Experimental investigation of sensible thermal energy storage in small sized, different shaped concrete material packed bed

Purpose - Solar energy varies with time, intermittent; an accumulator unit is required to attach with collectors to collect energy for use when the sunshine is not available. This paper aims to design a system for storing the solar sensible heat thermal energy. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents the design and experimental evaluation of sensible heat thermal energy storage (TES) system for its energy storage performance by varying the air flow rate and packing material shape. Heat transfer fluid as air and solid concrete material of high density of different shapes were used for storage. Findings - This paper presents the evaluation of data of number of experimental observations on the system. It was found that charging/discharging was based on the shape of the material and void fraction. Originality/value - This paper provides the data for designing the TES, considering the concrete as storage material and shape of material for optimizing the system.