Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Experimental investigation of solar water heater integrated with a nanocomposite phase change material

Energetic and exergetic approach

  • Published:
Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This present work contributes to the improvement in thermal energy storage capacity of an all-glass evacuated tube solar water heater by integrating it with a phase change material (PCM) and with a nanocomposite phase change material (NCPCM). Paraffin wax as PCM and a nanocomposite of paraffin wax with 1.0 mass% SiO2 nanoparticles as NCPCM had been used during the experiments. The results were acquired through the real-time experimental measurements on the all-glass evacuated tube solar water heater integrated with built-in thermal energy storage, functioning under thermosyphonic flow. Three different cases, namely, without PCM, with PCM, and with NCPCM, were considered. The testing procedure involved the observation of total temperature variation in the tank water from 6.00 a.m. to 6.00 a.m. of next morning. Meanwhile, the water was completely renewed for every 12 h. The system performance was studied using energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and temperature of hot water supply during the next morning, for all the three cases. The investigation exemplifies that the tank water temperature at 6.00 a.m. after one complete day of operation was notably improved to 37 °C and 39.6 °C, respectively, with PCM and NCPCM, whereas it was 33.1 °C for the case without PCM. The energy efficiencies for the three cases were found to be 58.74%, 69.62%, and 74.79%, respectively, and exergy efficiencies of the system were determined as 19.6%, 22.0%, and 24.6%, respectively, for without PCM, with PCM, and with NCPCM. Also, it was evidenced that the thermal conductivity of paraffin wax was considerably increased to 22.78% through the diffusion of SiO2 nanoparticles. Put together, this indicates that the incorporation of PCM and explicitly the dispersion of SiO2 nanoparticles in NCPCM had been significantly improved the thermal performance of the system.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

A c :

Area of the collector (m2)

C p,w :

Specific heat of water (kJ kg−1 K−1)

C p,pcm :

Specific heat of PCM (kJ kg−1 K−1)

a m :

Melting mass fraction of PCM (%)

Exin :

Exergy received by the collector (kJ)

Expcm :

Exergy of PCM (kJ)

Exw :

Exergy of water (kJ)

H t :

Daily total solar radiation (kJ m−2)

İ :

Instantaneous solar radiation (Wm−2)

I t,b :

Beam radiations directly captured by the collector tubes per unit area (Wm−2)

I t,d :

Sky diffuse radiations directly captured by the collector tubes per unit area (Wm−2)

I d,β :

Sky diffuse radiation (Wm−2)

N :

Number of evacuated tubes

L :

Length of evacuated tube (m)

D :

Diameter of evacuated tube (m)

m w :

Mass of water (kg)

m pcm :

Mass of PCM (kg)

Q i :

Energy received by the collector (kJ)

Q s :

Energy stored (kJ)

Q pcm :

Energy stored in PCM (kJ)

Q w :

Energy stored in water (kJ)

T a :

Ambient temperature (K)

T pcm,f :

Final PCM temperature (K)

T pcm,i :

Initial PCM temperature (K)

T w,f :

Final water temperature (K)

T w,i :

Initial water temperature (K)

PCM:

Phase change material

NCPCM:

Nanocomposite phase change material

SiO2 :

Silicon dioxide

AlN:

Aluminum nitride

SS:

Stainless steel

mass%:

Percentage of mass

c:

Collector

s:

Stored

b:

System body

l:

Loss

w:

Water

pcm:

Phase change material

i:

Initial

f:

Final

in:

Input

a:

Ambient

t:

Total

η c :

Energy efficiency (%)

Ψc :

Exergy efficiency (%)

Δh pcm :

Latent heat of PCM (kJ kg−1)

