Air Heating with Latent Heat Storage For Thermal Energy Management Of Solar Applications

Renewable energy, particularly the solar energy, is gaining more importance worldwide for its clean, non polluting, inexhaustible and cost free nature. Though there are many applications possible, an important factor is that solar energy is time dependant in nature. Hence the commercial acceptance and the economics of solar thermal utilities or devices are tied to the design of an efficient thermal storage system to meet the time-dependant supply and end use requirements. Latent heat thermal storage units have received greater attention in recent years, due to their isothermal behavior during the charging and discharging processes, and higher energy storage density. In this study, an experimental investigation is performed to analyze the transient behavior of a packed bed latent heat storage unit, comprised of a cylindrical storage tank filled with Phase Change Material (PCM). PCM is encapsulated in spherical containers for thermal energy management and efficient utilization of solar energy. Applications include space heating and industrial drying. Experimental results are reported and discussed.