Final Year Project (Thesis)

Faculty of Engineering, Kassel University
Kassel, Germany
February 2011

Simulation and Optimization of Solar Thermal System Integrated
with PCM Thermal Energy Storage for Seawater Desalination

By
Eng. Mohamed Rani Hamdi Ahmed Abdel Salam

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Engineering at Kassel University and
Cairo University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
In
RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Faculty of Engineering, Kassel University
Kassel, Germany
February 2011
Simulation and Optimization of Solar Thermal System Integrated
with PCM Thermal Energy Storage for Seawater Desalination

By
Eng. Mohamed Rani Hamdi Ahmed Abdel Salam

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Engineering at Kassel University and
Cairo University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE
In
RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Under Supervision of
Prof. Dr. Adel Khalil
Mechanical Power Department
Faculty of Engineering
Cairo University
Prof. Dr. Juergen Schmid
Efficient Energy Conversion Department
Faculty of Engineering
Kassel University
M.Sc. Abdel Hakim Hassabou
Institute of Thermodynamics
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Technische Universitt Mnchen
Dr. Ing. Markus Spinnler
Head of The Solar Research Center
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Technische Universitt Mnchen

I

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

First of all, thanks for the God for helping me during my whole life and to finish this work.
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to Prof. Adel Khalil, Professor
in the Department of Mechanical Power Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt and Prof.
Juergen Schmid, Chairman of Fraunhofer Institut fr Windenergie und Energiesystemtechnik
(IWES), Kassel, Germany for their leadership, careful guidance, great support, and prestigious
contributions during the completion of this work.
Institute of Thermodynamics at Technische Universitt Mnchen (TUM), Germany, hosted
and supported this thesis. I would like to thank M.Sc. Eng. Abdel Hakim Hassabou for his
excellent guidance, advices, and the continuous encouragement he provided throughout the
experimental and theoretical analysis of the present work.
Special thanks are due to Dr. Markus Spinnler, Head of the Solar Research Center at
Technische Universitt Mnchen (TUM), for his kind support and providing the experimental
facilities.
The experimental facility was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) within the framework of the German Egyptian Research Funds (GERF), Project No.
EGY 08/65. This financial support is highly acknowledged.
Very special thanks go out to my mother, father, brother, grandfather and uncle for their
extremely valuable help, continuous care, patience, tolerance, encouragement, and precious
support during my whole life.
Finally, from the formative stages of this thesis, to the final draft, I owe an immense debt of
gratitude to each person of the above.

II

ABSTRACT
Unfortunately the global conventional fuels in reserves are running out while the world energy
consumption is increasing very fast. All scientists agreed that solar energy is one of the best
solutions for energy supply in many parts of the world.
The aim of this thesis is to experimentally investigate and optimize a solar thermal storage
system integrated with phase change material (PCM). The experimental setup which was used
to perform the experiments is located in the Technische Universitt Mnchen in Germany. The
experimental setup consists of an electrical water heater, main storage tank, cold water storage
tank and pumping system. The main storage tank is loaded with phase change material balls
and water is used as the heat transfer fluid.
A mathematical model called Continuous Solid Model is used to perform the thermal
analysis of the heat transfer process between the heat transfer fluid and the storage material is
presented. Moreover, a case study for the application of a decentralized solar desalination
system integrated with thermal energy storage unit in Egypt is presented. This case study gives
an overview of water and energy situations in Egypt. The design of the proposed desalination
system, an environmental impact assessment and a socio-economic study for the application of
this system in Egypt are also discussed in detail.
The experiments consist of charging process and discharging process. During charging process
the heat transfer fluid is being heated inside the electrical heater and passes through the storage
tank in order to transfer its thermal energy to the phase change material balls and the water
inside the storage tank. During the discharging process, the cold water passes through the
storage tank to acquire the thermal energy stored by the phase change material balls and the
water inside the storage tank.
In order to indicate the influence of the system operating conditions on the system performance
characteristics during charging and discharging processes using phase change material, a
parametric study has been undertaken. In this study, effects of varying the mass flow rate, the
heat transfer fluid temperature and initial temperature of the storage tank during charging and
discharging processes on the on the rate of thermal energy storage and retrieval, the amount of
thermal energy stored and retrieved, discharged water temperature, charging time and
discharging time. Moreover, several experiments are performed with water only as storage
medium in order to compare the effect of the PCM packed bed on the performance of the
thermal storage system and its capacity.
III

As a result of the current experimental investigation, it has indicated that during the charging
process, increasing the heat transfer fluid mass flow rate results in a decrease in the time
required to complete the charging process and increasing the heat transfer fluid temperature
results in an increase in the amount and the rate of thermal energy stored and time required to
complete the charging process. During the discharging process, increasing the heat transfer
fluid mass flow rate results in an increase in the rate of thermal energy retrieval and decrease of
the time required to discharge the stored thermal energy, additionally, the increase of the
storage tank initial temperature results in an increase in the amount of discharged thermal
energy and the discharging time. Moreover, the amount of thermal energy discharged at high
temperatures increases as mass flow rate of the heat transfer fluid decreases.
As a result of the current case study, it has been highlighted that the application of a solar
seawater desalination system integrated with thermal energy storage system for water
production of 520 m
3
/day in Egypt can avoid 2362 tons of CO
2
annually. The cost of 1 m
3
of
freshwater from the conventional system based on natural gas, solar system without storage,
solar system with storage based on water, and solar system with storage based on a combined
water and packed bed of the phase change material balls is 6.2, 6.2, 5.6, and 8.2 LE,
respectively. Therefore, a solar desalination system integrated with a storage unit based on
water is found to be the best choice for seawater desalination in Egypt.

IV

CONTENTS
Subject Page
LIST OF TABLES

X
LIST OF FIGURES

XII
NOMENCLATURE

XIX
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Energy Scarcity and Renewable Energy 1
1.2 Solar Energy and Thermal Energy Storage 1
1.3 Different Methods for Energy Storage 3
1.3.1 Storage of Electrical Energy 3
1.3.2 Storage of Mechanical Energy 4
1.3.3 Storage of Thermal Energy 6
1.4 Phase Change Materials 8
1.4.1 Classification of Phase Change Materials 10
1.4.2 Commercial Phase Change Materials 16
1.5 Latent Thermal Energy Storage in Packed beds 20
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
21
2.1 Introduction 21
2.2 Review of Previous Work 21
2.2.1 Review of Theoretical Work 21
2.2.2 Review of Experimental Work 36
2.3 Conclusions and Scope of the Present Work 50
CHAPTER THREE: MATHEMATICAL MODEL
51
3.1 Introduction 51
3.2 Physical Model 52
3.3 Mathematical Model 54
3.3.1 Governing Equations 54
3.3.2 Initial Conditions 55
3.3.3 Boundary Conditions 55
3.4 Evaluation of Working Parameters 56
CHAPTER FOUR: EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
59
4.1 The Experimental Facility 59
4.2 Instrumentation 71
V

4.3 Experimental Procedures 75
4.4 Experimental Calculations 77
4.4.1 The Charging Cycle Calculations 78
4.4.2 The Discharging Cycle Calculations 80
CHAPTER FIVE: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
81
5.1 Introduction 81
5.2 Charging Characteristics of The Thermal Storage System Integrated
with PCM Balls Packed Bed 82
5.3 Discharging Characteristics of The Thermal Storage System Integrated
with PCM Balls Packed Bed
90
5.4 Parametric Study of The Effects of Varying Operating Conditions on
The Thermal Storage System Performance Using a Packed Bed of PCM
Balls 110
5.4.1 Effect of HTF Mass Flow Rate on Charging and Discharging
Time 110
5.4.2 Effect of HTF Mass Flow Rate on Accumulated Stored and
Discharged Thermal Energy 112
5.4.3 Effect of HTF Mass Flow Rate on Discharged Water
Temperature during Discharging Process 114
5.4.4 Effect of Maximum HTF Inlet Temperature on Charging Time at
Varied Mass Flow Rates 118
5.4.5 Effect of Storage Tank Initial Temperature on Discharging Time
at Varied Mass Flow Rates 118
5.4.6 Effect of Maximum HTF Inlet Temperature on Accumulated
Stored Thermal Energy during Charging Process at Varied Mass
Flow Rates 120
5.4.7 Effect of Initial Temperature of the Storage Tank on
Accumulated Discharged Thermal Energy during Discharging
Process with Varied Mass Flow Rates 120
5.5 Parametric Study of The Effect of Varying Operating Conditions on
The Thermal Storage System Performance Using Water As a Storage
Medium 122
5.5.1 First Experiment 122
5.5.2 Second Experiment 122
5.5.3 Effect of Mass Flow Rate and Storage Tank Initial Temperature
on Charging Time and Accumulated Thermal Energy Using
Water As Storage Medium 123
5.6 Comparison Between PCM Balls and Water as Storage Medium 127
5.6.1 Accumulated Stored Thermal Energy 127
5.6.2 Time Required for Completing the Charging Process 127
5.7 Experimental Results Repeatability 129
VI

5.8 Mathematical Calculations To Predict The Enhancement In Stored
Thermal Energy Due To PCM Packed Bed 136
5.8.1 Constant Storage Temperature and Variable Initial Temperature
of the Storage Tank 136
5.8.2 Constant Initial Temperature of the Storage Tank and Variable
Storage Temperature 138
CHAPTER SIX: APPLICATION OF SOLAR DESALINATION

SYSTEM IN EGYPT (CASE STUDY)
142
6.1 Introduction 142
6.2 Water Status in Egypt 142
6.3 Energy Status in Egypt 144
6.4 Desalination Techniques 148
6.4.1 Distillation Processes 148
6.4.2 Membrane Processes 150
6.4.3 Solar Desalination 151
6.5 Proposed System Design 152
6.5.1 Simulation of fresh water demand (The MED unit) 153
6.5.2 Simulation of hot water demand 153
6.5.3 Solar Collectors 155
6.5.4 Storage System 156
6.6 Environmental Impact Assessment 158
6.7 Socio-economic Study 160
6.8 Recommendations for Renewable Energy promotion in Egypt 164
CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
165
7.1 Introduction

165
7.2 Conclusions

165
7.3 Recommendations For Future Work

167
REFERENCES
168
Appendix A: Products of the PCM Company 176
Appendix B: Thermocouples Calibration 177
Appendix C: Measuring Instruments Technical Data 179
Appendix D: Uncertainty Analysis 180

VII

LIST OF TABLES
Table Description Page
Table 1-1 Solar energy applications 2
Table 1-2 Properties of some materials used for sensible heat storage 7
Table 1-3 Comparison between various heat storage mediums (Stored thermal
energy = 5000 kJ, T =25) 8
Table 1-4 Energy densities for different latent and sensible heat storage materials 9
Table 1-5 Thermophysical properties for some paraffin PCMs 12
Table 1-6 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion of some non- parafn
PCMs 14
Table 1-7 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion of some fatty acid PCMs 15
Table 1-8 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for salt hydrates used as
PCMs for low temperature thermal energy storage 17
Table 1-9 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some salt compounds
used as PCMs for high temperature thermal energy storage 18
Table 1-10 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some metallic PCMs 18
Table 1-11 List of organic and inorganic eutectics PCMs 18
Table 1-12 Commercial PCMs available in the market and their thermophysical
properties 19
Table 1-13 Commercial PCMs manufacturers in the world 20
Table 2-1 Physical properties of the compound used as a phase change material 22
Table 2-2 Thermophysical properties of the phase change materials 23
Table 2-3 Parameters used to simulate the packed bed performance 27
Table 2-4 Thermo physical properties of phase change materials 29
Table 2-5 Operating conditions of the air supply system 35
Table 2-6 Physical properties of used PCM (Ca.Cl
2
.6H
2
O) 37
Table 2-7 Thermophysical characteristics of RT6 39
Table 2-8 Thermophysical properties of the Graphite Foam added to the four
samples 41
Table 2-9 Thermophysical properties of the Paraffin-Graphite Foam systems 41
Table 2-10 Thermophysical properties of PCM mixtures 47
Table 4-1 Dimensions of the main storage tank 63
Table 4-2 Dimensions of the HWST 63
Table 4-3 Phase change temperature for different types of Ball lCE PCM balls 68
Table 4-4 Thermo physical properties of PCM used in the experiments 69
VIII

Table 4-5 Experiments conditions for water as storage medium 76
Table 4-6 Experiments conditions for PCM and water as storage medium 76
Table 5-1 Values of the accumulated sensible heat stored during charging at
different mass flow rates and temperatures of the HTF 86
Table 5-2 Time required to discharge all stored thermal energy at different mass
flow rates and two different initial temperature of the storage tank
(75 and 85) 95
Table 5-3 Total thermal energy stored by case (a) water, case (b) water - PCM
packed bed and enhancement in the stored thermal energy due to PCM
packed bed 138
Table 5-4 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water, case (b) water and PCM
packed bed and enhancement in the stored thermal energy due to PCM
packed bed 140
Table 6-1 Some private sector desalination units in Sinai 143
Table 6-2 Egypts population and electrical power indicators (20072052) 144
Table 6-3 Current Egypts electricity tariffs valid since October 2008, in piaster
per kWh 146
Table 6-4 Petroleum products prices in Egypt and USA recorded in May 2010 146
Table 6-5 Hydropower electricity generating plants in Egypt 148
Table 6-6 Examples of existing solar thermal MED plants 151
Table 6-7 Technical specifications of the solar desalination and hot water system 157
Table 6-8 Emissions from different fossil fuels given in kg per GJ 159
Table 6-9 Annual avoided emissions in tons 160
Table 6-10 Economical study of different systems for seawater desalination in
Egypt 163

IX

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Description Page
Figure 1.1 Classification of phase change materials 10
Figure 2.1 Effect of Stefan number on melt fraction of the bed 24
Figure 2.2 Melt fraction versus time for various mass flow rates 25
Figure 2.3 Effect of different capsules radius on melting rate 25
Figure 2.4 Effect of different capsules radius on solidification rate 25
Figure 2.5 Effect of phase change temperature range on melt fraction of the
spherical capsule bed 26
Figure 2.6 Thermal storage unit modelled in the study 28
Figure 2.7 Power plant design incorporating high-temperature LHTES storage 30
Figure 2.8 Flow field of the (a) randomly packed bed and (b) specially packed bed 32
Figure 2.9 Geometry for the numerical simulation 34
Figure 2.10 Concept diagram of the air supply system utilizing PCM granules 35
Figure 2.11 Schematic of the physical model 36
Figure 2.12 Variation of efficiency with time of day for different dates: (a) energy
efficiency, (b) exergy efficiency 38
Figure 2.13 Storage tank used in the experiments 42
Figure 2.14 Schematic diagram of the shell and tube experimental system used to
investigate the improvement in heat transfer of Erythritol 46
Figure 2.15 The effect of increasing mass flow rate on the final melt profile in the
longitudinal finned system after 8 h of charging with T
inlet
= 140 46
Figure 2.16 Effect of increasing inlet HTF temperature on the final melt profile in
the longitudinal finned system (m = 30 kg/min) 46
Figure 2.17 Li-ion battery module surrounded by Al-foam filled with phase change
material 48
Figure 3.1 Boundary conditions representation for the continuous solid phase
model 53
Figure 4.1 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup 60
Figure 4.2 Photographic view of the experimental setup 61
Figure 4.3 Photographic view of the electrical water heater 64
Figure 4.4 The control panel used with the electrical water heater 64
Figure 4.5 Schematic diagram of the main storage tank 65
Figure 4.6 Photographic view of the main storage tank 66
Figure 4.7 Photographic view of the star shaped pipes for water distribution inside
X

the MST 66
Figure 4.8 The hot water storage tank 67
Figure 4.9 Control panel of charging cycle pump (pump A) 67
Figure 4.10 PCM balls used in the experiments 69
Figure 4.11 PCM ball from inside 69
Figure 4.12 Grid used to hold the PCM ball on the aluminium rod 70
Figure 4.13 PCM balls after integration with the aluminium rod 70
Figure 4.14 Rotameter used for measurement of the water mass flow rate 71
Figure 4.15 Schematic diagram for the thermocouples locations inside the MST 73
Figure 4.16 Schematic diagram of the set up used for the thermocouples calibration 74
Figure 4.17 Photographic view of the water heating device used for thermocouples
calibration 74
Figure 4.18 The Data logger 75
Figure 5.1 Time variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls, and water at
different positions during charging with 500 L/hr and HTF temperature
of 75 83
of 75 83
of 75 84
of 85 84
of 85 85
of 85 85
Figure 5.7 Time variation of accumulated sensible heat stored by different zones
during charging with 500 L/hr and HTF temperature of 75 87
XI

Figure 5.13 Time variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls and water at
different positions during discharging with 250 L/hr and 75 91
Figure 5.21 Discharged water outlet temperature versus Time during discharging
with 250 L/hr and 75 96
Figure 5.29 Time variation of accumulated discharged thermal energy at 250 L/hr
and 75 100
XII

and 75 101
and 75 101
and 75 102
and 85 102
and 85 103
and 85 103
and 85 104
Figure 5.37 Percentage of thermal energy discharged at different ranges of water
Temperature at 250 L/hr and 75 106
Figure 5.45 Charging Time versus different mass flow rates during charging with
inlet HTF temperature of 75 and 85 111
Figure 5.46 Discharging Time versus different mass flow rates during discharging
at storage tank initial temperature of 75 and 85 111
Figure 5.47 Accumulated stored thermal energy versus different mass flow rates
during charging with inlet HTF temperature of 75 and 85 113
Figure 5.48 Accumulated discharged thermal energy versus different mass flow
rates during discharging at storage tank initial temperature of 75 and
85 113
XIII

