Solar air collector with the solar absorber plate containing a PCM - Environmental chamber experiments and computer simulations

The influence of latent heat thermal energy storage integrated with the solar absorber plate was investigated through lab experiments and computer simulations. Two experimental solar air collectors were built. One collector had the solar absorber plate made of sheet metal while that of the other collector consisted of nine aluminium panels containing a paraffin-based PCM. The square-wave variation of the solar radiation intensity was considered, and a good agreement was observed between the computer simulations and experimental data. The peak-to-peak amplitudes of the outlet air temperature were reduced from 11 K (the collector with the metal sheet absorber) to 5 K (the collector with the absorber plate containing the PCM). The main contribution of the study consists in the experimental approach and in the validated model of the solar air collector for TRNSYS simulation tool. The experiments were conducted in an environmental chamber fitted with a solar simulator under both the quasi steady-state and the transient boundary conditions. In comparison to other studies with experiments conducted outdoors, the controlled environment of the climatic chamber allowed for the reduction of the uncertainty on the side of the boundary conditions, e.g. the influence of wind speed, wind direction, and cloudiness. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.