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A Study on Phase Change Material (PCM) For Insitu Solar Thermal Energy Collection and Storage

K.Kavitha, S.Arumugam

An experimental study is conducted in order to investigate the paraffin as a phase change material. The PCM was loaded in GI (Galvanized iron) pipes and arranged in a criss cross manner to form a grid shape and the whole setup was laid one over the other and was used as a heat storage unit. Water is pooled as heat transfer fluid (HTF) surrounding the GI pipe, to collect the heat from the heat exchangers. This arrangement focuses on the possibility of the heat transfer enhancement in the heat storage unit. The thermophysical characteristics of the paraffin used in the experiment was determined using the Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) analysis. The dimensionless numbers such as Rayleigh number, Nusselt number of the PCM are calculated. It is observed that the natural convection between the melted paraffin wax (oil) and the unmelted solid wax has enhanced the melting process. The overall efficiency of the system has been calculated are reported.