Figure 5.49 Percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between
70 and 75 VS different mass flow rates at storage tank initial
temperature of 75 115
Figure 5.53 Charging time versus different HTF inlet temperatures at different
mass flow rates 119
Figure 5.54 Discharging Time versus different storage tank initial temperature at
different mass flow rates 119
Figure 5.55 Accumulated stored thermal energy versus HTF inlet temperature at
various mass flow rates during charging process 121
Figure 5.56 Discharged thermal energy versus storage tank initial temperature at
various mass flow rates 121
Figure 5.57 Time variation of the temperatures of the HTF and water at different
positions during charging with 600 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85 124
Figure 5.58 Time variation of accumulated thermal energy stored by different
zones during charging with 600 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85 124
Figure 5.59 Time variation of the temperatures of the HTF and water at different
positions during charging with 800 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85 125
Figure 5.60 Time variation of accumulated thermal energy stored by different
zones during charging with 800 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85 125
Figure 5.61 Charging Time for Case (a) 600 L/hr - initial storage tank temperature
22 and Case (b) 800 lit/hr initial storage tank temperature 28.8 126
Figure 5.62 Accumulated stored thermal energy for Case (a) 600 L/hr - initial
storage tank temperature 22 and Case (b) 800 lit/hr initial storage
tank temperature 28.8 126
Figure 5.63 Accumulated stored thermal energy for case (a) water and case (b)
PCM and water 128
Figure 5.64 Time required for completing the charging process for case (a) water
and case (b) PCM and water 128
Figure 5.65 Time variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls, and Water at
XIV

of 85 131
different positions during discharging at 600 L/hr and 85 132
and 85 133
temperature at 600 L/hr and 85 133
of 75 134
of 85 135
Figure 5.75 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water only and case (b) water
and PCM packed bed at constant storage temperature of 85 and
varied initial storage tank temperature 139
Figure 5.76 Percentage of enhancement of total thermal energy stored by PCM
packed bed at constant storage temperature of 85 and varied initial
temperature of the storage tank 139
Figure 5.77 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water only and case (b) water
and PCM packed bed at constant initial temperature of the storage tank
and varied storage temperature 141
Figure 5.78 Percentage of enhancement of total thermal energy stored by PCM
packed bed at constant initial temperature of storage tank and varied
storage temperature 141
Figure 6.1 Egypts map 143
Figure 6.2 Egypts oil production and reserves, 1990-2030 145
Figure 6.3 Egypts natural gas reserves and production scenario, 1990-2030 145
Figure 6.4 Solar radiation map for Egypt 147
Figure 6.5 Classification of desalination processes 149
Figure 6.6 Diagram of a Multi-effect desalination (MED) unit 150
XV

Figure 6.7 Combination of solar thermal-MED plant diagram 152
Figure 6.8 Schematic diagram of hybrid solar system for water desalination and
water heating in remote areas 154
Figure 6.9 The water cycle of the MED unit 155
Figure 6.10 Annual CO
2
emissions for cases of natural gas and solar energy 160
Figure 6.11 Capital and Operating costs for the different desalination systems 162

XVI

NOMENCLATURE
Symbol Quantity Units
A
c
Cross section area of the storage tank m
2

a
p
Superficial particle area per unit bed volume m
-1

a
w
Superficial area of the storage unit per unit volume
of the bed m
-1

C
ball
Specific heat for PCM balls kJ kg
-1

-1

C
p water
Specific heat of water kJ kg
-1

-1

C
PS
Specific heat

of solid phase kJ kg
-1

-1

C
PL
Specific heat

of liquid phase kJ kg
-1

-1

C
I
Fluid specific heat J kg
-1
K
-1

C
cI
Effective specific heat of the fluid J kg
-1
K
-1

C
s
Specific heat of the solid J kg
-1
K
-1

C
cs
Effective specific heat of the solid J kg
-1
K
-1

B Diameter of the storage tank m
u
p
Diameter of the packed bed m
u
s
Diameter of solid spheres m
G Superficial mass flow rate kg s
-1
m
-2

h
nat
Natural convection heat transfer coefficient W m
-2

-1

h
water
Natural convection heat transfer coefficient for water W m
-2

-1

h
PCMs

Natural convection heat transfer coefficient for
phase change materials W m
-2

-1

h
p
Convection heat transfer coefficient between
fluid / particle W m
-2
K
-1

h
cp
Effective convection heat transfer coefficient between
fluid / particle W m
-2
K
-1

h
I
Fluid convection heat transfer coefficient W m
-2
K
-1

k
I
Molecular thermal conductivity of the fluid W m
-1
K
-1

k
Ir
Effective radial thermal conductivity of the fluid W m
-1
K
-1

k
Ix
Effective axial thermal conductivity of the fluid W m
-1
K
-1

k
s
Molecular thermal conductivity of the solid W m
-1
K
-1

k
sx
Effective axial thermal conductivity of the solid W m
-1
K
-1

k
sr
Effective radial thermal conductivity of the solid W m
-1
K
-1

k
cIx
Effective thermal conductivity in axial direction for
single phase model W m
-1
K
-1

k
c
Stagnation effective thermal conductivity W m
-1
K
-1

XVII

k
s
Thermal conductivity of solid phase W m
-1

-1

k
L
Thermal conductivity of liquid phase W m
-1

-1

L Length of the packed bed m
L
bed
Total length of the PCM packed bed m
L
bottom
Length of the bottom zone m
L
middle
Length of the middle zone m
L
top
Length of the top zone m
LH Latent heat kJ kg
-1

L
c
Characteristic length m
m
I
Mass flow rate of the heat transfer fluid kg sec
-1

m
b
Total mass of the PCM balls kg
m
w top
Mass of water in voids in the top zone kg
m
w bottom
Mass of water in the bottom zone kg
m Mass flow rate of the HTF kg sec
-1

n
b
Total number of PCM balls
Q
D
Quantity of discharged thermal energy kJ
Q
sensible heat
Quantity of sensible heat kJ
Q
latent heat
Quantity of latent heat kJ
i
s
Radius of solid spheres m
r
b
Radius of PCM ball m
r Radius of the main storage tank m
T
m
Melting temperature
T Temperature of liquid phase K
T
o
Initial temperature of the PCM and HTF
(storage tank) or ambient temperature K
T
I
Temperature of HTF at bed inlet K
T
1
Initial temperature
T
2
Final temperature
t Time Second
0
w
Overall heat transfer coefficient W m
-2
K
-1

u
I

The fluid superficial velocity in the packed bed m sec
-1

u
I
The fluid pore velocity in the packed bed m sec

-1

V
ball
Volume of the PCM ball m
3

V
bed
Volume of the PCM packed bed m
3

V
w top
Volume of water in voids in the top zone m
3

V
w bottom
Volume of water in voids in the bottom zone m
3

Nu Nusselt number
Re
p
Modified Reynolds number
XVIII

Pi Prandtl number
Bi Biot number
x Element thickness m
p Pressure drop across the packed bed kg m
-1
sec
-2
[pa]
Greek Letters
p
s
Density of solid phase kg m
-3

p
I
Density of liquid phase kg m
-3

Effective temperature in the single phase model K
Temperature inside the solid sphere K
Temperature of the solid phase in the continuous
solid phase model K
Radial coordinate inside the sphere m
0
Radius of the PCM sphere m
Void fraction
I

The fluid density kg m
-3

cI

The effective density of the fluid kg m
-3

s

The solid density kg m
-3

cs

The effective density of the solid kg m
-3

Dynamic viscosity of the heat transfer fluid kg m
-1
s
-1

p
b

Density of PCM balls kg m
-3

p
water

Density of water kg m
-3

c
Solar collector efficiency
Chemical Symbols
CaCl
2
.6H
2
O Calcium Chloride Hexahydrate
CO
2
Carbon dioxide
H
2
O Water
KNO
3
Potassium nitrate
LiBr Lithium bromide
Na
2
SO
4
Sodium Sulfate
NaNO
2
Sodium nitrite
NaNO
3
Sodium nitrate
Na
2
HPO
4
.12H
2
O Disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate
Na
2
SO
4
.10H
2
O Sodium sulfate decahydrate
XIX

Na
2
SO
4
/SiO
2
Salt/ceramic composite
NaCl Sodium chloride
Na
2
CO
3
Sodium carbonate
NO
x
Nitrous oxide
SiO
2
Silicon dioxide
SO
2
Sulfur dioxide
ZrO
2
Zirconium oxide
Subscripts
e effective, electrical
f fluid
o initial
r radial
s solid
th thermal
w wall
x axial
Abbreviations
BTU British thermal unit
CAES Compressed Air Energy Storage
CDM Cleaning Development Mechanism
CHTF Cold heat transfer fluid
CTES Cold thermal energy storage
CWST Cold water storage tank
DSC Differential scanning calorimeter
EIA USA Energy Information Administration
EJ Exajoule
GHGs Greenhouse gases
GJ Gigajoule
GW Gigawatt
GWh Gigawatt hour
HHTF Hot heat transfer fluid
HTF Heat Transfer Fluid
HWST Hot water storage tank
XX

kWh Kilowatt hour
LHSU Latent heat storage unit
LHTES Latent heat thermal energy storage
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LTES Latent thermal energy storage
MEPCS Microencapsulated phase change slurry
MED Multi effect desalination
MJ Megajoule
MST Main storage tank
MW Megawatt
MWh Megawatt hour
PCM Phase change material
ppm Part per million
PWh Petawatt hour
RE Renewable energy
SMES Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage
TDS Total dissolved salts
TES Thermal energy storage
TSU Thermal storage unit
TWh Terawatt hour
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
US United States of America
HDPE High-density polyethylene

1

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 ENERGY SCARCITY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Energy is the backbone of all human activities on the earth. In recent years, energy demand has
increased due to the high-energy consumption in different fields (e.g. Electricity Generation,
Industry, Transportation, Household, etc). Fossil fuels have served and fulfilled all human
needs from energy for long era, these fossil fuels caused huge damages for the environment
that led to the most of the recent environmental problems, which are the global warming and
the danger of ice melting in north and south poles. In addition, the prices of these fossil fuels
increased in last years and it is expected to continue increasing in coming years because energy
demand is increasing while fossil fuels in reserves are decreasing. Therefore, other sources of
energy must be developed in order to take the role of fossil fuels.
Renewable energies are expected to play the major role for energy supply in the near future.
Renewable energies have main characteristics that are the contrast of that for fossil fuels.
Renewable energies are sustainable and do not cause any pollution for the environment while
fossil fuels are not sustainable and cause an extensive pollution that damages the environment.
Renewable energies are solar energy, wind energy, bio energy, geothermal energy, tidal
energy, and hydropower. Approximately all these forms of energy are hampered by their high
costs. Moreover, solar energy, wind energy and tidal energy are characterized by their
intermittent nature, as they are not available all the time. This intermittent problem can be
solved by energy storage.
Renewable energy plays an important role from the political point of view. Countries with no
or minor energy resources from fossil fuels found the renewable energy as a very prestigious
opportunity for a new era of dependency on their own renewable resources for energy instead
of importing their energy needs from other countries.
1.2 SOLAR ENERGY AND THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE
Solar thermal energy is the most available renewable source of energy and is available as direct
and indirect forms [38]. The sun consists of hot gases and has a diameter of 1.39 10
9
m, it
has an effective blackbody temperature of 5762 K [50], the temperature in its central region
ranges between 8 10
6
and 40 10
6
K [49]. The Sun emits energy at a rate of 3.8 10
23
kW,
2

of which, approximately 1.8 10
14
kW is collected by the earth, only 60% of this amount
reaches the earths surface. The other 40% is reflected back and absorbed by the atmosphere.
If 0.1% of this energy is converted with efficiency of 10%, then it can generate amount of
energy equivalent to four times of the worlds total generated electricity that is 3000 GW.
Moreover, the total annual solar radiation falling on the earth is more than 7500 times of the
worlds total annual primary energy consumption that is 450 EJ. There is 3,400,000 EJ,
approximately, of total annual solar radiation reaches the surface of the earth which is greater
than all the estimated conventional energy sources [38].
Solar energy is the origin for all known forms of energy. Fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and
natural gas were produced by photosynthetic processes, after that, complex chemical reactions
took place and the decaying vegetation was subjected to very high temperatures and pressures
for long time [50]. In addition, the sun produces the wind energy because wind is produced as a
result of the difference in temperature between the various regions of the earth.
Solar energy can be converted into different forms of energy, either to thermal energy or to
electrical energy. Solar energy is converted directly into electrical power only by photovoltaic;
photovoltaic is a device that converts the direct solar radiation into direct electrical current. On
the other hand, solar collector converts solar energy into thermal energy. Solar collector is a
device that absorbs the direct solar radiation and converts it into thermal energy. Solar
collectors have three types: (1) Flat plate collectors, which produce temperature lower than
100, (2) Evacutaed tube collectors, which produce temperature between 100 and 200,
and (3) Parabolic trough collectors, which collect a huge amount of solar radiation and
concentrate it on a small area in order to generate thermal energy at very high temperatures up
to 1000. Table 1-1 shows the different applications for solar energy:
Table 1-1 Solar energy applications
Electrical Thermal Thermal or Electrical
Photovoltaic Solar water heating Solar air conditioning
Concentrated solar power Solar space heating Solar desalination
There is more than one point of view concerning the real problem that hampers the
development and reliability on solar energy as a reliable and main source of energy. Some
opinions return this to the low efficiency of solar devices while others believe that high costs
for solar devices is the main reason. For sure, these two problems play an important role in
3

hampering reliability on solar energy. However, when analyzing these two problems one can
find that the problem of low efficiency is not very effective as there is a huge amount of solar
energy available for free so there is no problem to consume more raw materials (Solar energy)
to produce more amount of energy. In addition, the problem of high cost of solar devices is not
very effective and it can be solved if these devices are produced by large amounts that will lead
to the decrease of price per unit of these solar devices. The previous two problems will be
solved with time, looking at any engineering device, we will find that all of these devices
started with a very low efficiency and very high cost, after that, efficiencies increased and
reached 99% in some cases and costs decreased and became affordable. Solar energy has an
intermittent nature, as it is available only during the daytime. Indeed, this intermittent nature is
considered as the main reason that hampers the reliability on solar energy as a main source for
energy. From engineering and economical point of views, it is important that the designed
system is able to supply energy at any time during the whole year, but solar energy systems can
operate only for few hours during sunshine hours in summer days and much fewer hours
during winter days. Therefore, lack of robust storage systems for solar energy is considered as
the main and most important problem that hampers development and promotion of solar
energy.
1.3 DIFFERENT METHODS FOR ENERGY STORAGE
Energy storage is storing energy during the time when excess energy is available in order to be
used later. In other words, energy storage is used to correct the mismatch between the time of
energy supply and energy demand.
1.3.1 Storage of Electrical Energy
a) Batteries
Batteries store electrical energy in form of chemical energy. Batteries are classified as primary
batteries and secondary batteries. Primary batteries are batteries that are used only one time and
is not possible to be recharged, whereas secondary batteries are called rechargeable batteries
because they could be recharged for several times. The oldest form of the rechargeable battery
is the lead-acid battery. The modern car battery is an example of the lead-acid battery

[39].
b) Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage
Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) systems store energy in the magnetic field
created by the flow of direct current in a superconducting coil which has been cooled to a
4

temperature less than its superconducting critical temperature. A typical SMES system consists
of superconducting coil, power conditioning system and cryogenically cooled refrigerator. The
Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage systems have a high efficiency. The energy stored
by a coil carrying a current is given by as [39]
E =
1
2
L I
2
(1.1)
Where E is the stored energy measured in joules, L is the Inductance measured in henries, and
I is the current measured in amperes.
1.3.2 Storage of Mechanical Energy
a) Pumped Hydro Storage
Pumped hydro is the oldest and largest among all commercially available energy storage
methods, with existing facilities up to 1000 MW in size. Conventional pumped hydro uses two
water reservoirs that are separated vertically at different elevations. When water moves from
the lower reservoir to the higher one, energy is stored. Energy is extracted when water flows
back from the higher reservoir to the lower reservoir. Energy is stored according to theory of
the potential energy; stored energy is calculated by [40]
E = V d g h (1.2)
Where E is the stored Energy in Joules, V is the volume of the water raised in m
3
, d is the
density of the water in kg, g is the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s
2
), and h is the elevation
difference between the reservoirs in meters. In 1999, the first seawater pumped hydro plant has
a capacity of 30 MW was built in Yanbaru in Japan. The best scale for the application of the
Pumped hydro technique is the large scale with discharge duration ranging from several hours
to few days. Pumped storage plants need long time to be constructed and high capital costs.
Efficiency of these plants has increased from 60% in the 1960s to 80% for the new plants [40].

5

b) Compressed Air Storage
The Compressed air energy storage technique (CAES) is a new energy storage concept that can
be integrated with other well established technologies. The CAES facilities are considered as a
hybrid storage/generation technology because they must be integrated with a combustion
turbine. The power is generated by the turbine as a result of the burning of the compressed air
with the fuel in the combustion chamber. The compressor that supplies air to the combustion
chamber consumes around 60% of the mechanical power generated by the turbine. The
advantage of this simplified turbine is that it produces much more energy than the conventional
turbine by using the same fuel, because of the potential energy that is stored in the compressed
air. Underground mines and caverns created inside salt rocks are used to store the compressed
air [40].
c) Flywheels Storage
Most of the modern flywheel energy storage systems include a heavy rotating cylinder
supported on a stator by magnetically levitated bearings that eliminate the bearing wear and
increase the system life. In order to maintain the system efficiency, the drag force should be
reduced by operating the flywheel system in low vacuum conditions. The energy stored in a
rotating flywheel can be calculated by [40]
E =
1
2
I m
2
(1.3)
I = K M R
2
(1.4)
Where I is the flywheels moment of inertia (kg m
2
), m its angular velocity (rad/sec), K is the
inertia constant, M is the mass, and R is the radius.
The energy is proportional to the mass and square of the speed, therefore, when its required to
maximize the energy capacity; its more feasible to increase the flywheels maximum speed
rather than increasing of its moment of inertia. Flywheels have efficiencies more than 90%
depending on friction losses [40].

