Performance comparison of two PCM candidates for new concept of compact thermal storage in solar DHW systems
Résumé
The latent heat of phase change allows to increase the energy density compared to
sensible storage. In the building sector, it is possible to replace hot water tanks that are
bulky due to their cylindrical shape, by smaller storage volume and parallelepiped
geometry. The idea of the new concept is thus to propose a hybrid and modular
storage component with a cavity containing the phase change material (PCM)
delimited by two flat heat exchangers connected by slotted fins. The first step was to
precisely characterize the behavior of the two selected PCMs during melting and
solidification, without and with supercooling (respectively RT58 and PEG6000). The
next step concerns the modeling of the storage cavity and then the optimization of the
new full-size concept for solar domestic hot water systems. A prototype was
experimentally tested for the two PCMs under real operating conditions with a reduced
sequence of six days allowing the annual performance to be calculated.
The experimental results confirm the known limit of PCM concerning its low thermal
conductivity, which can penalize the power extracted from the storage during
continuous withdrawals. The spacing of the fins thus plays a major role in heat transfer.
The evaluation of the annual performances carried out on the prototype shows that the
solar fraction is quite satisfactory, between 40 and 90% depending on the climate in
France. The distribution of average temperatures observed within the PCM is directly
correlated with the melting ranges. The RT58 is thus penalized compared to the
PEG6000 because the start of the melting takes place at a much lower level (30°C
against 52°C), which can lead to more frequent use of back-up. Regarding heat
storage, the much lower density of the RT58 explains the difference in energy stored in
the prototype (+34% for the PEG6000 between 20 and 80°C) knowing that the latent
heat and the specific heat are of the same order of magnitude in both cases. Finally,
the higher thermal conductivity of PEG6000 favors the heat rate exchanged during the
storage charging and discharging phases.
Domaines
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