References

  1. Golić K, Kosorić V, Furundžić AK. General model of solar water heating system integration in residential building refurbishment—potential energy savings and environmental impact. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2011;15(3):1533–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Shukla R, Sumathy K, Erickson P, Gong J. Recent advances in the solar water heating systems: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2013;19:173–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Redpath DA. Thermosyphon heat-pipe evacuated tube solar water heaters for northern maritime climates. Sol Energy. 2012;86(2):705–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ayompe LM, Duffy A, Mc Keever M, Conlon M, McCormack SJ. Comparative field performance study of flat plate and heat pipe evacuated tube collectors (ETCs) for domestic water heating systems in a temperate climate. Energy. 2011;36(5):3370–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kim JT, Ahn HT, Han H, Kim HT, Chun W. The performance simulation of all-glass vacuum tubes with coaxial fluid conduit. Int Commun Heat Mass Transf. 2007;34(5):587–97.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Rosen MA, Tang R, Dincer I. Effect of stratification on energy and exergy capacities in thermal storage systems. Int J Energy Res. 2004;28(2):177–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jordan U, Furbo S. Thermal stratification in small solar domestic storage tanks caused by draw-offs. Sol Energy. 2005;78(2):291–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sharma A, Tyagi VV, Chen CR, Buddhi D. Review on thermal energy storage with phase change materials and applications. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2009;13(2):318–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Kim S, Drzal LT. High latent heat storage and high thermal conductive phase change materials using exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2009;93:136–42.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Zalba B, Marın JM, Cabeza LF, Mehling H. Review on thermal energy storage with phase change: materials, heat transfer analysis and applications. Appl Therm Eng. 2003;23(3):251–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sharif MA, Al-Abidi AA, Mat S, Sopian K, Ruslan MH, Sulaiman MY, Rosli MA. Review of the application of phase change material for heating and domestic hot water systems. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2015;42:557–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Cabeza LF, Ibanez M, Sole C, Roca J, Nogues M. Experimentation with a water tank including a PCM module. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells. 2006;90(9):1273–82.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Chaabane M, Mhiri H, Bournot P. Thermal performance of an integrated collector storage solar water heater (ICSSWH) with phase change materials (PCM). Energy Convers Manag. 2014;78:897–903.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Anghel EM, Georgiev A, Petrescu S, Popov R, Constantinescu M. Thermo-physical characterization of some paraffins used as phase change materials for thermal energy storage. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2014;117(2):557–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Ahmed SF, Khalid M, Rashmi W, Chan A, Shahbaz K. Recent progress in solar thermal energy storage using nanomaterials. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2017;67:450–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zeng JL, Sun LX, Xu F, Tan ZC, Zhang ZH, Zhang J, Zhang T. Study of a PCM based energy storage system containing Ag nanoparticles. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2007;87(2):371–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Zeng JL, Cao Z, Yang DW, Sun LX, Zhang L. Thermal conductivity enhancement of Ag nanowires on an organic phase change material. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2010;101(1):385–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Mettawee EB, Assassa GM. Thermal conductivity enhancement in a latent heat storage system. Sol Energy. 2007;81(7):839–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Luo R, Wang S, Wang T, Zhu C, Nomura T, Akiyama T. Fabrication of paraffin@ SiO2 shape-stabilized composite phase change material via chemical precipitation method for building energy conservation. Energy Build. 2015;108:373–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Redhwan AA, Azmi WH, Sharif MZ, Mamat R, Zawawi NN. Comparative study of thermo-physical properties of SiO2 and Al2O3 nanoparticles dispersed in PAG lubricant. Appl Therm Eng. 2017;116:823–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Tang R, Yang Y, Gao W. Comparative studies on thermal performance of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters with different collector tilt-angles. Sol Energy. 2011;85(7):1381–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wu SY, Wang H, Xiao S, Zhu DS. An investigation of melting/freezing characteristics of nanoparticle-enhanced phase change materials. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2011;110(3):1127–31.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Jesumathy S, Udayakumar M, Suresh S. Experimental study of enhanced heat transfer by addition of CuO nanoparticle. Heat Mass Transf. 2012;48(6):965–78.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Ceylan I. Energy and exergy analyses of a temperature controlled solar water heater. Energy Build. 2012;47:630–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Chen BR, Chang YW, Lee WS, Chen SL. Long-term thermal performance of a two-phase thermosyphon solar water heater. Sol Energy. 2009;83(7):1048–55.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Mahfuz MH, Anisur MR, Kibria MA, Saidur R, Metselaar IH. Performance investigation of thermal energy storage system with phase change material (PCM) for solar water heating application. Int Commun Heat Mass Transf. 2014;57:132–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Al-Kayiem HH, Lin SC. Performance evaluation of a solar water heater integrated with a PCM nanocomposite TES at various inclinations. Sol Energy. 2014;109:82–92.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Chamoli S, Thakur NS. Exergetic performance evaluation of solar air heater having V-down perforated baffles on the absorber plate. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2014;117(2):909–23.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Koca A, Oztop HF, Koyun T, Varol Y. Energy and exergy analysis of a latent heat storage system with phase change material for a solar collector. Renew Energy. 2008;33(4):567–74.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Petela R. Exergy of undiluted thermal radiation. Sol Energy. 2003;74(6):469–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Bahrehmand D, Ameri M. Energy and exergy analysis of different solar air collector systems with natural convection. Renew Energy. 2015;74:357–68.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Gupta MK, Kaushik SC. Exergy analysis and investigation for various feed water heaters of direct steam generation solar–thermal power plant. Renew Energy. 2010;35(6):1228–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Pandey AK, Tyagi VV, Rahim NA, Kaushik SC, Tyagi SK. Thermal performance evaluation of direct flow solar water heating system using exergetic approach. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2015;121(3):1365–73.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Gunerhan H, Hepbasli A. Exergetic modeling and performance evaluation of solar water heating systems for building applications. Energy Build. 2007;39(5):509–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Tang R, Gao W, Yu Y, Chen H. Optimal tilt-angles of all-glass evacuated tube solar collectors. Energy. 2009;34(9):1387–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Li FF, Diao YH, Zhao YH, Zhu TT, Liu J. Experimental study on the thermal performance of a new type of thermal energy storage based on flat micro-heat pipe array. Energ Convers Manag. 2016;112:395–403.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Naghavi MS, Ong KS, Badruddin IA, Mehrali M, Metselaar HS. Thermal performance of a compact design heat pipe solar collector with latent heat storage in charging/discharging modes. Energy. 2017;127:101–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Matheswaran MM, Arjunan TV, Somasundaram D. Analytical investigation of solar air heater with jet impingement using energy and exergy analysis. Sol Energy. 2018;161:25–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Mohanraj M, Jayaraj S, Muraleedharan C. Exergy analysis of direct expansion solar-assisted heat pumps using artificial neural networks. Int J Energy Res. 2009;33(11):1005–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Rezaei M, Anisur MR, Mahfuz MH, Kibria MA, Saidur R, Metselaar IH. Performance and cost analysis of phase change materials with different melting temperatures in heating systems. Energy. 2013;53:173–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, 641407, India

    P. Manoj Kumar

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr.N.G.P. Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, 641048, India

    K. Mylsamy

Authors
  1. P. Manoj Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K. Mylsamy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Manoj Kumar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Manoj Kumar, P., Mylsamy, K. Experimental investigation of solar water heater integrated with a nanocomposite phase change material. J Therm Anal Calorim 136, 121–132 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7937-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-018-7937-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation