Experimental Investigation on Performance Comparison of Solar Water Heating-Phase Change Material System and Solar Water Heating System

Liangliang Sun, Nan Xiang, Yanping Yuan and Xiaoling Cao
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Liangliang Sun: School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Nan Xiang: School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Yanping Yuan: School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
Xiaoling Cao: School of Mechanical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Phase change material can be used as heat transfer fluid in the solar water heating system, which is the latest way to improve thermal efficiency. In this paper, graphene composite paraffin emulsion is used as heat transfer fluid in a solar water heating-phase change material (SWH-PCM) system. By comparing with the traditional solar water heating (SWH) system, the thermal performance characteristics of SWH-PCM system have been investigated experimentally. The SWH-PCM system has higher heat storage than the SWH system. The heat storage of SWH-PCM system and SWH system all increase with the increase of solar irradiance, while the thermal efficiency has the opposite trend. The flow rate has a greater influence on the thermal efficiency of SWH-PCM system than that of the SWH system. With the flow rate of 200 L/h, the thermal efficiency of SWH-PCM system is 14.21% higher than that of the SWH system. In summary, the SWH-PCM system is a promising solar water heating system with high heat storage and thermal efficiency.

Keywords: solar water heating-phase change materials system; graphene composite paraffin emulsion; heat storage; thermal efficiency; experimental investigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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