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Experimental investigation on the thermal performance of heat storage walls coupled with active solar systems

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Abstract

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the performance of a system combining a low-temperature water wall radiant heating system and phase change energy storage technology with an active solar system. This system uses a thermal storage wall that is designed with multilayer thermal storage plates. The heat storage material is expanded graphite that absorbs a mixture of capric acid and lauric acid. An experiment is performed to study the actual effect. The following are studied under winter conditions: (1) the temperature of the radiation wall surface, (2) the melting status of the thermal storage material in the internal plate, (3) the density of the heat flux, and (4) the temperature distribution of the indoor space. The results reveal that the room temperature is controlled between 16 and 20 °C, and the thermal storage wall meets the heating and temperature requirements. The following are also studied under summer conditions: (1) the internal relationship between the indoor temperature distribution and the heat transfer within the regenerative plates during the day and (2) the relationship between the outlet air temperature and inlet air temperature in the thermal storage wall in cooling mode at night. The results indicate that the indoor temperature is approximately 27 °C, which satisfies the summer air-conditioning requirements.

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Abbreviations

A :

Wall or plate area (m2)

h :

Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)

q :

Heat flux (W/m2)

t :

Temperature (K)

U :

Outdoor comprehensive heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)

X n (j):

Coefficient of heat absorption of the inner surface of the envelope (m)

Y n (j):

Coefficient of heat transmission (m)

Z n (j):

Coefficient of heat absorption of the outer surface of the envelope (m)

ɛ :

Surface emission rate

φ :

Angle factor

λ :

Thermal conductivity (W/m2 K)

ρ :

Radiation absorption coefficient

σ :

Blackbody radiation coefficient (W/m2 K4)

τ :

Time (s)

b :

Blackbody

i, n, k :

Serial number of the maintenance structure

rw :

Radiation wall

w :

Storage wall

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Scientific Research Youth Foundation of the Universities in Hebei Province by Fund No. QN20131180.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Chunyu Zhao & Shijun You

  2. Department of Architectural Engineering, North China Institute of Aerospace Engineering, Langfang, 065000, Hebei Province, China

    Chunyu Zhao, Chunying Zhu & Wei Yu

Authors
  1. Chunyu Zhao
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  2. Shijun You
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  3. Chunying Zhu
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  4. Wei Yu
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Correspondence to Chunyu Zhao.

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Zhao, C., You, S., Zhu, C. et al. Experimental investigation on the thermal performance of heat storage walls coupled with active solar systems. Heat Mass Transfer 52, 2747–2757 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1783-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-016-1783-8

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