6

1.3.3 Storage of Thermal Energy
Thermal energy can be stored in form of sensible heat or latent heat or combination of sensible
and latent heat.
1.3.3.1 Sensible Heat Storage
Thermal energy is stored by raising the temperature of a solid or a liquid medium by using its
heat capacity. The amount of thermal energy stored in the form of sensible heat can be
calculated by
Q = ] m C
p
dT = m C
p
(T
2
T
1
)
T
2
T
1
(1.5)
Q is the amount of thermal energy stored or released in form of sensible heat (kJ), T
1
is the
initial temperature (), T
2
is the final temperature (), m is the mass of material used to
store thermal energy (kg), and C
p
is the specific heat of the material used to store thermal
energy (kJ/kg.).
It is clear from Eq. (1.5) that the amount of thermal energy stored in the form of sensible heat
depends on mass, value of the specific heat of the material used to store the thermal energy and
the temperature change.
Water is known as one of the best materials that can be used to store thermal energy in form of
sensible heat because water is abundant, cheap, has a high specific heat, and has a high density.
In addition, heat exchanger is avoided if water is used as the heat transfer fluid in the solar
thermal system. Until now, commercial applications use water for thermal energy storage in
liquid based systems. Table 1-2 shows a list of some materials that used for sensible thermal
energy storage.

7

Table 1-2 Properties of some materials used for sensible heat storage [42]

1.3.3.2 Latent Heat Storage
Latent heat storage uses the latent heat of the material to store thermal energy. Latent heat is
the amount of heat absorbed or released during the change of the material from one phase to
another phase. Two types of latent heat are known, latent heat of fusion and latent heat of
vaporization. Latent heat of fusion is the amount of heat absorbed or released when the
material changes from the solid phase to the liquid phase or vice versa, while latent heat of
vaporization is the amount of thermal energy absorbed or released when the material changes
from the liquid phase to the vapour phase or vice versa. Indeed, latent heat of vaporization is
not paid attention for latent thermal energy storage applications because of the large change in
the volume accompanied by this type of phase change. The amount of thermal energy stored in
form of latent heat in a material is calculated by
Q = m LH (1.6)
Q is the amount of thermal energy stored or released in form of latent heat (kJ), m is the mass
of the material used to store thermal energy (kg), and LH is the Latent heat of fusion or
vaporization (kJ/kg).
It is clear from Eq. (1.6) that the amount of thermal energy stored as latent heat depends on the
mass and the value of the latent heat of the used material. Materials used to store thermal
energy in form of latent heat are called phase change materials.

8

1.3.3.3 Comparison Between Sensible and Latent Thermal Energy Storage
Latent thermal energy storage requires less volume than sensible thermal energy storage. In
addition, latent thermal energy storage can store a huge amount of thermal energy with a small
change in temperature, however, latent thermal energy storage still facing many problems
concerning the materials used to perform the storage process such as high cost, low thermal
conductivity and stability of thermo physical properties after many cycling. Table 1-3 shows a
comparison between material that store thermal energy as latent heat and materials that store
thermal energy as sensible heat when used to store 5000 kJ with temperature increase of 25,
and table 1-4 shows the energy density for different latent and sensible heat storage materials
Table 1-3 Comparison between various heat storage mediums
(Stored thermal energy = 5000 kJ, T =25) [43]

1.4 PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS
All materials are phase change materials. The most important difference between these
materials is the phase change temperature. Each material makes its phase change at different
temperature. In addition, each material has different value of latent heat and thermal
conductivity. The main drawback of most of phase change materials is their low thermal
conductivity that decreases the heat transfer rate. The most important feature for the selected
phase change material is to have its phase change temperature fitted with the application
temperature range. Indeed, there is no specific material that is called as an ideal material to be
used as a phase change material; each material has its advantages and disadvantages.
Following are the desirable properties for phase change materials used for latent thermal
energy storage [43]:
9

Table 1-4 Energy densities for different latent and sensible heat storage materials [52]

1) Thermophysical Properties
a) Phase change temperature fitted to the application
b) High latent heat of fusion per unit mass
c) High thermal conductivity in both liquid and solid phases
d) Low volume change during the phase change
e) No sub cooling during freezing
f) High density
g) Low density variation during phase change
h) High value of specific heat to give additional benefits of sensible heat storage
10

2) Chemical Properties
a) Chemical stability after many cycles of operation
b) No phase separation or chemical decomposition
c) No degradation after many cycles of operation
d) Non flammable, non corrosive, and non toxic
3) Availability and Cost
a) Abundant and Cheap
1.4.1 Classification of Phase Change Materials

Figure 1.1 Classification of phase change materials [42]

Phase Change Materials
Salt Hydrates

Metallics

Inorganic - Inorganic

Inorganic - Organic Organic - Organic

Eutectic Inorganic
Non-Paraffin
Compounds
Paraffin
Compounds
Organic
11

A) Organic Phase Change Materials
Organic phase change materials are classified as paraffins and non-paraffins. Organic PCMs
are characterized by their ability to melt and freeze many times without phase segregation and
degradation of their latent heat of fusion [42].
1) Parafns
Paraffins of type C
n
H
2n+2
are a group of saturated hydrocarbons with very similar properties,
Paraffins between C
5
and C
15
are liquids and the rest are waxy solids, Paraffin wax is one of the
most popular organic heat storage PCM for commercial applications, it consists of a straight
chain hydrocarbons having melting temperatures ranging between 23 and 67 [44].
Following are some of the advantages and disadvantages of paraffins [42] [44]:
Advantages
1- Paraffins are available in a large temperature range.
2- Paraffins have no tendencies to super cool.
3- Paraffins are chemically stable.
4- Paraffin waxes show high heats of fusion.
5- Paraffin waxes dont segregate
6- Paraffin waxes are safe
7- Paraffins are non-corrosive.

Disadvantages
1- Low thermal conductivity
2- High volume change between the solid and liquid phases
3- Commercial paraffins do not have sharp exact melting points.
4- Paraffins are flammable
5- Pure paraffins are expensive
6- Technical grade parafns (which has properties worse than pure paraffins) is commonly
used as PCMs for thermal energy storage because it is cheaper than pure paraffins.
7- Noncompatible with the plastic containers
Thermo physical properties (melting temperature, density, thermal conductivity, and latent heat
of fusion) for some selected paraffins are shown in table 1-5.
12

. Table 1-5 Thermophysical properties for some paraffin PCMs [44]

2) Non-Parafns
The non-paraffin organic PCMs are characterized by their varied properties; each of these
materials has its own properties. Abhat et al. [87], Buddhi and Sawhney [88] have conducted
an extensive survey and recognized a number of esters, fatty acids, alcohols, and glycols
suitable for thermal energy storage. These organic materials are subdivided into fatty acids and
other non-paraffin organic [42]. Following are some advantages and disadvantages of non
paraffins [42]:
Advantages
1- High heat of fusion
Disadvantages
1- Low thermal conductivity
13

2- Low flash points
3- Inammability
4- Instability at high temperatures
5- Varying level of toxicity
Table 1-6 shows the melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some non-paraffin
materials that can be used as phase change materials
Fatty acids
General formula for all the fatty acid is given by CH
3
(CH2)
2n
.COOH. Fatty acids have the
same characteristics as paraffins [44] and have high values of latent heat of fusion compared to
paraffins. Fatty acids have the ability of many cycling of melting and freezing with no
supercooling, and they are characterized by sharper phase temperature than technical grade
paraffins. The major drawback of fatty acids is their high cost that is 22.5 times greater than
that of the technical grade paraffins. Additionally, they are mild corrosive [42].
Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some fatty acids for low temperature latent
thermal energy storage applications are shown in table 1-7.
B) Inorganic Phase Change Materials
Inorganic phase change materials are classified as salt hydrates and metallics.
1) Salt hydrates
Salt hydrates consist of a salt and water that combine in a crystalline matrix when the material
solidifies. There are many different salt hydrates having melting temperature ranges between
15C - 117C, Salt hydrates are considered as the most important group of PCMs that have
been studied for application in latent thermal energy storage systems [44]
Glauber salt (Na2SO4.10H2O) consists of 44% Na2SO4 and 56% H2O by weight. It has a
melting temperature around 32.4C, a latent heat of fusion of 254 kJ/kg (377 MJ/m
3
), and is
one of the cheapest materials that can be used for latent thermal energy storage; Its main
drawback is the problems of phase segregation and subcooling [45]
Following are the advantages and disadvantages of salt hydrates [42] [44]:
Advantages
1- High latent heat of fusion per unit mass and volume (higher than paraffins)
2- High thermal conductivity (compared with paraffins)
14

Table 1-6 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion of some non-paraffin PCMs [42]

15

Table 1-7 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion of some fatty acid PCMs [42]

3- Have sharp phase change temperature
4- Small volume changes during melting
5- High availability
6- Low cost
Disadvantages
1- Segregation: segregation is the formation of other hydrates or dehydrated salts that settle
and reduce the volume that is available for thermal energy storage [44]
2- Salt hydrates show super cooling because they are unable to start crystallization at the
freezing temperature. This problem can be avoided by using nucleating agents [44]
3- Salt hydrates cause corrosion in metal containers, whereas metal containers are the
common containers used in thermal energy storage systems [44]
Table 1-8 shows the melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some salt hydrates
suitable for low temperature thermal energy storage, while table 1-9 shows the melting
temperature and latent heat of fusion for some other salt compounds that are suitable for high
temperature thermal energy storage.

16

2) Metallics
Metallics include the low melting metals and metal eutectics. Metallics have not been strongly
studied as PCM for latent heat storage because of their heavy weights. For the applications that
weight is not an important issue while volume is an important parameter, metallics are
attractive because of their high heat of fusion per unit volume [42]
Some features of these materials are [42]
1- Low heat of fusion per unit weight
2- High heat of fusion per unit volume
3- High thermal conductivity
4- Low specific heat
5- Relatively low vapour pressure
Table 1-10 gives the melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some metallics that can
be used as phase change materials for latent thermal energy storage.
3) Eutectics
The eutectics consist of two or more components where each of them melts and freezes
congruently forming a mixture of a component that crystals during crystallization process [51]
[42]. Usually, eutectics melt and freeze without segregation. During melting process, both
components liquefy at the same time without possibility of separation [42]. A list of some
eutectic compounds is given in table 1-11
1.4.2 Commercial Phase Change Materials
Table 1-12 shows some commercial PCMs available in the market with their thermo physical
properties given by companies producing them. While table 1-13 shows a list with the current
companies that commercially produce PCMs, their websites, and the temperature range for
PCM they are producing.

17

Table 1-8 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for salt hydrates used as PCMs for low
temperature thermal energy storage [42]

18

Table 1-9 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some salt compounds used as PCMs
for high temperature thermal energy storage [46]

Table 1-10 Melting temperature and latent heat of fusion for some metallic PCMs [42]

Table 1-11 List of organic and inorganic eutectics PCMs [42]

19

Table 1-12 Commercial PCMs available in the market and their thermophysical properties [47]

Sources:
Merck KgaA: J. Heckenkamp, H. Baumann, Latentwarmespeicher, Sonderdruck aus Nachrichten 11 (1997)
10751081
Cristopia: Available from <www.cristopia.com>
TEAP: Available from <www.teappcm.com>
Mitsubishi Chemical: H. Kakiuchi, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, private communication, 2002.
Climator: Available from<www.climator.com>
Rubitherm GmbH: Available from <www.rubitherm.de>

20

Table 1-13 Commercial PCMs manufacturers in the world [48]

1.5 LATENT THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE IN PACKED BEDS
The packed bed latent thermal energy storage systems are used in different applications such as
solar thermal energy storage for solar air conditioning systems and waste heat recovery
systems. The main advantage of these systems is their large surface area to volume ratio. In
addition, the phase change materials have higher storage density than other sensible heat
storage systems [5] [43]. The major drawback of the packed beds is that during discharging
process, the HTF temperature decreases versus time as the temperature of the storage material
decreases.

21

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, a comprehensive review of previous work done in the field of thermal energy
storage using phase change materials is presented. Thermal energy storage techniques are
known from long time ago, but in latest years, more concern has been paid for the development
of thermal energy storage because many countries are trying to promote Renewable Energies
with special concern on solar energy. Due to intermittent nature of solar energy, thermal energy
storage is an essential need for more efficient and economic use for solar energy.
Many studies have been done for PCM applications for latent thermal energy storage, cold
energy storage, enhancement of PCM thermal characteristics, and some applications of PCMs
for thermal energy management are presented hereafter.
2.2 REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS WORK
2.2.1 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL WORK
Jian-you [1] has developed a numerical model and investigated experimentally the heat
transfer process dominated by conduction inside a latent thermal energy storage unit involving
N-Hexacosane as a PCM. The thermal energy storage unit composes of a triplex concentric
tube filled with PCM in the middle channel, with hot HTF flowing through the outer channel
during the charging process and cold HTF flows through the inner channel during the
discharging process. N-Hexacosane has a melting / solidification temperature of 56.3 ,
latent heat capacity of 61 kcal/kg

and thermal conductivity of 0.22 W/m.k.
Simple numerical method called temperature and thermal resistance iteration method was
developed for the analysis of PCM solidification and melting in the triplex concentric tube.
Effect of inlet temperature and flow rate of HTF (including the hot HTF and cold HTF) on the
storage unit performance has been studied experimentally for the numerical model validation.
Numerical predictions agreed quite well with experimental results. Numerical and
experimental results showed that every 2 enhancement of inlet temperature of cold HTF
results in an average heat recovery rate increase of 0.042 kW, and lower inlet temperature for
solidification and higher inlet temperature for melting reduce the required time to complete
solidification and melting. According to that, the developed numerical model can give the
22

guidelines for thermal performance and design optimization of the latent thermal energy
storage unit.
Alkilani et al. [2] conducted a theoretical investigation to predict the output air temperature
due to thermal energy discharge process from a phase change material (PCM) unit consists of
inline single row of cylinders containing the phase change material. The system consists of a
single glazed solar air collector integrated with a PCM unit which is being divided in to
cylinders as an absorber container installed in the collector in a cross flow of pumped air.
The phase change material is paraffin wax with mass fraction 0.5% aluminium powder in order
to enhance the heat transfer. An indoor simulation assumed that the PCM initially in liquid
phase (50 ) will be heated by solar simulator whereas the air pumped over the cylinders are
at room temperature (28 ), the total mass of PCM is 72 kg while eight steps of air mass flow
rate was considered from 0.05 to 0.19 kg/s. A MATLAB computer program has been
developed to predict the air temperature; cylinder by cylinder along the duct, freezing time for
PCM in each cylinder and time required to discharge all thermal energy stored in PCM.
Table 2-1 shows the physical properties of the PCM before and after adding of the aluminium
powder, its obvious that addition of the aluminium has enhanced the thermal conductivity of
the compound by about 167%. Results showed that outlet air temperature decreases with
increasing of mass flow rate, maximum air temperature was 42 at 0.05 kg/s, and freezing
time for PCM cylinders was inversely related to the mass flow rate and it takes approximately
8 hours with mass flow rate of 0.05 kg/s.
Table 2-1: Physical properties of the compound used as a phase change material [2]
Property Paraffin wax Aluminum Compound
T
m
50 - 50
Latent heat 190 kJ kg
-1
- 190 kJ kg
-1

p
s
930 kg m
-3
2707 kg m
-3
933 kg m
-3

p
I
830 kg m
-3
- 832 kg m
-3

k
s
0.21 10
-3
kW m
-1
K
-1
0.204 kW m
-1
K
-1
0.561 10
-3
kW m
-1
K
-1

C
PS
, C
PL
2.1 kJ kg
-1
K
-1
0.896 kJ kg
-1
K
-1
2.09 kJ kg
-1
K
-1

El Qarnia [3] developed a theoretical model to predict the thermal behaviour and performance
of a solar latent heat storage unit (LHSU) consisting of a series of identical tubes embedded in
the phase change material (PCM). A simulation program based on the finite volume approach
has been developed to numerically evaluate and optimize the thermal performance of the
LHSU. Numerical simulations have been done using three different kinds of phase change
materials under summer climatic conditions of Marrakech city in Morocco. Themophysical
23

characteristics of the used PCMs are shown in table 2-2. A comparison between the numerical
predictions and experimental data showed a satisfactory agreement between predictions and
experimental data. Results showed that the use of n-octadecane as PCM is not beneficial
because the outlet temperature of hot water is never greater than 28 . On the other hand, with
parafn wax (P116), the outlet temperature of hot water varies within the range 36 47 but
a part of the PCM remains liquid. The results also showed that the Stearic acid offers an
acceptable range of the outlet temperature of hot water and fully discharge of the storage unit
for an optimum mass flow rate of the HTF (water) of m = 0.005 kg/s, and hence it is beneficial
for the water heating application.
Table 2-2 Thermophysical properties of the phase change materials [3]

Trp et al. [4] developed a FORTRAN computer code to predict the influence of several HTF
operating conditions and several geometric parameters on the heat transfer process inside the
water-paraffin shell and tube latent thermal energy storage unit. Technical grade paraffin
Rubitherm RT 30 (melting temperature of 300.7 K) has been used as PCM while water was
used as HTF. The PCM is filled within the shell space between the container and the tubes
while HTF passes through the tubes. Numerical results showed that increasing of HTF mass
flow rate, during melting and solidification processes, has a very small influence on the amount
of thermal energy stored and delivered. While the total thermal energy stored increases
linearly with the increase of temperature difference between HTF inlet temperature and PCM
melting temperature, but total latent thermal energy stored remains constant. Total energy and
latent energy stored increase with the larger tube length and larger outer tube radius while
energy storage density and the ratio of the total to the latent energy stored drop slightly with
increasing the tube length and significantly with increasing the outer tube radius.
This numerical model was validated with experimental data obtained from experimental
investigations. The numerical predictions agree quite well with the experimental results;
therefore, the established numerical model could be used to simulate the thermal behaviour of
latent thermal energy storage system during charging and discharging processes.

24

Regin et al. [5] developed a theoretical model for analysis of the behaviour of a packed bed
consisting of spherical capsules filled with paraffin wax as PCM for latent thermal energy
storage system. A cylindrical storage tank has diameter of 1 m and height of 1.5 m, completely
filled with PCM capsules, has been used for energy storage. Effects of heat transfer fluid inlet
temperature, mass flow rate, phase change temperature range and the radius of the capsule on
the dynamic response of a packed bed during both charging and discharging modes have been
investigated and following conclusions were observed:
1- The complete solidification time is longer than the melting time. This is because of the
low heat transfer coefficient during solidification.
2- Time needed to complete the charging process decreases with increasing of inlet heat
transfer fluid temperature (i.e. higher Stefan number). Figure 2.1 shows the variation of
time needed for complete charging with inlet heat transfer fluid temperature.
3- Time needed to complete the charging process decreases with increasing of mass flow
rate of heat transfer fluid. Figure 2.2 shows charging time for various mass flow rates.
4- Capsule with a smaller radius has a significantly higher charging and discharging rates
compared to those of larger radius. Figures 2.3 and figure 2.4 show the effect of different
capsules radius on charging and discharging rate.
5- The phase transition temperature range reduces the melting duration; figure 2.5 shows
that when the PCM melts in a temperature range it requires shorter time of 31.6% when
compared to the case that PCM melts at a fixed temperature.

Figure 2.1 Effect of Stefan number on melt fraction of the bed [5]
25

Figure 2.2 Melt fraction versus time for various mass flow rates [5]

Figure 2.3 Effect of different capsules radius on melting rate [5]

Figure 2.4 Effect of different capsules radius on solidification rate [5]
26

Figure 2.5 Effect of phase change temperature range on melt fraction of the spherical capsule bed [5]
Wu et al. [6] conducted a mathematical study and analysis for the thermal performance of
latent cool thermal energy storage system using packed bed containing spherical capsules filled
with phase change material during charging and discharging processes. N-tetradecane is
considered as PCM while aqueous ethylene glycol solution of 40% volumetric concentration is
used as HTF. Parameters used for the numerical simulation are shown in table 2-3. Results
revealed the following conclusions during charging and discharging processes:
1- The PCM at the outlet position requires more time to complete solidification and melting
processes. The cool storage rate and discharge rate are high during the initial time period,
after that, they decrease versus time. The latent heat storage capacity represents 70% of the
total thermal energy storage capacity.
2- The time required to complete solidification and melting processes decreases as the HTF
flow rate increases, and rate of solidification and melting processes increases as the HTF
mass flow rate increases.
3- The inlet temperature of HTF has a significant effect on the thermal performance during
charging and discharging processes. The time required for completing the solidification
process increases as inlet temperature of HTF increases, whereas the time required to
complete the melting process decreases as the inlet temperature of HTF increases.
27

4- Lower porosity indicates higher cool storage capacity; therefore, solidification and melting
processes will need longer time.
5- The capsules diameter has low significant effect on the melting and solidification time.
Table 2-3 Parameters used to simulate the packed bed performance [6]

Halawa et al. [7] have studied numerically the thermal performance of an air based PCM
storage unit (TSU) for space heating application. Figure 2.6 shows the thermal energy storage
unit consists of 45 one-dimensional PCM slab (has length of 1 m and width of 0.89 m)
contained in a rectangular duct where air passes between the slabs. PCM used is Calcium
Chloride Hexahydrate (CaCl
2
.6H
2
O) which has melting temperature of 28 .
The numerical study was carried out using TRNSYS 16 simulation package, results revealed
the following conclusions:
1- The effects of the two temperature differences during the melting/freezing process, T
CH
(T
INLET
T
MELT
) and T
DIS
(T
MELT
T
INLET
) are significant. The melting/freezing process
is faster for higher T
CH
or T
DIS
.

2- During the initial period of melting/freezing process, the high HTF mass flow rate increases
the heat transfer rate and thus, the melting/freezing time decreases.
3- During early and second stages of melting/freezing, the heat transfer rate decreases as the
slabs thickness increases, and thus, the melting/freezing time increases.
4- The air gap has an effect similar to that of the slab thickness. The heat transfer rate
decreases with the increase of the gap wideness.
28

5- If the PCM mass and the surface area are kept constant, then the change of the PCM
dimensions has no effect on the outlet temperature and rate of the heat transfer.

Figure 2.6 Thermal storage unit modelled in the study [7]
Veerappan et al. [8] conducted an analytical study to investigate the phase change behaviour
of five different materials as potential PCMs, Thermo physical properties of these materials are
shown in shown in table 2-4. Composition of capric/lauric acid is 65 mol% capric acid and 35
mol% lauric acid. Good agreement was found between the analytical predictions and previous
experimental study. Deviations are 15% for solidification and 20% for melting. It was found
that lower values of initial temperature of the PCM did not make significant contribution for
the solidified mass fraction of PCM. During the initial period of solidification process, lower
coolant fluid temperatures lead to a higher heat flux. Afterwards, the heat flux decreases
rapidly. Comparison between the five PCMs showed that the melting characteristics of 65
mol% capric acid and 35 mol% lauric acid are better than the other phase change materials,
nevertheless, it has the worst solidifying characteristics. On the other hand, calcium chloride
hexahydrate (CaCl
2
.6H
2
O) has excellent solidifying and melting characteristics for solar latent
heat storage applications where rapid charging and discharging properties are significant.
Hence, CaCl
2
.6H
2
O is identified as the best PCM among the chosen PCMs concerning rapid
charging and discharging rates, and it is suitable to be used in low temperature thermal energy
storage.
Hoshi et al. [9] have numerically investigated the suitability of high melting point PCMs for
use in new large scale solar thermal electricity plants with Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector
(CLFR) and Multi Tower Solar Array (MTSA) technologies. Numerical model and analysis
were developed to investigate the characteristics of different materials as PCM during charging
and discharging process at high temperatures. It was found that over the temperature range of

29

Table 2-4 Thermo physical properties of phase change materials [8]

700 K, metals such as Zinc could be used as PCM. For CLFR systems using low-pressure
turbines at or below 600 K, the salts NaNO
2
, NaNO
3
, and KNO
3
are interesting candidates.
Application of LHTES to a MTSA system is similar to the design approach shown
schematically in Figure 2.7. The storage unit and turbine will be located on the ground and air
will be used as the primary circulating fluid through the tower receivers. Use of a single
storage and turbine unit for multiple towers will increase the efficiency through a reduction in
part-load turbine operation and as the efficiency of Brayton cycle turbines increases quite
rapidly versus the turbine size in the hundred kW regions. In this case, suitable salts would be
NaCl or Na
2
CO
3
. Na
2
CO
3
has a melting point fitted with advanced Brayton turbines, low
medium cost, and high thermal conductivity. Following are conclusions for possibility of using
high melting point PCMs in LHTES systems:
1- Molten salts with melting point in the 5001300 K are shown to be promising for the use
with the CLFR and MTSA solar array technologies. In general, melting temperature and
heat capacity tend to increase in the order of nitrates, chlorides, carbonates, and fluorides.
2- PCM Thermal conductivity is an important factor in high melting point LHTES systems. In
particular, Na
2
CO
3
has been identified as a low cost PCM and has a high thermal
conductivity.
3- NaNO
2
is suitable to be used in

LHTES storage system with

large CLFR plants using low-
pressure turbines.
Xia et al. [10] have developed the Effective Packed Bed model to investigate the fluid flow
and heat transfer in a packed bed for LHTES. It was validated with experimental data
available in the literature and found to be able to accurately describe the thermo-fluidic
phenomena during thermal energy storage and retrieval. The Effective Packed Bed model
30

Figure 2.7 Power plant design incorporating high-temperature LHTES storage [9]
can be used to optimize the design of the packed bed LTES system under various operating
conditions such as PCM sphere size, type of storage material, HTF mass flow rate, HTF inlet
temperature, void fraction, heat loss, and operating mode of LTES system. Especially, it can
be applied to investigate some parameters, which are difficult for the other models to perform,
such as randomly or specially arrangement of the spheres in the packed bed, thermal gradients
inside the PCM spheres, laminar or turbulent flow, and encapsulation of PCM. In addition,
it is capable to show the flow field inside the packed bed in details.
The proposed model is used to perform a parametric study for the influence of the PCM
spheres arrangement and encapsulation on the heat transfer performance of LTES packed bed,
which was difficult to perform with the previous packed bed models. A paraffin having
melting temperature of 60 _ 1 was used as PCM while water was used as HTF. Two
arrangements, the random and the special packing, with the same quantity of the PCM spheres
were studied in an LTES system with a cylindrical tank of 500 mm diameter and 1000 mm
height. The ratio of the tank volume occupied by PCM spheres with a diameter of 46 mm was
50%. Numerical calculations were conducted at a flow rate of 6 L/min and inlet HTF
temperature of 70. A commercial CFD program Fluent 6.2 was used to carry out the
numerical study. Results showed that random packing reduced the sectional area of the flow
passages, which led to an increase in the velocity of the HTF. As shown in figure 2.8, the
31

maximum velocity of the HTF in the randomly packed bed was 7.63 10
-3
m/s, which is
higher than that 4.25 10
-3
m/s in the specially packed bed. Because of that, the temperature
of the HTF at the outlet of the two packed beds was significantly different with a maximum
temperature difference of 5. Heat retrieval rate in an LTES system with randomly packed
bed was found to be higher than that with specially packed bed. In addition, the encapsulation
of the PCM has a significant influence on the heat transfer in the LTES system. The freezing
duration of the PCM spheres encapsulated by stainless steel was approximately shorter than
that for the polyolen encapsulation by 15%. The encapsulation thickness has a substantial
influence on the heat transfer performance of the LTES system in case of polyolefin, whereas it
has no important influence in the case of stainless steel encapsulation.
Cheralathan et al. [11] have developed a simulation program to investigate the transient
behaviour of a phase change material based cool thermal energy storage (CTES) system
comprised of a cylindrical storage tank filled with encapsulated PCMs in spherical container
integrated with an ethylene glycol chiller plant. Aqueous solution of 30 wt. % ethylene glycol
was used as HTF while distilled water with heterogeneous nucleation agents (super cooling
release additive) was used as PCM. It was found that storage systems designed for higher
Stanton numbers (>0.5) and higher porosity (>0.49) require less time for energy charging for a
given energy storage capacity whereas systems designed for higher Stefan number (>0.4) and
higher porosity (>0.60) store less amount of energy. Consequently, moderate values of Stefan
number (0.2 - 0.4), porosity (0.40 - 0.49) and higher values of Stanton number (0.7 - 1.0)
should be selected for higher and faster energy storage.
Kim et al. [12] have presented a numerical study using FORTRAN code to investigate the
technical feasibility of using a heat accumulator containing an advanced PCM material for
automotive engine cooling. The novel concept of the automotive cooling is to store a large
amount of thermal energy in the heat accumulator and thus contributes to the reduction of the
overall size of the engine cooling circuit. Erythritol was used as the PCM; it has latent heat of
339.8 kJ/kg and melting point of 118. It was found that this cooling strategy reduces the size
of the coolant inventory by 30% that reduces the coolant warm up time during the cold start,
and thus, reduces the harmful emissions.

32

Figure 2.8 Flow field of the (a) randomly packed bed and (b) specially packed bed [10]
Ismail et al. [13] have developed a mathematical model for simulation of the heat transfer
process during charging and discharging processes in a latent heat storage system composed of
packed bed of spherical capsules filled with PCM. Finite difference approach and moving grid
technique were used in the numerical solution. Numerical simulations were realized in order to
investigate the effect of variation of the working fluid entry temperature, working fluid mass
flow rate and the material of the spherical capsule. Numerical results were validated with
experimental results. Experiments were conducted using a storage unit full with spherical
capsules containing water and ethylene glycol solution of 30% volumetric concentration. The
experimental storage unit has a diameter of 0.95 m and height of 1.6 m. The spherical capsules
are made of polyethylene and have a diameter of 0.077 m and thickness of 0.002 m. Three
capsules were instrumented with thermocouples located at the capsule centre. The capsules
were placed at the entry, mid length and at the exit of the tank. It was found that the numerical
predictions for charging and discharging times are always higher than the experimental
measurements by one hour.
Halford et al. [14] have developed a numerical model to investigate the ability of phase
change materials when used in the ceiling or wall structure to shift the peak air conditioning
33

load away from the time of peak electrical demand. Figure 2.9 shows the basic geometry for
the simulation model. The wall or ceiling structure is modelled as a three-layer plane wall
where the phase change material is installed in the centre layer. This configuration is known as
resistive capacitive resistive (RCR). Time varying boundary conditions are taken at x = 0 and x
= L, representing the room temperature and the ambient temperature, respectively. Three cases
were simulated and compared in order to investigate the effect of PCM on peak load shifting.
These are insulation only, insulation with mass without phase change and insulation with mass
with phase change. It was found that depending on the selected temperature region for the
inner wall, a maximum of 511% melting of PCM can be achieved through most of the
expected range of temperatures (307 314 K). This is equivalent to 11 25% maximum
reduction in peak load compared to the mass without phase change case and 19 57%
decrease when compared with the insulation only case. Hence, significant loads shift
theoretically possible by using phase change materials in wall and ceiling structures.
Arkar et al. [15] have carried out a numerical study to investigate the influence of the
accuracy of thermal properties data of the PCM on the results of the prediction of the LHTES
thermal response. Simulation of the LHTES was done for conditions of the building services
for low-energy house and is used for the short term (daily) heat or cold accumulation. The
numerical results were validated with experimental measurements. The heat storage tank used
in experiments has a diameter of 0.34 m and height of 1.52 m; it has 35 rows of spheres
structured as a packed bed. Polyethylene spheres with a diameter of 50 mm and a wall
thickness of 1 mm were filled with RT20 paraffin produced by Rubitherm GmbH. The packed
bed average porosity was 0.388. Comparison between the numerical and experimental results
confirmed that the PCMs thermal properties play a substantial role, especially during slow
running processes, in getting accurate predictions by the numerical model.
Takeda et al. [16] have studied mathematically and experimentally the performance of a
ventilation system, which perform a direct heat exchange between ventilation air and granules
containing PCM, when applied to home cooling by installing a packed PCM in suitable air
supply ducts. The removal of the sensible heat in the ventilation load is investigated.
Figure 2.10 shows a diagram of the suggested household ventilation system for use during
summer. It has two modes of operation referred to as System 1 (Sys.1) and System 2 (Sys.2)
shown in table 2-5. The room temperature is set at 26 for cooling. Outdoor air is always
supplied to the PCM packed bed. When outdoor air temperature T
a
is below 26, Sys.2 is
34

Figure 2.9 Geometry for the numerical simulation [14]
active and cold energy is stored in the PCM. On the other hand, when T
a
is above 26 and
outlet temperature T
p out
is lower than T
a
, Sys.1 is selected for ventilation. Furthermore, when
T
a
is above 26 and T
p

out
is above T
a
, outdoor air is directly supplied to the room.
Simulation used weather conditions for eight Japanese cities. These cities are Sendai, Tokyo,
Kanazawa, Fukuoka, Kohfu, Kyoto, Nara and Naha. Data for outdoor air temperatures were
taken from Expanded AMeDAS Weather Data which is supplied by the Architectural Institute
of Japan (AIJ). The first day used for calculation was the day when the hourly temperature
exceeded 26 for the first time after 1
st
of June while last day was the day when the
temperature last exceeded 26 before the end of the year. Five ranges of phase change
temperatures of (2225, 2427, 2528, 2629, and 2730) have been investigated.
Results revealed that the maximum benefit is obtained in Kyoto city with a reduction of
ventilation load by 62.8%. In Tokyo or Fukuoka that have lower average temperatures, the
reduction rate was found to be between 42.8% and 46.2%. Moreover, the benefit depends more
on the range of daily temperature variation than on average temperature.
Fang et al. [17] have presented a theoretical model for the performance of a shell and tube
latent thermal energy storage (LTES) unit using multiple phase change materials (PCMs). The
model is based on the enthalpy method. Numerical simulations are performed in order to
investigate the effects of different multiple PCMs on the melted fraction, stored thermal energy
and fluid outlet temperature of the LTES unit. The schematic diagram of the physical model is
shown in figure 2.11. The LTES unit consists of an inner tube, an outer tube and an annulus
filled with PCMs having different melting temperatures. The outer tube is well insulated and
the multiple PCMs are separated by thermal thin walls. The heat transfer fluid flows through
35

Figure 2.10 Concept diagram of the air supply system utilizing PCM granules [16]
Table 2-5 Operating conditions of the air supply system [16]

the inner tube and exchanges heat with PCMs. The melting temperatures of PCMs in the
annulus decrease in the direction of the hot fluid flow during charging process and increase in
the direction of the cold fluid flow during discharging process. Numerical results showed that
there is an optimum ratio between the multiple PCMs in order to obtain the maximum rate of
thermal energy charging in the LTES unit. Moreover, the difference between melting
temperatures of the multiple PCMs plays a substantial role in characterizing the performance of
the LTES unit.
Jegadheeswaran et al. [18] have presented a numerical study to investigate the performance
enhancement of a LHTS unit of shell and tube configuration due to the dispersion of high
conductivity particles in the PCM during charging process (melting). Temperature based
governing equations have been developed and solved numerically by an alternate iteration
between the temperature and thermal resistance. Exergy based performance evaluation was
taken as a main parameter in order to assess the performance of the system. The selected
material for PCM is technical grade paraffin while copper was selected as the high conductivity
particles. Technical grade paraffin has melting temperature of 300.7 K and latent heat of 206
kJ/kg. Results showed that the addition of high conductivity particles into PCM enhances the
melting rate. Particle dispersed unit enhances the exergy efficiency when compared to the
36

