Solar thermal systems (STSs) are gaining boom in the globalized market since last two decades to combat the menace of global warming. Considerable research has been carried out in the field of solar thermal system for efficiency enhancement. Improvement in terms of efficiency and performance would make solar thermal systems a better option for replacing the conventional energy systems. Phase change Materials (PCMs) have emerged as an alternative to enhance the performance of the solar heating systems by acting as thermal storage batteries. In this review article an attempt has been made to consolidate the global trends and practices that has been underwent incorporating Phase change materials (PCMs) in solar thermal systems. Research on PCM based solar cooker has found to be extinct. PCM based PCM based high temperature power plant applications are on current trends of research. Application of phase change materials for low, medium and high temperature solar thermal systems are comprehensively reviewed and discussed in this article. As well the environmental benefits in terms decline in CO2 emission, due to the use of STS in day-today life and the economic analysis of PCM based STS in terms of cost and payback period is presented.

Phase change materials integrated solar thermal energy systems: Global trends and current practices in experimental approaches

Testing of a novel convex-type solar absorber drying chamber in dehumidification process of municipal sewage sludge

Enhancement of the yield of solar still with the use of solar pond: A review

CFD-based irreversibility analysis of avant-garde semi-O/O-shape grooving fashions of solar pond heat trade-off unit

A Solar pond is a cost effective and environmentally friendly system, which can balance solar energy supply and demand particularly when is augmented with the phase change material (PCM). In this research, one-dimensional model for transient heat transfer using PCM has been proposed. The UCZ temperature was obtained using the convection, conduction, and radiation heat exchange with the ambient. In the LCZ, Paraffin Wax as PCM was used to seek its effect over longer time. The PCM media was modeled as a thin separated layer at the bottom of the pond. The energy balance was written for zones in the pond and the governing equations were solved numerically with and without the PCM. The proposed model was validated with the obtained experimental data. Maximum temperature errors between the numerical and experimental results of the LCZ for the pond without and with the PCM were 2.3 °C (4.5%) and 3.2 °C (6.2%), respectively. Numerical results show that in this setup significant amount of energy lost through the reflection, walls, convection, and evaporation. Only 6% of the available solar radiation was stored, which can be improved by good insulation. Further, this study presents criteria for the ratio of depth (vertical dimension) to radius (horizontal characteristic length) where the heat loss from the wall can be neglected. Finally, both numerical and experimental results indicated that using the PCM in the solar pond causes more steady stable temperature during the heat extraction.

Transient modeling for the prediction of the temperature distribution with phase change material in a salt-gradient solar pond and comparison with experimental data

Principi Paolo

Papers

Experimental studies on the effect of using phase change material in a salinity-gradient solar pond under a solar simulator