To address the intermittent nature of solar energy in agricultural applications, this study constructed a thermal model for the entire collection, storage, and consumption chain. The FLUENT 2023 R1 was used to simulate the heat storage characteristics of water (sensible heat) and paraffin (latent heat). Simulations used polyurethane insulation (0.028 W/mK) and centrifugal glass wool (30 mm thickness) for pipe-lines. Results showed that during the charging phase, water led by 15% in initial efficiency, while paraffin achieved an 11.3% higher heat storage efficiency at 12:00 p. m. and exhibited greater adaptability to light fluctuations. During heat release, a 150 mm insulation layer reduced heat loss by 42.3% compared to a 50 mm layer, and paraffin maintained a stable temperature of 50-55?C for 6.2 hours. Under extreme conditions, the 3:1 hybrid heat storage system extended heating duration by 2.8-4.5 hours, achieving an energy utilization rate of 82.1%-83.6%. This research provides data support for optimizing agricultural solar thermal utilization systems.
Hu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.