Figure 2.11 Schematic of the physical model [17]
pure PCM unit, however, the total energy stored is reduced. Increasing mass flow rate of HTF
has a significant effect on performance enhancement; higher mass flow rates and higher
particle fraction lead to performance enhancement as the system irreversibility could be
reduced. However, higher mass flow rates of HTF require high pumping power. Therefore, the
addition of high conductivity particles is more feasible than the increasing of the HTF mass
flow rate.
2.2.2 REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTAL WORK
Al-Hinti et al. [19] conducted an experimental investigation of the performance of water -
phase change material storage for use with the conventional solar water heating systems. The
aim of this study is to compare between using of water only and using of water with paraffin
wax as a thermal storage medium. Paraffin wax with melting temperature of 52, latent heat
of 230 kJ/kg and thermal conductivity of 0.25 W/m.K is contained in small cylindrical
aluminium containers and used as the PCM. Experiments were held during 1
st
24
th
April
2008 at Hashemite University in Jordan which has location of 32.1 and 36.2 and
maximum average global radiation on horizontal of 750 W/m
2
during April.
Results showed that a significant difference between using water and PCM as storage medium
and using of water only as storage medium, when water inside the tank reaches 50 - 55,
utilization of this PCM configuration gives 13 - 14 advantage over 14 hours after termination
of the input energy when compared with conventional sensible storage system under natural
circulation and same conditions, and 17 hours after the heater was switched off, the
temperature of the water in presence of PCM was still 36 higher than the ambient
temperature in comparison to a difference of only 22 in case of without PCM. It was found
that the usage of short period of forced circulation has a small effect on the system
performance.
37

Koca et al. [20] conducted an experimental study for the analysis of energy and exergy for a
latent heat storage system with phase change material (PCM) for a flat-plate solar collector.
CaCl
2
.6H
2
O was used as PCM with addition of 0.5 kg of KNO
3
to crystallize the PCM. The
total mass of PCM used is 30 kg. The Mobilterm 605 with thermal conductivity of 0.145
W/m.K was used as HTF. Table 2-6 shows the physical properties of the used PCM.
Experiments have been conducted on 7
th
, 12
th
, and 15
th
October in 2000 in Elazig, Turkey.
Figure 2.12 shows the variation of energy efficiency and exergy efficiency during the
experiment dates.
Table 2-6 Physical properties of used PCM (Ca.Cl
2
.6H
2
O) [20]
Melting point 29 k
s
1.088 (W/m.K)
Density (Solid) 1800 (kg/m
3
) k
L
0.539 (W/m.K)
Density (Liquid) 1560 (kg/m
3
) Melting latent heat 187.49 (kJ/kg)
Specific heat (Solid) 1460 (J/kg.K) Cycling number for heat transfer 800
Specific heat (Liquid) 2130 (J/kg.K) Price 30 ($/kg)
Heat storage capacity 3.182 10
5
(kJ/m
3
) Toxic effect No
As shown in figure 2.12, it was found that the net efficiency increases with increasing of the
inlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid and the higher net energy efficiency are observed on
12
th
October except for morning hours. Daily average values of net energy efficiencies were
calculated as 45% for 12
th
October and 42% for 7
th
and 15
th
October while the maximum
exergy efficiency values were obtained on 12
th
October and it was only 2.2% during charging
period. Conclusions from this study are as follow:
1- The stored solar energy and instantaneous solar radiation show bell shaped variation during
all days.
2- The experimental results showed that the exergy efficiencies of latent heat storage system
with PCM are very low.
3- The low outlet temperature is because that the collector surface area is smaller than that of
PCM.

38

Figure 2.12 Variation of efficiency with time of day for different dates: (a) energy efficiency, (b)
exergy efficiency [20]
Diaconu et al. [21] carried out an experimental investigation to determine the enthalpy change
and heat transfer characteristics of a new PCM in order to assess its suitability for integration
into a low temperature heat storage (cold storage) system for solar air conditioning
applications. The microencapsulated PCM slurry (MEPCS) consist of an aqueous dispersion of
phase change material of Rubitherm RT6 encapsulated in polycyclic cell, resulting in
microcapsules with a volume mean diameter of 2.24 pm. RT6 is a commercial PCM, its main
characteristics are listed in table 2-7. The PCM mass fraction is 45%. Thermal properties of
the PCM slurry were experimentally investigated by using the DSC analysis, conducted on a
MicroDSC III Differential scanning calorimeter (SETARAM). A sample size of 759 mg was
analyzed, applying scanning rates of 0.1/min and 0.01/min. These relatively low scanning
39

Table 2-7 Thermophysical characteristics of RT6 [21]
Temperature range of melting 4-7
Temperature range of solidification 6-2
Heat storage capacity from 1 to 11 175 kJ kg
-1

Density solid at 0 840 kg m
-3

Density liquid at 20 760 kg m
-3

Thermal conductivity coefficient 0.2 W m
-1

-1

rates were selected because they are likely to occur in an air conditioning application. Distilled
water was used as reference. An experimental setup was built in order to quantify the natural
convection heat transfer occurring from a helically coiled tube immersed in a phase change
material slurry, the main difficulty in developing a heat transfer correlation for MEPCS is the
hysteretic behaviour of the thermal properties, therefore, a comparison between h
nat
for
MEPCS and water has been made instead of developing a heat transfer correlation for MEPCS.
Results showed that inside the phase change intervals the MEPCS displayed higher values of
natural heat transfer coefficient (h
nat
) compared to water, which can go up to five times
depending on temperature conditions. A correlation between the values of h
nat
for the PCM
slurry and for water was obtained. It was found that the optimum temperature range for heat
storage overlapped on a temperature interval with high values of the natural convection heat
transfer coefficient. It can be concluded that the PCM slurry investigated is adequate for heat
storage at temperatures between 2 and 6. However, it should be mentioned that the reason
for such a high difference between h
PCMs
and h
water
inside the phase change temperature range
could be related to the fact that at temperature values around 4 (bulk temperature) the heat
transfer coefficient for water reduces significantly.
Elgafy et al. [22] conducted an experimental study to investigate the enhancement in thermal
properties of paraffin wax by adding different mass ratios of carbon nanofibers. Different
samples were prepared by adding carbon nanofibers (CNFs) at different mass ratios of (1%,
2%, 3%, and 4% by weight) into paraffin wax. These samples were compared with pure
paraffin wax having melting temperature of 67. The total mass of each sample is 20 gram.
Results revealed that nanocomposite thermal diffusivity increases with the increasing of carbon
nanobers ratio in the paraffin wax. The thermal diffusivity of pure paraffin wax is (0.00151
cm
2
/s) whereas the thermal diffusivity of the paraffin wax filled with 4% is (0.00268 cm
2
/s),
and the duration time elapsed during the latent heat phase of pure paraffin wax is about 450
40

sec, whereas it is 350 sec for the nanocomposite sample of 1% CNFs content ratio; the
reduction in the time reveals that the rate of heat dissipation from the nanocomposite sample is
higher than that of pure paraffin wax sample, therefore the time for the solidification process
decreases with the increase of CNFs content ratio. The output power from each sample during
its solidification process was estimated and found that the output power from the samples
increases with the increase of the CNFs content ratio due to the enhancement of their thermal
performance.
Lamberg et al. [23] carried out an experimental study to validate a numerical model designed
by the FEMLAB program that is used to predict the behaviour of the different phase change
materials during solidification process and melting process. Two numerical methods have
been studied; the Enthalpy method and the Effective Heat Capacity method.
Two PCM storage tanks were designed and constructed to conduct the experimental work on
them. Storage 1 without heat transfer enhancement structures while Storage 2 with heat
transfer enhancement (e.g. fins are used). Technical grade paraffin was used as PCM.
Results showed that all the numerical results gave a good estimation of the melting and
freezing processes while the effective heat capacity method with a narrow temperature range
(e.g. I = 2) is found to be the most precise method when results are compared to
experimental results. Therefore the ease that results from the possibility to change the geometry
and parameters of the storage system enables a faster design of the tailored PCM storages
especially for various electronics applications.
Zhong et al. [24] carried out an experimental work to investigate the enhancement in thermal
diffusivity and latent heat of paraffin wax (has melting temperature of 331 K, thermal
diffusivity of 0.13 mm
2
/s, and latent heat of 143.7 J/g) by adding Graphite Foam. Four samples
(A, B, C, and D) having the same size of 10103 mm
3
have been prepared and investigated.
Thermophysical properties of Graphite Foam used for each sample are shown in Table 2-8
while thermophysical properties of the Paraffin-Graphite Foam systems is shown in Table 2-9.
Thermal diffusivity is measured by using Laser Flash technique (has accuracy of _1.78) while
latent heat is measured by Differential Scanning Calorimeter technique. Results showed that
thermal diffusivity of the Paraffin-GF can be enhanced (for samples C, A, D, and B) by 190,
270, 500, and 570 times as compared with that of pure paraffin wax. Pore-size and thickness

41

Table 2-8 Thermophysical properties of the Graphite Foam added to the four samples [24]
Property Sample A Sample B Sample C Sample D
Pore Diameter, (pm) 600 500 400 200
Thermal Diffusivity, (mm
2
/s) 141.89 230.9 94.76 90.42
Bulk Density, (g/cm
3
) 0.2 0.35 0.48 0.57

Table 2-9 Thermophysical properties of the Paraffin-Graphite Foam systems [24]
Property Sample A Sample B Sample C Sample D
Mass ratio of paraffin wax 76% 65% 74% 47%
Thermal Diffusivity, (mm
2
/s) 36 74.31 24.94 65.84
Latent Heat, (J/g) 109.7 92.79 104.9 65.29
of ligaments of the foam played the major role in enhancing the thermal diffusivity of the
Paraffin-GF system. Latent heat of Paraffin-GF systems increases versus the increase of the
mass ratio of the paraffin wax in the composite. High storage capacity and high thermal
diffusivity are achieved by preparing GFs with a thicker ligament and larger pore size. The
Paraffin-GF (B) is the most useful PCM for thermal energy storage applications.
Cabeza et al. [25] carried out an experimental work to investigate the possibility of heat
transfer enhancement of a cold storage working with water/ice as PCM thermal energy storage.
During solidification process, the solid-liquid interface moves away from the heat transfer
surface and the heat flux decreases due to the increasing thermal resistance of the growing
layer of the molten/solidified medium. Three methods to enhance the heat transfer were
proposed and compared; they are addition of stainless steel pieces, copper pieces (both have
been proposed before), and a graphite matrix impregnated with PCM. The volume content of
water was always bigger or equal to 90% volume of the store, so the heat or cold stored was
dominated by latent heat due to the fact that sensible heat in all cases was between 15% and
25% of total heat stored. The experiments were performed in a small experimental storage
tank shown in Figure 2.13; it has dimensions of 107 mm height, 105 mm width, and 430 mm
length. It is made from metacrylate and has a capacity of 4 L. An Aluminium intercooler (4
mm thick) was used as heat exchanger placed in the middle of the storage and the inlet and
outlet were connected to a thermostatic bath. Deionized water is used as PCM while
42

Figure 2.13 Storage tank used in the experiments [25]
the brine is used for heating and cooling was a mixture of water and antifreezing agent.
Temperature in the thermostatic bath was set at 15 for heating and at 15 for freezing.
Six thermocouples were used to measure the heat transfer. One thermocouple was at the inlet
and one at the outlet of the brine going through the heat exchanger while four thermocouples
were placed inside the storage, one in contact with heat exchanger on each side of it and one at
a distance of 1 cm away of heat exchanger on each side. In the first set of experiments, no
enhancements were used. In the second set of experiments, the enhancement materials were
added to only one side of the heat exchanger, thus, the velocity of the movement of the phase
front of PCM with and without enhancement could be compared. In the third set of
experiments, two different enhancement materials were used in the same experiment in order to
make a direct comparison between these different materials. Results showed that addition of
stainless steel pieces in the PCM does not increase the heat flux significantly while addition of
copper pieces enhances heat transfer significantly, especially in the melting period (discharge
of the store). On the other hand, use of graphite composite allows an even larger increase in
heat transfer than with copper, as the heat flux is about four times larger on heating and three
times larger on cooling as compared to using pure ice. Concerning the melting/freezing front, it
does not show any changes with addition of stainless steel pieces while with the addition of
copper; it became not regular but is strongly influenced by the metal pieces. In case of addition
of the graphite matrix composite, the movement of the phase front cannot be seen because the
pores in it are too small.
43

Alkan [26] conducted an experimental work to investigate the possibility of increasing the
enthalpy of melting and solidifying of paraffin to increase its LHTES capacity by sulfonation
at ionomer level. Two different kinds of paraffin (docosane and hexacosane with melting
points of 317.15 and 329.45 K, respectively) were sulfonated at three different mole
percentages. The sulfonation of paraffin samples was proven by Fourier transform infrared
(FT-IR) spectroscopy. Adiabatic Bomb Calorimetry was used to determine sulfonation
percentages of paraffin samples while differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method used to
measure enthalpies of melting and solidifying of docosane, hexacosane, and their sulfonated
derivatives. The sulfonation method is a process performed by forming acetyl sulfonate from
sulfuric acid and acetic anhydride in 1, 2-dichloroethane solution of paraffin. Thermal analysis
by DSC revealed that the sulfonated paraffin samples absorbed and released more energy than
the pure paraffin samples used in this study during melting and solidifying processes.
Moreover, the variation of melting and freezing points of sulfonated docosane and hexacosane
were not significant. Therefore, sulfonation was found as a suitable method to increase LHTES
capacity of paraffins.
Huang et al. [27] conducted an experimental work to investigate the performance of a
paraffin/water emulsion as a phase change slurry (PCS) for comfort cooling applications in a
temperature range of 0 20. Because of the high prices of pure paraffins, blends (mixtures
of different paraffins) are usually used. A praffin blend Rubitherm RT10 with a melting
temperature range of 2 12 was used for preparing the emulsion. The emulsion is a binary
fluid comprising a collection of small paraffin droplets, having dimension of 110 mm, and
dispersed in water by a nonionic surfactant. A nucleating agent was used to prevent the
supercooling effect resulted by the small droplet size. An emulsion containing 35% by weight
RT10 was circulated in a test rig for 6 days, it withstood 50 freezing/melting cycles and no
distinct change in the properties has been occurred. Results showed that the emulsion
containing 3050 wt. % paraffin has an energy density at least 2 times as high as that of pure
water and a relatively low viscosity. In addition, all samples kept the droplet size distribution
and the heat capacity over one year of storage. Thus, paraffin/water emulsion containing 30
50% by weight Rubitherm RT10 paraffin blend was found as an attractive material for cold
storage and distribution applications.

44

Tyagi et al. [28] conducted an experimental work to determine the change in latent heat of
fusion and melting temperature of calcium chloride hexahydrate (CaCl
2
.6H
2
O) inorganic salt as
a latent heat storage material, a thousand accelerated thermal cycle tests have been conducted.
The effect of thermal cycling and the reliability in terms of the changing of the melting
temperature using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is determined. After repeated
accelerated thermal cycles, experimental results showed a good stability of thermal properties
(i.e. latent heat of fusion and the melting temperature). It was found that the CaCl
2
.6H
2
O melts
between constant temperature ranges and the variations in the latent heat of fusion during the
thermal cycling process is small. One reason for the variation in the latent heat of fusion and
melting temperature is the improper crystallization of the PCM because a small quantity of
PCM, few milligrams, was used in the experiments.
Mettawee et al. [29] carried out experiments to investigate a method of enhancing the thermal
conductivity of paraffin wax by embedding aluminium powder in it. The size of the aluminium
powder particles is 80 m. The tested mass fractions in the PCM-Aluminum composite
material were 0.1, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 of aluminum. The experiments were conducted by using a
compact PCM solar collector. In this collector, the absorber-container unit absorbs the solar
energy and stores the phase change material. The solar thermal energy is stored in the PCM,
thereafter; its discharged to the cold water flowing through pipes located inside the PCM. The
inlet temperature of water was approximately kept constant (Ti = 30 2) and the mass flow
rate ranged between 0.15 and 0.34 lit/min. Results showed that the value of the average heat
transfer coefficient is greater for composite than for pure paraffin and charging time decreased
by 60% for composite than that for pure paraffin wax. Useful heat gained increases with the
addition of aluminium powder to the paraffin wax. The mean daily efficiency (q
d
), which is
calculated using Eq. 2.1, ranges from 32% to 54.8% for paraffin wax while for the composite it
ranges from 82% to 94% for different water mass flow rates and for different solar radiation.
q
d
= M C
p
(T
ua
T
ta
)(A C) (2.1)
M: Total mass of water heated during discharging process (kg)
C
p
: Specific heat of cooling water (J/kg.)
oa
: Average of the outlet water temperature ()
Ia
: Average of the inlet water temperature ()
: Surface area of each melt sector (m
2
)
u: Total incoming solar radiation during the charging process (kJ/m
2
)
45

Agyenim et al. [30] carried out an experimental study using a concentric annulus storage
system with Erythritol (have melting point of 117.7 and latent heat of fusion of 339.8 kJ/kg)
as a phase change material and augmented with longitudinal fins on the shell side, to assess the
thermal behaviour and heat transfer characteristics of this system. The PCM store consists of a
1 m long horizontally mounted cylindrical storage (152 mm outer diameter shell) with a 54 mm
copper tube embedded in 20 kg of PCM through which hot silicon oil flowed to exchange heat
with the PCM. 8 longitudinal fins (have length of 950 mm and thickness of 1 mm) are welded
onto the surface of the heat transfer tube and 3 mm gap was left between the tip of the fins and
the outer cylinder. Figure 2.14 shows a schematic diagram of the charging and discharging
processes which consist of two fluid flow loops; the charging loop, where thermal energy is
being transferred from the hot oil to be stored in the PCM system and the discharging loop,
where energy stored in the PCM system is being transferred to water by using a heat
exchanger. Figure 2.15 shows the isothermal plots of the final melt profile along the length of
the store for the different mass flow rates, the isothermal plots show that when mass flow rate
increased from 15 kg/min to 30 kg/min, the liquid fraction has been also increased. Figure
2.16 shows a comparison of the isothermal plots of the final melt temperature readings after 8 h
of charging for the different inlet HTF temperatures. The isothermal plots show that systems
with inlet HTF temperatures of 130 and 135 did not attain complete melting, while
complete melting was attained for the system with inlet HTF temperature of 140. Therefore,
the optimum mass flow rate and inlet HTF temperature for charging an Erythritol store to
power the absorption system are found to be 30 kg/min and 140. It was found that for a 20
kg of Erythritol, 70.9% of the total energy charged was discharged within 200 min.
Consequently, the experiments have showed that longitudinally finned Erythritol provide the
charge and discharge temperature requirements of a PCM suitable to provide heat to LiBr/H
2
O
solar absorption cooling system.
Azar et al. [31] carried out theoretical and experimental study to compare between two
specific thermal energy storage materials, zirconium oxide (ZrO
2
) as a sensible heat material
and a salt/ceramic composite (Na
2
SO
4
/SiO
2
) as a phase change material. Thermal behaviour of
a packed bed in both cases was investigated. It was found that zirconium oxide is better than
salt/ceramic composite for energy storage applications that have a big difference between
storage temperature and initial temperature of the bed.

