温余热的利用原则,简化低温余热回收利用系统建立步骤,提出适合本企业、有针对性的低温余热回收利用方案。方案实施后,可为企业节省各类蒸汽3.6×105 t/a,年增加经济效益近4 000万元。     

Effect of PCM on temperature fluctuation during the door opening of a household refrigerator

Temperature fluctuation inside the cabinet of a household refrigerator significantly affects the quality of preserved food. Phase change material (PCM) is a latent heat storage system that can store and release the heat energy by changing its phase from liquid to solid and solid to liquid respectively. Therefore, use of PCM inside the refrigerator cabinet has the potential for minimizing the temperature fluctuation during the door opening and the power failure. However, very few studies in the literature were dedicated to investigating the role of PCM to reduce the temperature fluctuation. The aim of this work is to experimentally investigate the effects of PCM on temperature fluctuation inside the cabinet of a household refrigerator during the door opening and power failure. The results found that a significantly lower temperature fluctuation can be obtained using PCM. It was found that during the door opening condition the air temperature in the cabinet rose rapidly. However, when a PCM container was used, temperature variation was reduced to 3–5°C. During the power failure, the system with PCM maintained a lower temperature inside the storage chamber for a long period of time (about 2 hours). Moreover, the test results indicate that PCM maintains more stable temperature in the foodstuffs inside the refrigerator. This reduction of temperature fluctuation ultimately improves the quality of preserved food.     

余热锅炉在绿色油田建设中的应用

余热锅炉的运用使得不同品级的能源可以得到充分合理的利用。中国石油塔里木油田公司在生产实践中,采用燃气发电机组—余热锅炉联合循环技术,用不能再发电的燃气尾气生产蒸汽,对天然气中蕴含的能量进行分级利用,实现了发电、供热双重效益,也降低了对周边环境的热污染。文章对该热电联合循环的工艺流程进行介绍,通过对燃气发电机组尾气的能量传递进行计算,用热力学原理进行分析,以期实现对使用余热锅炉后的热电联产经济性进行综合评价的目的。     

A Heat Dynamic Model for Intelligent Heating of Buildings

This article presents a heat dynamic model for prediction of the indoor temperature in an office building. The model has been used in several flexible load applications, where the indoor temperature is allowed to vary around a given reference to provide power system services by shifting the heating of the building in time. This way the thermal mass of the building can be used to absorb energy from renewable energy source when available and postpone heating in periods with lack of renewable energy generation. The model is used in a model predictive controller to ensure the residential comfort over a given prediction horizon.     

Effect of different design aspects of pipe for earth air tunnel heat exchanger system: A state of art

Earth air tunnel heat exchanger (EATHE) is a promising passive technique to provide thermal comfort condition in buildings. EATHE system uses undisturbed temperature of the ground for heating/cooling of air. Despite the several advantages, this technique has not become much popular owing to its high capital cost (mainly pipe cost and trench excavation cost) and large land area requirements. The primary objective of this study is to present a comprehensive review of different EATHE pipe layouts, pipe properties and positioning of the pipe with their advantages and limitations. It is observed that the ring pipe layout is the most cost-effective pipe-layout for small size EATHE system because it saves excavation cost by using a trench of the existing foundation of the building. However, Grid pipe-layout is an ideal layout for a large size EATHE system. Multi-layer pipe layouts should be used to reduce the land area requirement significantly. Moreover, EATHE system can be installed beneath the building (under building foot-print) to eliminate extra land area requirement for the installation of EATHE system. This review article shows that the Initial capital cost and land area requirement for the EATHE system can be substantially reduced by using appropriate pipe layout. It can be concluded that if EATHE system is installed with proper design strategies, it will be a clean and cost-effective method for building heating/cooling with significant power savings.     

Modeling of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in a Copper Based Heat Sink Application

With the trend towards increasing the speed of processors in smaller sized of computers, there has been considerable interest in heat sink technologies with higher levels of performance and further miniaturization. This work addresses the fundamental heat transfer augmentation question of how to design a copper-based heat sink, when the overall dimensions of the bottom plate or fan are specified. A three-dimensional finite-volume model has been developed and applied to investigate flow and conjugate heat transfer in the copper-based heat sink. The model was produced with the commercial program FLUENT, which allows this nonlinear, highly turbulent problem to be simulated using the k-ε turbulence model. The theoretical model developed is validated by comparing the model predictions with available experimental data. The thermal performance and temperature distribution for the heat sink were analyzed and a procedure for optimizing the geometrical design parameters based on less space occupation and more efficient heat transfer coefficient is presented. Several design examples with different types of cooling methods and manufacturing processes have been analyzed. The reliability and effectiveness in heat spreading of those has been compared. It has been shown that the copper-based heat sink with louvered fins (case No.3) has an optimum design configuration.     

A comprehensive review of the energy efficiency on nano coated fin and tube condenser

The condenser is a piece of equipment used to effectively transfer heat from water to the environment. The fin and tube condenser is the most commonly used in commercial applications. The improved performance of heat transfer in the fin and tube condenser is a significant area of study all over the world because optimizing the efficiency of heat transfer in the condenser will contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of system performance. The vapor deposition, plasma spray, and thermal spray techniques are being used, and it is determined that a heat transfer enhancing coating improves condenser performance. This review discusses the nanomaterial coating over the fin and tube condenser in detail. The various nanomaterial coatings with various propositions and coating methods had been discussed with the evidence of previous researchers. At a 50-degree inclination angle on the condensate plate, the condensate over the coating surface increases by more than 30%. The thermal properties of the working fluid are improved over the condenser, and the overall effectiveness of the condenser is increased by approximately 40% over the non-coated condenser. A 1% volumetric concentration of Nanoparticles in the coated material achieves a maximum efficiency increase of 78.7%.     

Experimental investigation on the phase change material-based modular heat exchanger for thermal management of a building

A phase change material (PCM)-based flat plate modular heat exchanger for free cooling application, suitable for the diurnal temperature variation that prevails during the summer months of Bangalore city, India is designed and experimentally investigated. The flow and other parameters selected in the present study are meant to suit the accelerated charging of the PCM in the modular heat exchanger during the early morning hours, and to provide cool energy to the room during the daytime, by circulating the ambient air through the heat exchanger at a lower velocity. It is observed from the charging experiments that the decrease in the inlet air temperature has more influence in reducing the solidification time than the increase in the inlet air velocity. The heat exchanger designed in the present investigation is capable of maintaining the room temperature around 30°C for a longer duration of 8 hr when the heat load is 0.5 kW. It is suggested to design the modular heat exchanger with a surface area proportionate to the present heat exchanger size when the room heat load increases beyond 0.5 kW, in order to maintain a minimum comfortable temperature of 30°C in the room.     

Modeling of Flow Field and Heat Transfer in a Copper-Base Automotive Radiator Application

This paper describes a methodology used for designing louvered fins. Louvered fins are commonly used in many compact heat exchangers to increase the surface area and initiate new boundary layer growth. Detailed measurements can be accomplished with computational models of these louvered fins to gain a better understanding of the flow field and heat distribution. The particular louver geometry studies for this work have a louver angle of 23° and fin count of 17 fpi.

The flow and heat transfer characteristics for three-dimensional mixed convection flows in a radiator flat tube with louvered fins are analyzed numerically. A three-dimensional model is developed to investigate flow and conjugate heat transfer in the copper-based car radiator. The model was produced with the commercial program FLUENT. The theoretical model has been developed and validated by comparing the predictions of the model with available experimental data. The thermal performance and temperature distribution for the louvered fins were analyzed and a procedure for optimizing the geometrical design parameter is presented.

One fin specification among the various flat tube exchangers is recommended by first considering the heat transfer and pressure drop. The effects of variation of coolant flow conditions and external air conditions on the flow and the thermal characteristics for the selected radiator are investigated also. The results will be used as fundamental data for tube design by suggesting specifications for car radiator tubes.     

墙体保温技术清洁生产潜力分析--以乌鲁木齐市为例

以乌鲁木齐市供采暖系统为背景，用清洁生产的思维方式发现和解决采暖过程中热能的浪费。通过对可发性聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料板的保温性能和目前民用墙体保温技术发展状况、发展方向及其经济、环境效益的分析，提出大力推广外墙保温技术、实现建筑节能是必然的发展趋势；同时实行分户供暖、计量收费更是推行节能建筑的重要保障。     

Comparative study on performances of a heat-pipe PV/T system and a heat-pipe solar water heating system

The heat-pipe solar water heating (HP-SWH) system and the heat-pipe photovoltaic/thermal (HP-PV/T) system are two practical solar systems, both of which use heat pipes to transfer heat. By selecting appropriate working fluid of the heat-pipes, these systems can be used in the cold region without being frozen. However, performances of these two solar systems are different because the HP-PV/T system can simultaneously provide electricity and heat, whereas the HP-SWH system provides heat only. In order to understand these two systems, this work presents a mathematical model for each system to study their one-day and annual performances. One-day simulation results showed that the HP-SWH system obtained more thermal energy and total energy than the HP-PV/T system while the HP-PV/T system achieved higher exergy efficiency than the HP-SWH system. Annual simulation results indicated that the HP-SWH system can heat the water to the available temperature (45°C) solely by solar energy for more than 121 days per year in typical climate regions of China, Hong Kong, Lhasa, and Beijing, while the HP-PV/T system can only work for not more than 102 days. The HP-PV/T system, however, can provide an additional electricity output of 73.019 kWh/m², 129.472 kWh/m², and 90.309 kWh/m² per unit collector area in the three regions, respectively.     

新疆地区地温采暖技术的应用探讨

针对寒冷地区建筑物的采暖方式，介绍一种新型的区域供暖方式－－地温水源热泵（地温中央空调）供暖系统，为寻找新型供暖方式提出了环保安全、绿色节参采暖制冷新理念。