EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION IN SOLAR WATER HEATER INTEGRATED WITH PHASE CHANGE MATERIAL IN SOLAR COLLECTOR
Vikram M a, Dr. Sakunthala K b
a PG Scholar of Thermal Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Salem-11, Tamilnadu, India.
a Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Government College of Engineering, Salem-11, Tamilnadu, India.b
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Abstract - The Sun is the source of solar energy. So, the solar energy from the sun at all times energy should be stored and used when needed. Solar energy is important one renewable energy resources. The solar water heater has an important place among solar heating collectors due to the fact that construction of the water heater requires less material than others. the solar water heater maybe used for space heating and drying. the main objective of this project is to increase the thermal efficiency of flat plate collector in solar water heater. to improve the efficiency of the flat plate collector, it is integrated with PCM to enhance the heating rate of the solar water heater the PCM is integrated and stored directly in flat plat collector. The solar water heater is fabricated. the performance of the flat plate collector is experimental analysis with and without using PCM. The efficiency of the solar collector is increased up to 7 to 10 % while compared with and without using PCM.As a result by comparing with and without using PCM. Myristic acid and paraffin wax PCM has a very good thermal capacity and the heat discharge. The system can be reducing by different type of systems integrate with phase change materials into solar collector. This is for efficient way for storing and trapping solar energy. The application of phase change materials in cooling and heating systems is to improve overall efficiency, reduce electrical power consumption and greenhouse gas emission. The heat storage unit consisting of phase change.
materials. This study helps to developing a new advancement experimental setup of solar water heating system with phase change materials. The results obtained from experimental analysis shows that there is an increase in efficiency of about 6-10 % when we go for solar water heater rather than solar collector.
Key Words: Solar energy,PCM,Heat storage,SWH system, performance improvement.