46

Figure 2.14 Schematic diagram of the shell and tube experimental system used to investigate the
improvement in heat transfer of Erythritol [30]

Figure 2.15 The effect of increasing mass flow rate on the final melt profile in the longitudinal
finned system after 8 h of charging with T
inlet
= 140 [30]

Figure 2.16 Effect of increasing inlet HTF temperature on the final melt profile in the
longitudinal finned system (m = 30 kg/min) [30]

47

Khateeb et al. [32] have presented experimental results of a Lithium-ion battery designed for
electric scooter applications. Natural convection cooling, presence of aluminium-foam heat
transfer matrix, use of phase change material, and combination of aluminium-foam and PCM,
have been investigated and compared as four different heat dissipation modes. Figure 2.17
shows a Li-ion battery module surrounded by Aluminium-foam filled with phase change
material. It was found that when aluminium foam with PCM is used, the temperature dropped
by 50% compared to the first case of no thermal management and it provides a uniform
temperature distribution through the battery module that is substantial for the efficient
performance of the cells used.
Mazman et al. [33] have investigated experimentally the effect of using PCM modules in
stratified storage tanks of solar domestic hot water systems. Experiments were performed
under real operating conditions in a complete solar heating system that was constructed at the
University of Lleida, Spain. Three PCM mixtures (PP, PS, SM), shown in table 2-10, were
tested during cooling and reheating experiments. Graphite (10% by weight) was added to the
PCM mixtures to enhance the heat transfer in PCM modules. The solar domestic hot water
(SDHW) tank used in the experiments has height of 1.25 m and diameter of 0.78 m. Three
modules having a cylindrical geometry with an outer diameter of 0.176 m and a height of 0.315
m were filled with the PCM. The volume percentage of the modules in the storage tank is 3%.
Results showed that Paraffin-Stearic acid compound performed the best thermal performance
enhancement for the SDHW tank.
Table 2-10 Thermophysical properties of PCM mixtures [33]

Huang et al. [34] presented an experimental evaluation of phase change materials for thermal
management for photovoltaic devices. RT25 with melting point of 26.6 and GR40 with
melting point of 43 have been investigated and compared as two different phase change
materials. GR40 is a granulate PCM in which 89.5% of the material is in the 13 mm size
range. It consists of paraffin wax (C
20
H
42
) bound to an inorganic background material (SiO
2
).
Results showed that with using RT25, the temperature at the front surface of the PV/PCM
system was maintained lower than 29 for 130 minute under 750 W/m
2
insolation and
48

Figure 2.17 Li-ion battery module surrounded by Al-foam filled with phase change material [32]
ambient temperature of 23, while in case of GR40 PCM, the thermal control is not as
effective as RT25. Phase change materials are found to be able and feasible for controlling
temperature rise in photovoltaic devices.
Canbazoglu et al. [35] carried out an experimental work to investigate the enhancement in
performance of solar thermal energy storage system (STESS) integrated with PCM by
comparing it with conventional system including no PCM. The experiments were performed
during November in Malatya, Turkey. The intensity level of average incident solar radiation at
a horizontal plane is 8.469 MJ/m
2
per day for November. It was found that the storage time of
hot water, the mass of hot water produced and total heat accumulated in the heat storage tank
combined with PCM are approximately 2.59 3.45 times greater than that of conventional
solar energy system having heat storage tank including no PCM. The hydrated salts of the best
solar thermal energy storage performance are disodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate
(Na
2
HPO
4
.12H
2
O) and sodium sulfate decahydrate (Na
2
SO
4
.10H
2
O). The additional cost of
STESS including PCM used in this study is US$ 0.5 per liter of the thermal energy storage
tank. Nevertheless, the volume of hot water tank required to store the same amount of thermal
energy by the energy storage system that includes PCM is smaller than that of conventional
thermal energy storage system. Therefore, the use of PCM in the storage system will not cause
a significant increase in the cost of the thermal energy storage system.
Nallusamy et al. [36] have carried out an experimental work to investigate the thermal
behaviour of a packed bed of combined sensible and latent thermal energy storage (TES) unit.
The TES unit contains spherical capsules filled with paraffin as the phase change material that
are packed in an insulated cylindrical storage tank. Water is used as both sensible heat storage
(SHS) material and HTF. The stainless-steel TES tank has a capacity of 47 L with dimensions
of 360 mm in diameter and 460 mm in height. The outer diameter of the spherical capsule is
49

55 mm and it is made of high-density polyethylene with a wall thickness of 0.8 mm. The total
number of capsules in the TES tank is 264 and the spherical capsules are uniformly packed in
eight layers and each layer is supported by wire mesh. The PCM capsules occupy 50% of the
total volume of storage tank and the remaining volume is occupied by the SHS material
(water). Paraffin that used as PCM has a melting temperature of 60 _ 1 and latent heat of
fusion of 213 kJ/kg. Charging experiments are carried out for two different methods of
charging process in order to investigate the effects of inlet temperature of the HTF on the
performance of the storage unit. In the first method, the TES tank is integrated with constant
temperature HTF. In the second method, the TES tank was connected with an active solar flat
plate collector of 2 m
2
area (varying inlet heat source). The discharging process experiments
are carried out in two methods. In the first method, known as a continuous process, the cold
water at a temperature of 32 is circulated continuously through the TES tank in order to
retrieve the stored thermal energy. Whereas in the second method, that is known as a
batchwise process, a certain quantity of hot water is withdrawn from TES tank and mixed with
cold water at 32 to get the required hot water of 20 L at an average temperature of 45_0.5
for direct use and the tank is filled again with cold water with quantity equal to the amount
of water withdrawn. After 10 minutes, this process is being repeated and is continued until the
PCM temperature reaches 45. Results showed that in the case of constant inlet HTF
temperature, the mass flow rate has only a small effect on the rate of charging and the rate of
heat transfer increases in direct proportion with the increase in inlet temperature of the HTF.
In the case of the storage unit integrated with solar flat plate collector, the mass flow rate
affects substantially the rate of heat extraction from the solar collector that affects the rate of
charging of the TES tank.
Singh et al. [37] have presented an experimental study to investigate the effect of the operating
parameters on heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of a packed bed solar energy
storage system having large sized elements of storage material of different shapes. Correlations
have been developed for Nusselt number and friction factor as function of Reynolds number,
sphericity and void fraction. A good agreement was found between experimental results and
results predicted by the correlations. Therefore, these correlations can be used to predict the
thermal and hydrodynamic performance of a packed bed used for latent thermal energy storage
system consisting of packing material having different shapes and bed porosities within the
range of investigated parameters.

50

2.3 CONCLUSIONS AND SCOPE OF THE PRESENT WORK
It is obvious from the mathematical and experimental reviews that the problem of latent
thermal energy storage has been extensively studied but only few studies have been done for
studying thermal latent energy storage using PCM balls as storage medium inside packed beds.
In addition, all studies were performed for case of latent thermal energy storage packed bed
systems consisting of encapsulated PCM spheres.
PCM that is used in this thesis is a new technology for PCM products as it has no
encapsulation thickness. This means that possible enhancement in heat transfer could be
attained as the resistance of the usual capsule thickness around the PCM itself has been
excluded and PCM are allowed to direct heat transfer with the heat transfer fluid.
Following are the main objectives from this work:
1- Experimental investigation for the thermal performance of a latent thermal storage system
composed of a packed bed including these new PCM balls that have no shell thickness.
2- Establishing a parametric study to determine the effect of each of the key parameters on the
thermal performance on the examined latent thermal energy storage system.
3- Optimization of the system by selecting the optimum design parameters and operating
conditions
4- Comparison between this latent thermal energy storage system and system using water only
as sensible thermal energy storage medium
5- Assessment of the integration of this system with a solar desalination and domestic water
heating system in Egypt.
6- Presenting environmental, economical, and social studies for the application of this system
in Egypt

51

CHAPTER THREE
MATHEMATICAL MODEL
1. INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, the thermal performance of the heat transfer fluid (HTF) and the phase change
material (PCM) spheres in the solar thermal storage system is studied mathematically. The
solar system consists mainly of a solar collector and a storage unit. The storage unit is a
cylindrical tank loaded with a packed bed of PCM spheres. A theoretical analysis is made for
the heat transfer process between the HTF and the PCM spheres during charging and
discharging processes.
The mathematical models that have been reported in the literature for studying the thermal
performance of a packed bed LTES are divided into two main groups. The first group is the
single phase model where the solid phase and the fluid phase in the packed bed are considered
as one phase. The second group called the two phase model where the packed bed is
represented by two different phases that are solid and fluid. The continuous solid phase model
and the concentric dispersion model are two examples for the two phase model [10] [53].
Details of these models are discussed as follow [10]
1. Single phase model
The solid and fluid phases have the same instantaneous temperature. The governing energy
equation in the 2-D case is given by:
|(1 s)p
s
C
s
+s p
I
C
I
]
dq
dt
+C C
I
dq
dx
= h
Ix

d
2
q
dx
2
+h
Ir
_
d
2
q
dr
2
+
1
r

dq
dr
_ (3. 1)
Where, x and r are the axial and radial coordinates inside the packed bed latent energy storage
tank.
2. Concentric dispersion model
The thermal conduction inside the solid spheres is taken into account in the concentric
dispersion model (i.e. thermal gradient inside the solid spheres). The energy equation for the
fluid phase is
s p
I
C
I
_
dT
dt
+u
dT
dx
] = h
Ix

d
2
T
dx
2
+h
p
a
p
(8
q=q
u
T) U
w
a
w
(T T
) (3. 2)
Whereas the energy equation for the solid phase is
52

p
s
C
s
d8
dt
= h
s
_
d
2
8
dq
2
+
2
q

d8
dq
_ (3. 3)
Where T and 8 are the temperatures of the fluid phase and the solid phase, respectively. q is
the radial coordinate inside the solid sphere. If the temperature gradient is considered inside the
solid sphere, the following two boundary conditions are required
h
s

d8
dq
= h
p
(T 8
q=q
u
) at q = q
(3. 4)

d8
dq
= at q = (3. 5)
These two boundary conditions assume a thermal equilibrium between the PCM spheres and
the flowing flow.
In our study, a two phase model called Continuous Solid Model developed by Ismail and Jr.
[53] is used to perform the mathematical analysis of the thermal storage system. Following are
the physical and mathematical description of this model [53].
2. PHYSICAL MODEL
Figure 3.1 shows the physical model which consists of a cylindrical tank has length L and
diameter D. A packed bed of PCM spheres is fixed inside the storage tank; the PCM spheres
have a diameter of d
s
. During the charging process, the HTF is heated inside a solar collector
and pumped through the packed bed in the axial direction from top of the bed to the bottom.
During the discharging process, the cold water is pumped through the bed in the axial direction
from the bottom of the bed to the top. It is assumed that the initial temperatures of the HTF and
the PCM packed bed are equal; after that, the temperature of the HTF increases gradually until
it attains the required storage temperature and it remains constant until the occurrence of the
equilibrium state between HTF and the packed bed temperatures, then the charging process
terminates. During discharging process, the cold water temperature is fixed throughout the
discharging process. Cold water flows through the storage tank until the occurrence of the
equilibrium state between the cold water and the packed bed temperatures, then the discharging
process terminates.
Cross A in figure 3.1 shows that each packed bed column is divided into N elements and each
element is composed of a PCM ball surrounded by the HTF. The HTF temperature at the inlet
to the element is T
It
and the HTF temperature at the element outlet is T
It+1

53

Figure 3.1 Boundary conditions representation for the continuous solid phase model [53]
x =
L
N

T
It

T
It+1

Cross section A
r
o

Charging HTF inlet
dT
dx
= ,
d6
dx
=
T = T
t
,
d6
dx
=
x = L
x = 0
Charging HTF outlet
54

3. MATHEMATICAL MODEL [53]
3.1 Governing equations
In the continuous solid model, the solid is assumed as a continuous medium and not as a
medium composed of independent particles. In addition, it is assumed that the heat transfer in
the bed is by conduction along the axial and radial directions. The energy equations that used
to analyze the thermal performance in the physical system are subjected to the following
assumptions:
a) The bed geometry is cylindrical.
b) The fluid flow inside the storage tank is vertical and from the top during charging
process and from the bottom during discharging process.
c) The fluid and the solid thermophysical properties are temperature independents.
d) There is no heat generation inside the bed.
e) There are no chemical reactions.
f) The radiation heat transfer mechanism is neglected.
g) The bed is well insulated and there are no heat losses to the ambient.
h) No thermal gradient inside the solid particles.
i) The packed bed is in thermal equilibrium with the ambient when charging process starts.
The energy equations for the fluid and solid phases are written as
sp
eI
C
eI
[
dT
dt
+u
dT
dx
= h
Ix

d
2
T
dx
2
+h
Ir
d
2
T
dr
2
+
1
r

dT
dr
+h
ep
a
p
(6 T) U
w
a
w
(T T
u
) (3. )

(1 s) p
es
C
es

d6
dt
= h
sx

d
2
6
dx
2
+ h
sr

d
2
6
dr
2
+
1
r

d6
dr
+ h
ep
a
p
(T 6) (3. )

Rate of change of
enthalpy of the
solid within the
control volume
Heat transferred by
conduction in the
axial and radial
directions in the
control volume
Heat transferred by
convection between the
particles and the fluid
Sum of the rate of change
of enthalpy and the net
enthalpy associated with
the fluid flow in the
control volume
Heat exchanged by
conduction in the
axial and radial
directions of the
control volume
Heat exchange by
convection between
the solid particles and
the fluid
Heat loss from
the storage
wall to the
external
ambient
55

The 1-D model is obtained from Eqs (3.6) and (3.7) for the fluid and solid phases by
considering that the heat conduction occurs only along the axial direction for both phases and
heat conduction along the radial direction is neglected. Moreover, the thermal losses to the
ambient are assumed to be zero, therefore, the energy equations for fluid and solid can be
written as
s p
eI
C
eI
_
dT
dt
+ u

dT
dx
] = h
Ix

d
2
T
dx
2
+ h
ep
a
p
(6 T) (3. )
(1 s) p
es
C
es

d6
dt
= h
sx

d
2
6
dx
2
+ h
ep
a
p
(T 6) (3. )
Where T denotes the temperature of the HTF, 6 denotes the temperature of the PCM balls, a
p

is the surface area of the PCM balls per unit bed volume, h
ep
is the effective convection heat
transfer coefficient between the HTF and the PCM balls, and s is the void fraction which
defined as the ratio of the voids in the packed bed to the total volume of the packed bed, Eq.
(3.10) is used to calculate the void fraction
s =
[
4
d
p
2
L [
4
3
r
s
3
Nmer uI spheres
4
d
p
2
L
(3. 1)
3.2 Initial Conditions
At the beginning of the charging process, the temperatures of the HTF and PCM are considered
to be equal to the ambient temperature, thus
T (t = ) = T
u

6 (t = ) = T
u

3.3 Boundary Conditions
a) Fluid phase
The fluid temperature at the bed inlet is equal to the HTF inlet temperature
T = T
t
Iur x =
The fluid at the bed outlet position does not exchange heat with the fluid ahead of it
dT
dx
= Iur x = L
56

b) Solid phase
At the inlet position of the packed bed, there is no solid and hence no heat exchange
d6
dx
= Iur x =
The same argument is used at the bed exit as follow
d6
dx
= Iur x = L
4. EVALUATION OF WOKING PARAMETERS [53]
4.1 The pressure drop along the bed
Pressure drop across the bed is given by Beek [54] as a function of the velocity, the geometry
and the arrangement of the particles in the bed

L
=
C
2
p
I
d
p
_
(1 s)
s
3
1. 5 +15
(1 s)
Re
p
_ (3. 11)
Where Re
p
is the modified Reynolds number
Re
p
=
p
I

f
d
s
I
=
m
I
p
I

4.2 Film coefficient between the fluid and PCM balls
The convection heat transfer coefficient can be determined from Nusselt number correlation
proposed by Wakao et al. [55] as
N = 2. +1. 1 |(1 s)]
.
Re
p
.
r
1
3
(3. 12)
h
p
=
h
I
N
p
d
s
(3. 13)
Biot number (Bi) gives a simple index of the ratio of the surface conductance to the internal
conductance of a solid
t =
h
p
L
h
s
(3. 14)
57

Where L
is the characteristic length and is defined as the volume of the body divided by the
surface area of the body
L
=
V
ud
srIae
=
4
3
r
s
3
4 r
s
2
(3. 15)
t =
h
p
r
s
3 h
s
(3. 1)
Thus, the effective convection heat transfer coefficient is calculated by
h
ep
=
h
p
1 +. 2 t
(3. 1)
4.3 Evaluation of effective thermal properties
The heat transfer process inside a fixed packed bed storage tank includes conduction,
convection, and possibly radiation. These mechanisms of heat transfer are generally included in
one parameter called effective thermal conductivity
Wakao and kaguei [56] suggested that the axial effective thermal conductivity can be
calculated from
h
eIx
h
I
=
h
e
h
I
+. 5 r Re
p

Where h
e
is the stagnation effective thermal conductivity and is calculated as
h
e
h
I
= (
h
s
h
I
)
m

m = . 2 . 5 ug s . 5 ug (
h
s
h
I
)
Prandtl number (Pr) is calculated as
r =
C
I
h
I

At temperature of 20, the Prandtl number of water equals 7.01
The fluid effective thermal conductivity in axial direction is given as
h
Ix
= . s h
I
Re
p
.
h
Ix
= . 5 r Re
p
h
I
Re
p
> .
58

The solid effective thermal conductivity in axial direction is
h
sx
= h
eIx
h
Ix

Effective density of the fluid and solid phases are
p
eI
= s p
I

p
es
= (1 s) p
s

Effective specific heat of fluid and solid
C
eI
= s C
I

C
es
= (1 s) C
s

4.4 Dimensionless analysis of the latent thermal energy storage system
1) Stefan number (St or Ste) is the ratio of sensible heat to latent heat and is given as
te =
C
p
T
LH

Where C
p
is the specific heat, T is the temperature rise due to heat transfer process and
LH is the latent heat
2) Stanton number (St) is the ratio between thermal energy transferred into a fluid to the
total thermal capacity of this fluid
t =
h
I
C
I
p
I

I

59

CHAPTER FOUR
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
This chapter is concerned with the experimental work carried out to investigate the simulation
and optimization of solar thermal system integrated with phase change material storage.
The experimental work has been performed using the experimental facility of the
Thermodynamics laboratory of the Technische Universtit Munchen, Germany. A description
of the experimental facility, experimental procedure, and method of calculations is given
below.
4.1 THE EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY
As shown in figure 4.1 the experimental facility used in this study includes (1) heat source, (2)
main storage tank, (3) hot water storage tank, (4) cold water storage tank, (5) three centrifugal
pumps, (6) rotameters, (7) thermocouples set, (8) data logger, and (9) data acquisition system.
Figure 4.2 shows a photographic view of this experimental facility.
As mentioned above, the experimental facility is used to investigate the simulation and
optimization of solar thermal system integrated with phase change material thermal energy
storage, and therefore this experimental facility is currently adapted to perform both thermal
energy charging and discharging cycles on the phase change material under investigation.
During the charging cycle, the thermal energy charging process is performed on the phase
change material balls integrated in the main storage tank (MST) via hot water as a heat transfer
fluid (HTF); this hot water is obtained from the water heater at different flow rates and varied
temperatures up to 85. The hot water is pumped to the main storage tank (which contains
the PCM balls) and consequently returned again to the heater in a closed loop until the
temperature of the water inside the main storage tank reaches the desired value.
During the discharging cycle, the charged thermal energy - that previously stored in the phase
change material - is transferred to cold tap water. The cold tap water is pumped from the cold
water storage tank to the main storage tank. This water passes vertically through the PCM
Balls in the main storage tank absorbing the heat stored in the PCM Balls, and then is pumped
to the hot water storage tank. Hot water obtained during the discharging cycle is collected in
the hot water storage tank in order to be used later.

