Experimental thermal performance analysis of finned tube-phase change material based double pass solar air heater

Abstract

The present experimental study is performed to investigate the thermal performances of double pass solar air heater comprising of phase change materials (PCM) contained in metallic finned tubes to have increased energy storage and heat transfer rate. Experimental results were also helpful in the evaluation of the charging and the discharging characteristics of the PCMs. The air heater is studied for three different configurations. In the first configuration, is no PCM used. In the second configuration, RT44HC having higher melting point filled in semi-circular finned tubes (SFT) on the upper pass of double pass solar air heater (DPSAH) as a thermal storage medium (TSM) is used. While the third configuration is a combination of the second configuration and RT18HC having lower melting point, filled in circular finned tubes (FT) as TSM placed in the lower pass to enhance the thermal storage capacity of solar air heater (SAH). The heater's thermal performance is evaluated for all configurations separately. It was revealed that the third configuration containing RT44HC and RT18HC in upper and lower passes respectively is the best among others for optimum heater performance.