60

Figure 4.1 Schematic diagram of the experimental setup

Electrical
Heater

Hot Water
Storage Tank

Cold Water
Storage Tank
Phase Change Material Balls
Water
Pump B
Pump A
Pump C
Main Storage Tank
Charging
Discharging
61

1
4
3
2
6
5

1 Main Storage Tank
2 Hot Water Storage Tank
3 Cold Water storage Tank
4 Pump A (Charging Cycle Pump)
5 Pump B (Discharging Cycle Pump)
6 Pump C (Discharging Cycle Pump)
Figure 4.2 Photographic view of the experimental setup

62

4.1.1 The Heat Source
It is well known that solar collector is mainly the heat source of any solar thermal system.
Nerveless in this study due to the difficulty of obtaining direct solar energy - an electrical
heater has capacity of 5 kW is used as a heat source to simulate the solar collector.
Figure 4.3 shows a photographic view of the electrical water heater and figure 4.4 shows the
control panel used with this heater.
4.1.2 The Main Storage Tank
The main storage tank has 500 liter capacity with cylindrical shape and the dimensions given in
table 4-1. The tank is insulated using 50 mm glass wool layer in order to keep the thermal
energy inside it as long as possible with minimum losses. As shown in figure 4.5, the tank has
two inlets and two outlets; two for hot water inlet and outlet in charging cycle and two for cold
water inlet and outlet during discharging cycle. Figure 4.6 shows a photographic view for this
tank.
In order to facilitate the calculations, the main storage tank has been divided into three zones as
follow.
1. The top zone: Contains 3005 PCM balls with water in voids and has height of 35.5 cm.
2. The middle zone: Contains 3005 PCM balls with water in voids and has height of 35.5 cm.
3. The bottom zone: Contains water only and has height of 22 cm.
The phase change material balls are placed inside the main storage tank in order to absorb and
store the thermal energy during the charging cycle due to the heat transfer process that occurs
between hot water and PCM balls, and as such this stored thermal energy re emerges to the
cold water during the discharging cycle.
In order to uniformly distribute the water between the PCM balls inside the main storage tank,
pipes with a star shape connection are used. Figure 4.7 shows these pipes after integration
inside the main storage tank.
During charging cycle, the hot water passes through the main storage tank from top to bottom,
while during discharging cycle the cold water passes through the main storage tank from
bottom to top in order to transfer thermal energy to and from PCM balls to the cold tap water.

63

Table 4-1 Dimensions of the main storage tank
Outer diameter 740 mm
Inner diameter 726 mm
Height (including Distribution pipes) 1230 mm
Height (without Distribution pipes) 1162 mm

4.1.3 The Hot Water Storage Tank
The hot water storage tank (HWST) has 1000 liter capacity with the dimensions given in table
4-2. This tank has a rectangular shape with concaved walls as shown in figure 4.8. The tank
is used to store the hot water after being heated inside the main storage tank.
Table 4-2 Dimensions of the HWST
Height 1550 mm
Length 1165 mm
Width 776 mm
4.1.4 The Cold Water Storage Tank
The cold water storage tank (CWST) has 1000 liter capacity with the same dimensions of the
HWST as given in table 4-2. This tank has also a rectangular shape with concaved walls as
shown in figure 4.8. This tank is used to store the cold water.
4.1.5 The Circulating Pumps
The circulating pumps included with the experimental set up are three pumps with the
following configurations.
1. Pump (A): This pump is a centrifugal pump and has power of 1.5 kW. It is located between
the electrical heater and the main storage tank. It is used during the charging cycle to pump
the hot water (HTF) from the water heater to the main storage tank then back to the heater.
This pump is controlled automatically by adjusting the power through the control panel
shown in figure 4.9.
2. Pump (B): This pump is a centrifugal pump and has power of 1.5 kW. It is used during the
discharging cycle to pump the cold water from the cold water storage tank to the main
storage tank
3. Pump (C): This pump is a centrifugal pump and has power of 1.5 kW. It is used during the
discharging cycle to pump the heated water from the main storage tank to the hot water
storage tank.

Flow rates for pump (B) and pump (C) pumps are adjusted by using a bypass valve,
calibrated rotameter and stopwatch.
Figure 4.3 Photographic view of the electrical water heater
Figure 4.4 The control panel used with the electrical water heater
64
or pump (B) and pump (C) pumps are adjusted by using a bypass valve,
calibrated rotameter and stopwatch.
he control panel used with the electrical water heater

or pump (B) and pump (C) pumps are adjusted by using a bypass valve,


he control panel used with the electrical water heater
65

35.5 cm
Charging inlet
Charging outlet
Discharging inlet
Discharging outlet
22 cm
35.5 cm
Top Zone
Middle Zone
Bottom Zone
Hollow Aluminium Rod
Distribution Pipes
Phase Change Material Balls
D = 72.6cm

Figure 4.5 Schematic diagram of the main storage tank

Figure 4.6 Photographic view of the
Figure 4.7 Photographic view of the star shaped pipes for water distribution inside the MST
66
Figure 4.6 Photographic view of the main storage tank



Figure 4.8
Figure 4.9 Control panel of charging cycle pump (pump A)
67
Figure 4.8 The hot water storage tank

68

4.1.6 The Phase Change Material Balls
The phase change material balls are manufactured by a British company, this company is
specialist in the manufacturing of phase change material products for different applications.
This company produces the following three types of PCMs: (1) Flat ICE Containers, (2) Tube
ICE, and (3) Ball ICE.
Ball ICE type has been used in our experiments. The company produces five types of the Ball
lCE with different phase change temperature as shown in table 4-3
Table 4-3 Phase change temperature for different types of Ball lCE PCM balls [57]
Type Phase change temperature
A 82 82
A 70 70
A 62 62
A 60 60
A 58 58
In the current experimental work, the PCM Balls type A70 is used. It may be noted that six
thousand balls were imported from the British company for the purpose of the current
experimental work; the total cost of the PMC balls is 6000 Euro. Geometrical and thermo
physical properties of the PCM balls are briefly described in the following:
This technology is only available for use with positive temperature organic range of PCMs, and
involves the PCM being directly incorporated into a plastic or rubber matrix; after that, it is
moulded to produce standard sized balls [57]
In principal, they can be produced in any diameter using any organic PCM between +2 and
+82 PCM solutions but the optimum size of 40 mm in diameter is found to be the most
attractive option for solar hot water and heating storage [57]
Usual PCM balls consist of a phase change material encapsulated in a spherical shape with a
shell thickness and neck at top of the sphere. The PCM is injected inside the sphere through
this neck. The Ball lCE type is the newest configuration for PCM encapsulation, it has no
encapsulation thickness as it consists of rubber mixed with organic compound, that is
hydrocarbon, as one material with rubber as the skeleton that holds the whole configuration
and hydrocarbon is the PCM. This new configuration aims to increase the heat transfer
properties of the balls by eliminating the sphere thickness, because as it is well known that the
main drawback of PCMs is their low thermal conductivity.

A photographic view of the type A70 PCM balls used in the present study is shown in
4.10, while figure 4.11 shows the configuration inside a split PCM ball; this indicates how the
rubber and hydrocarbon are integrated with each other.
balls are given in table 4-4.
Table 4-4 Thermo physical properties of PCM used in the
Property
Phase Change Temperature
Latent Heat (Heat of Fusion)
Thermal Conductivity
Specific Heat
Heat Capacity
Density
Diameter

Figure 4.10 PCM balls used in
69
A photographic view of the type A70 PCM balls used in the present study is shown in
shows the configuration inside a split PCM ball; this indicates how the
rubber and hydrocarbon are integrated with each other. Thermophysical properties of the PCM
4 Thermo physical properties of PCM used in the experiments
Property Value
Phase Change Temperature 70
Latent Heat (Heat of Fusion) 196 MJ/m
3
Thermal Conductivity 0.23 W/m.k
Specific Heat 2.2 kJ/kg.K
Heat Capacity 220 kJ/kg
Density 890 kg/m
3

Diameter 40 mm
Figure 4.10 PCM balls used in the experiments
`

Figure 4.11 PCM ball from inside

A photographic view of the type A70 PCM balls used in the present study is shown in figure
shows the configuration inside a split PCM ball; this indicates how the
physical properties of the PCM
experiments

[57]
3

0.23 W/m.k
2.2 kJ/kg.K

m

4.1.7 PCM Balls Integration inside the main storage tank
The PCM balls were loaded inside the main storage tank from the top. The total number of
balls is 6010; 3005 balls in the top zone and 3005 balls in the middle zone of the main storage
tank.
Among of the 6010 PCM balls, four balls only were accommodated
measure the instantaneous temperatures of these balls during charging and discharging cycles.
The four PCM balls were held to an
in figure 4.12; this aluminium
4.13 shows a photographic view for the
The aluminium hollow rod is used also to accommodate the thermocouples used for measuring
water temperatures at different locations inside the main storage tank, and therefore, all
thermocouples connected to the different locations inside the main storage tank will be easily
connected to the data logger used for temperature measurement.
Figure 4.12 Grid us
Figure 4.13 PCM balls after integration with the
70
PCM Balls Integration inside the main storage tank
Among of the 6010 PCM balls, four balls only were accommodated with thermocouples to
The four PCM balls were held to an aluminium hollow rod using an aluminium
aluminium hollow rod is centered inside the main storage tank.
shows a photographic view for the aluminium rod after holding the PCM balls on it.
hollow rod is used also to accommodate the thermocouples used for measuring
es at different locations inside the main storage tank, and therefore, all
connected to the data logger used for temperature measurement.
Figure 4.12 Grid used to hold the PCM ball on the aluminium
Figure 4.13 PCM balls after integration with the aluminium
with thermocouples to
aluminium grid as shown
hollow rod is centered inside the main storage tank. Figure
rod after holding the PCM balls on it.
hollow rod is used also to accommodate the thermocouples used for measuring
es at different locations inside the main storage tank, and therefore, all

aluminium rod

rod

4.2 INSTRUMENTATION
The instrumentation used in this study includes: (1) three rotameters to measure the water flow
rates, (2) Eleven thermocouples to measure the temperatures of the PCM balls and water at
different locations inside the main storage tank, and (3) a data acqui
temperatures.
4.2.1 Rotameters
Figure 4.14 shows a photographic view for the rotameters used to measure the mass flow rate
of water. Three rotameters are
Figure 4.14 Rotameter us
4.2.2 Thermocouples
The instantaneous temperatures of the PCM balls integrated in the main storage tank as well as
water temperatures at different locations in the main storage tank are measured using K
thermocouples. Figure 4.15
storage tank. The thermocouples and its locations are defined as follows.
- Four thermocouples (TC6, TC7, TC9, and TC10) are installed inside the PCM balls.
- Three thermocouples (TC5, TC8, and TC11) are installed inside the MST at different
horizontal levels in order to measure the instantaneous temperatures of water during charging
and discharging cycles.
- Four thermocouples (TC1, TC2, TC3, and TC4) are installed at inlet and outlet pipes of the
MST to measure the inlet and outlet water temperatures during charging and discharging
cycles.

71
4.2 INSTRUMENTATION
different locations inside the main storage tank, and (3) a data acquisition system to record the
shows a photographic view for the rotameters used to measure the mass flow rate
are installed on the flow line after each pump.
Figure 4.14 Rotameter used for measurement of the water mass flow rate
water temperatures at different locations in the main storage tank are measured using K
shows the locations of these thermocouples inside the main
storage tank. The thermocouples and its locations are defined as follows.
Four thermocouples (TC6, TC7, TC9, and TC10) are installed inside the PCM balls.
ermocouples (TC5, TC8, and TC11) are installed inside the MST at different
Four thermocouples (TC1, TC2, TC3, and TC4) are installed at inlet and outlet pipes of the
sition system to record the
shows a photographic view for the rotameters used to measure the mass flow rate

ed for measurement of the water mass flow rate
water temperatures at different locations in the main storage tank are measured using K-type
shows the locations of these thermocouples inside the main
Four thermocouples (TC6, TC7, TC9, and TC10) are installed inside the PCM balls.
ermocouples (TC5, TC8, and TC11) are installed inside the MST at different
Four thermocouples (TC1, TC2, TC3, and TC4) are installed at inlet and outlet pipes of the
72

4.2.2.1 Thermocouples calibration
Figure 4.16 shows a schematic diagram of the set up used for the thermocouples calibration.
This set up includes: (1) A special heating device, (2) Calibrated digital thermometer, (3) Data
acquisition system, and (4) the thermocouples. Figure 4.17 is a photographic view of the
heating device; it has a temperature-controlling unit up to 100. The thermocouples
calibration has been done according to the following steps:
1. The heating device is filled with water at temperature of 16 and the thermocouples are
immersed inside it.
2. The heater of the device is switched on.
3. Water temperatures are measured by thermocouple and recorded within time intervals of
10 seconds by the data acquisition system, and simultaneously, water temperature is
measured by the calibrated digital thermometer at the same location.
4. The temperature values recorded by the data acquisition system are compared with the
values measured by the digital thermometer (as a reference temperature) as plotted in
Appendix B. The difference between both readings for each thermocouple is considered
as an offset.
The results of all thermocouples calibration are recorded in an Excel file and some examples
are shown in appendix B.
4.2.3 Data Acquisition System
Commercial software has been used to record temperature data in a database format with a
personal computer. The temperature data have been recorded every 10 Seconds; all
thermocouples have been connected to this data acquisition system. Figure 4.18 shows a
photographic view of the data logger used in the acquisition system.

73

22 cm
35.5 cm
35.5 cm
Top Zone
Middle Zone
Bottom Zone
TC 1
TC 6
TC 5
TC 9
TC 7
TC 8
TC 11
TC 10
Charging inlet
Charging outlet
Discharging inlet
Discharging outlet
TC 4
TC 3
TC 2
45 cm
45 cm

Thermocouple Position Thermocouple Position
TC1 Charging inlet TC 7 PCM ball in top zone
TC 2 Charging outlet TC 8 Water in middle zone
TC 3 Discharging inlet TC 9 PCM ball in middle zone
TC 4 Discharging outlet TC 10 PCM ball in middle zone
TC 5 Water in top zone TC 11 Water in bottom zone
TC 6 PCM ball in top zone
Figure 4.15 Schematic diagram for the thermocouples locations inside the MST

Figure 4.16 Schematic diagram of the set up used for the thermocouples calibration

Figure 4.17 Photographic view of
Thermocouple

Heating Device
74
Figure 4.17 Photographic view of the water heating device used for thermocouples calibration

Calibrated
Digital
Thermometer
Thermocouple
Data Logger


heating device used for thermocouples calibration

4.3 EXPERIMENTAL PRO
An experimental plan was designed to investigate the charging and discharging processes of
the phase change material balls under different mass flow rates and at different maximum inlet
temperature of charging HTF according to the matrix given in
experimental procedures during the charging and discharging cycles are given as follows.
4.3.1 Charging System Operating Procedures
1. The electrical heater is switched on to heat the HTF up to the required maximum charging
inlet temperature.
2. Pump (A) (on the charging line) is operated, and the rotameter is adjusted at the required
HTF mass flow rate.
3. HTF flows from the heat source to the main storage tank (vertically from top to bottom).
As a result heat is transferred from the charging HTF to
main storage tank, and the HTF temperature decreases until it leaves the main storage tank
back to the electrical heater while temperature of PCM balls and water inside main storage
tank increases.
4. The charging process is continued until the thermal equilibrium is attained between
temperature of the HTF and the PCM balls.
5. All data measured by the thermocouples are recorded at time interval of 3 min
computer software in order to be analyzed and compared with each other then optimized.
4.3.2 Discharging System Operating Procedures
1. Similar to the charging system, the two pumps (B & C) on the discharging cycle are
adjusted to give the same mass flow ra
2. Cold water is pumped from CWST to the main storage tank, the water f
from bottom to upwards through the main storage tank and heat is transferred from the
75
Figure 4.18 The Data logger
4.3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES
temperature of charging HTF according to the matrix given in table 4-5
Charging System Operating Procedures
The electrical heater is switched on to heat the HTF up to the required maximum charging
ump (A) (on the charging line) is operated, and the rotameter is adjusted at the required
HTF flows from the heat source to the main storage tank (vertically from top to bottom).
As a result heat is transferred from the charging HTF to the PCM balls and water inside the
s continued until the thermal equilibrium is attained between
temperature of the HTF and the PCM balls.
All data measured by the thermocouples are recorded at time interval of 3 min
Discharging System Operating Procedures
Similar to the charging system, the two pumps (B & C) on the discharging cycle are
adjusted to give the same mass flow rate; this adjustment is done by using the rotameter.
Cold water is pumped from CWST to the main storage tank, the water f
through the main storage tank and heat is transferred from the

and table 4-6. The
The electrical heater is switched on to heat the HTF up to the required maximum charging
ump (A) (on the charging line) is operated, and the rotameter is adjusted at the required
HTF flows from the heat source to the main storage tank (vertically from top to bottom).
the PCM balls and water inside the
s continued until the thermal equilibrium is attained between
All data measured by the thermocouples are recorded at time interval of 3 minutes on the
Similar to the charging system, the two pumps (B & C) on the discharging cycle are
te; this adjustment is done by using the rotameter.
Cold water is pumped from CWST to the main storage tank, the water flows vertically
through the main storage tank and heat is transferred from the
76

PCM balls and hot water inside the main storage tank to the cold water, and finally, the
heated water is collected inside the hot water storage tank.
It may be noted that before running the experiments, all thermocouples implemented at
different locations are calibrated as explained before.
Table 4-5 Experiments conditions for water as storage medium
Main Storage Tank Fully Filled with Water
Run Number
Charging Conditions
mass flow rate (Lit/hr) HTF maximum inlet temperature
1 800 85
2 600 75
Table 4-6 Experiments conditions for PCM and water as storage medium
Main Storage Tank Filled with PCM Balls and Water
Run Number
Charging Conditions Discharging Conditions
mass flow rate
(Lit/hr)
HTF maximum inlet
temperature
mass flow rate
(Lit/hr)
cold water inlet
temperature
3 500 85 500 18-19
4 500 75 500 18-19
5 600 85 600 18-19
6 600 75 600 18-19
7 600 85 600 18-19
8 800 85 800 16-17
9 800 75 800 17-18
10 800 85 250 17-18
11 800 75 250 18-19
77

4.4 EXPERIMENTAL CALCULATIONS
Initially, the following geometrical parameters are determined before running the experiments.
Packed Bed Length and Position
Referring to figure 4.5, the PCM balls zone (packed bed) has length of 71 cm and is located at
22 cm above the bottom level of the main storage tank; this packed bed contains 6010 PCM
balls.
Water Level
Referring to figure 4.5, the bottom zone of the main storage tank - which contains water only -
is located under the packed bed; this means that, approximately, the lower 1/4
th
zone of the
main storage tank contains water only while the upper 3/4
rd
zone of the tank contains the PCM
balls.
Packed bed void fraction (Porosity)
The void fraction of a packed bed is defined as the ratio of the volume of water in porous
between the PCM balls in the packed bed to the total geometrical volume of packed bed. In
other words, it is the ratio of volume available for flow to the total volume [58].
Volume of PCM balls =
4
3
r
=
4
3
. 2
3
1 = 0.20139 m
3

Geometrical Bed Volume = r
2
L
ed
= . 33
2
. 1 = 0.2939 m
3
V
water in voids
= Geometrical Bed Volume Volume of PCM balls = 0.2939 - 0.20139
= 0.09251 m
3

Void fraction (s) =
V
water t utds
V
ed
=
.251
.23
= . 314 = 31. 4 %
The above calculations show that the PCM balls occupy (approximately) two thirds of the
packed bed zone while the other third is water.
In conclusion, three zones inside the main storage tank are considered during the course of this
study, where the packed bed occupies the top and the middle zones while the water occupies
the bottom zone.

78

4.5.1 The Charging Cycle Calculations
The Quantity of thermal energy transferred to the PCM balls and water inside the main storage
tank during charging cycle is calculated as follows:
A. Calculation of Thermal Energy Stored in the Top Zone of the MST
The thermal energy stored in the top zone of the main storage tank is obtained by adding the
heat transferred to the PCM Balls and the heat transferred to the water in voids between these
balls. These calculations are given below.
A-1 Thermal Energy Stored by the PCM Balls (3005 balls)
Since the heat is transferred to the PCM balls in form of Sensible heat and Latent heat, the
following equations will be used.
1- Sensible Heat Stored by PCM Balls
Q
seste heat
= m
T
2
T
1
C
a
dT = m
C
a
T
Where;
m
b
: mass of PCM balls in this layer (kg)
m
= p
a
V
a
Nmer uI as
p
II
: Denisty of PCM balls (kg/m
3
)
= 890 kg/m
3
V
ball
: Volume of the PCM ball (m
3
)
F
=
4
3
a r
3

C
ball
: Specific heat of PCM ball (kJ/kg.)
C
ball
=

2.2 kJ/kg
T
1
: Initial temperature ()
T
2
: Final temperature ()
T : Difference in PCM ball temperature before and after charging ()
T is calculated for each time interval which taken as 3 minutes for charging cycle.

79

2- Latent Heat Stored by PCM Balls
Q
atet heat
= m
LH
a

Where;
LH
ball
is the Latent heat of the PCM balls (kJ/kg)
LH
ball
= 220 kJ/kg
A-2 Thermal Energy Stored by Water in the Voids between the PCM Balls
Since water in the voids between PCM balls in the top zone of the MST absorbs sensible heat
only, the thermal energy stored by this water is calculated as follows.
Q
seste heat
= ] m
w tup
T
2
T
1
C
p water
dT = m
w tup
C
p water
T
Where;
m
w top
: The mass of water in voids in the top zone (kg)
m
w tup
= p
water
V
w tup

watcr
: The density of water (kg/m
3
)
p
water
= 1000 kg/m
3
V
w top
: The volume of the water in voids in the top zone (m
3
)
V
w tup
= r
2
L
tup
* s
C
p water
: The specific heat of water (kJ/kg )
C
p water
=

4.186 kJ/kg
T is the difference in water temperature before and after charging ()
B. Calculation of Thermal Energy Stored in the Middle Zone of the MST
B-1 Thermal Energy Stored by the PCM Balls (3005 Balls)
In the middle zone, the PCM balls have the same number as in the top zone, so they have the
same configuration as the PCM balls in the top zone.
B-2 Thermal Energy Stored by Water in the Voids between the PCM Balls
Has the same arrangement as in the top zone.

80

C. Calculation of Thermal Energy Stored in the Bottom Zone of the MST
The bottom zone contains only water with no PCM balls inside it, and therefore the quantity of
heat transferred to water is only in form of sensible heat and is calculated as follow.
Q
seste heat
= ] m
w uttum
T
2
T
1
C
p water
dT = m
w uttum
C
p water
T
Where m
w bottom
is the mass of water in the bottom zone (kg)
m
w uttum
=
wter
F
w uttum

F
w uttum
= a r
2
L
uttum

T : The difference in water temperature before and after charging ()
It may be noted that the above calculations are made within time interval of 3 minutes.
4.5.2 The Discharging Cycle Calculations
Calculations for the thermal energy discharged is much more simple than that for the charging
cycle, the amount of thermal energy discharged during discharging cycle is calculated by the
following equation:
Q
D
= m C
p water
T ttme
Where;
Q
D
: The quantity of heat discharged to the cold water (kJ)
m : The mass flow rate of the cold water (kg/sec)
C
p water
: The specific heat of the cold water (kJ/kg.)
T: The difference between cold water temperature at main storage tank inlet and outlet ()
Time: The time interval for T (Second)
Time interval during discharging cycle is taken as 2 minutes.

81

CHAPTER FIVE
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is dedicated to display and discuss the currently obtained results of the
experimental work carried out to investigate the simulation and optimization of solar thermal
system integrated with phase change material latent heat storage.
As mentioned previously in chapter 4, the experimental plan is designed to investigate the
charging and discharging processes of the phase change material (PCM balls) under different
mass flow rates and at different maximum inlet temperature of charging HTF according to the
matrix of the operating conditions given in table 4-5 and table 4-6. Eleven runs have
undertaken at the following two cases of storage medium: () PCM Balls and water as a storage
Media and () Water as a storage Media. The Results obtained for the two cases of storage
medium are presented and discussed in this chapter with comparison between water and PCM
Balls as a thermal storage material.
In order to highlight the charging and discharging characteristics of the present thermal energy
storage system integrated with PCM balls, the obtained experimental results for charging and
discharging processes are presented and discussed as follows:
1) Transient variations of HTF, PCM balls, and water temperatures at different positions
during charging process
2) Transient variation of Accumulated Sensible Heat stored by different zones during
charging process
3) Transient variations of PCM balls and water temperatures at different positions inside the
storage tank during discharging process
4) Transient variation of discharged water outlet temperature during discharging process
5) Transient variation of Accumulated Discharged Thermal Energy
6) Percentage of thermal energy discharged at different ranges of water temperature
Effect of the key parameters on the thermal performance of the storage system when integrated
with the PCM packed bed has been analyzed. The theoretical enhancement in thermal energy
stored when the PCM packed bed is integrated with the storage system under different
temperatures has been discussed. Finally, the reproducibility of the experimental results has
been examined.
82

5.2 CHARGING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THERMAL STORAGE
SYSTEM INTEGRATED WITH PCM BALLS PACKED BED
Following are the experimental results for the charging process with HTF temperatures of 75
and 85. Figures 5.1 to 5.12 show 1) The time variation of the HTF, PCM balls, and water at
different positions inside the storage tank, and 2) Time variation of the Accumulated thermal
energy stored by PCM balls and water at different locations inside the storage tank.
5.2.1 Transient variation of HTF, PCM balls, and water temperatures at different
positions inside the storage tank during charging at HTF temperature of 75
Figures 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 show the time variation of the HTF, PCM balls, and Water
temperatures at different positions inside the storage tank during charging process with HTF
temperature of 75 and mass flow rates of 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively. The time
recorded for water in the bottom zone to reach the required temperature is 195, 183, and 165
minutes with mass flow rates 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively.
It is observed in figures 5.1 to 5.3 that, at all mass flow rates, the water in the top zone of the
storage tank takes shorter time to reach the required temperature in comparison with water in
the bottom zone. Additionally, at all mass flow rates, the PCM balls needs longer time to reach
the required temperature than water in the same zone.
5.2.2 Transient variation of the HTF, PCM balls, and water temperatures at
different positions inside the storage tank during charging at HTF
temperature of 85
Figures 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6 show the time variation of the HTF, PCM balls, and Water
temperatures at different positions inside the storage tank during the charging process with
HTF temperature of 85 and mass flow rates of 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively. The
time recorded for water in the bottom zone to reach the required temperature is 204, 193, and
174 minutes at mass flow rates 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively.
It is observed in figures 5.4 to 5.6 that, at all mass flow rates, the water in the top zone takes
shorter time to reach the required temperature in comparison with water in the bottom zone.
Also at all mass flow rates, the PCM balls need longer time to reach the required temperature
than water in the same zone.
83

Figure 5.1 Time variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls, and water at different
positions during charging with 500 L/hr and HTF temperature of 75

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
84


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
85


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
86

5.2.3 Transient Variation of Accumulated Sensible Heat Stored by Different Zones
during Charging with HTF Temperature of 75
Figures 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9 show the Accumulated Sensible Heat stored by water and PCM balls
located at different positions inside the storage tank versus Time during charging process with
HTF temperature of 75 and mass flow rates of 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively. Values
of the accumulated sensible heat stored in PCM Balls and water at different zones as extracted
from these figures are set out in Table 5.1.
5.2.4 Transient Variation of Accumulated Sensible Heat Stored by Different Zones
during Charging with HTF Temperature of 85
The Accumulated Sensible Heat stored by water and PCM balls located at different positions
inside the storage tank versus Time during charging process with HTF temperature of 85 and
mass flow rates of 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively are shown in figures 5.10, 5.11, and
5.12. Values of the accumulated sensible heat stored in PCM Balls and water at different zones
as extracted from these figures are set out in Table 5-1.
Table 5-1 Values of the accumulated sensible heat stored during charging at different mass flow
rates and temperatures of the HTF
Location
Accumulated Sensible Heat Stored (kJ)
500 lit/hr 600 lit/hr 800 lit/hr
HTF Temperature 75 85 75 85 75 85
PCM Balls top zone 10592 12388 10467 12319 10430 12396
PCM Balls middle zone 10528 12884 10642 12612 10522 12612
Water in voids - top zone 10317 12234 10473 12345 10310 12351
Water in voids - middle zone 10254 12165 10302 12065 10192 12080
Water - bottom zone 21066 24767 20652 24887 20728 24843
87

Figure 5.7 Time variation of accumulated sensible heat stored by different zones during charging
with 500 L/hr and HTF temperature of 75

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
88


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
89


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
90

5.3 DISCHARGING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE THERMAL STORAGE
SYSTEM INTEGRATED WITH PCM BALLS PACKED BED
5.3.1 Transient Variation of PCM Balls and HTF Temperatures during
Discharging at Storage Tank Initial Temperatures of 75 and 85
Figure 5.13, Figure 5.14, Figure 5.15 and Figure 5.16 show the time variation of the
temperatures of water and PCM balls at different positions inside the storage tank during
discharging process at mass flow rates of 250, 500, 600, and 800 L/hr and storage tank initial
temperature of 75. Figure 5.17, Figure 5.18, Figure 5.19 and Figure 5.20 show the time
variation of the temperatures of water and PCM balls at different positions inside the storage
tank during discharging process at mass flow rates of 250, 500, 600, and 800 L/hr and storage
tank initial temperature of 85.
It may be noticed in figures 5.13 to 5.16 and figures 5.17 to 5.20 that, at all mass flow rates, the
water in the bottom zone started to discharge its stored thermal energy directly at the beginning
of the discharging process, while the PCM balls in the top zone started to discharge its stored
thermal energy later after beginning of discharging process.
It has been remarked in figures 5.13 to 5.16 that, in case that the initial temperature of the
storage tank is 75, the time at which the PCM balls located in the top zone started to
discharge its stored thermal energy decreases with the increase of the mass flow rate. These
times are 64 minutes (figure 13), 32 minutes (figure 14), 27 minutes (figure 15), and 22
minutes (figure 16) from the beginning of discharging process at mass flow rates 250, 500,
600, and 800 L/hr, respectively. In addition, all these figures show that water discharged its
stored thermal energy faster than PCM balls in the same zone.
It has been remarked also in figures 5.17 to 5.20 that, in case that the initial temperature of the
storage tank is 85, the time at which the PCM balls located in the top zone started to
discharge its stored thermal energy decreases with the increase of the mass flow rate. These
times are 63 minutes (figure 17), 33 minutes (figure 18), 28 minutes (figure 19), and 18
minutes (figure 20) from the beginning of discharging process at mass flow rates 250, 500,
600, and 800 L/hr, respectively. In addition, all these figures show that water discharged its
stored thermal energy faster than PCM balls in the same zone.
91

Figure 5.13 Time variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls and water at different
positions during discharging with 250 L/hr and 75

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
92


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
93


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
94


0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
95

5.3.2 Transient Variation of Discharged Water Outlet Temperature
Figure 5.21, Figure 5.22, Figure 5.23, and Figure 5.24 show the outlet temperature of the
discharged water versus time at mass flow rates of 250, 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively,
during discharging at initial temperature of the storage tank of 75. Figure 5.25, Figure 5.26,
Figure 5.27, and Figure 5.28 show the outlet temperature of the discharged water versus time
at mass flow rates of 250, 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively, during discharging at initial
temperature of the storage tank of 85. Table 5-2 shows the time required to discharge all
stored thermal energy at different mass flow rates and different initial temperature of the
storage tank
It may be noticed in figures 5.21 to 5.28 that, the time period which the discharged water
temperature is nearly constant and equal to the storage tank temperature decreases with
increasing of mass flow rate; the discharged water temperature kept nearly constant and equal
to the temperature of the storage tank for time period equal to 20% and 33% of the total
discharging time at mass flow rates 800 and 250 lit/hr, respectively. After that, the temperature
of the discharged water gradually decreases until it reaches a temperature equal to the inlet
water temperature.
Table 5-2 Time required to discharge all stored thermal energy at different mass flow rates and
two different initial temperature of the storage tank (75 and 85)
Initial Temperature of
the Storage Tank
Discharged Thermal Energy (kJ)
250 lit/hr 500 lit/hr 600 lit/hr 800 lit/hr
75
Discharged
Thermal Energy
91525 90248 89459 89301
Time (minutes) 177 106 100 68
85
Discharged
Thermal Energy
106777 106751 106554 104328
Time (minutes) 178 114 106 80

96

Figure 5.21 Discharged water outlet temperature versus Time during discharging with 250 L/hr
and 75

and 75
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Discharged Water Temperature
Inlet Water Temperature
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

97

and 75

and 75
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

98

and 85

and 85
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

99

and 85

and 85
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
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r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

100

5.3.3 Transient Variation of Accumulated Discharged Thermal Energy
Results of variation of the Accumulated Discharged Thermal Energy versus Time during
discharging process at initial temperature of storage tank of 75 and mass flow rates of 250,
500, 600, and 800 lit/hr are set out in Figure 5.29, Figure 5.30, Figure 5.31, and Figure 5.32.
Also results of variation of the Accumulated Discharged Thermal Energy versus Time during
discharging process at initial temperature of storage tank of 85 and mass flow rates of 250,
500, 600, and 800 lit/hr are set out in Figure 5.33, Figure 5.34, Figure 5.35, and Figure 5.36.
For the case that the initial temperature of the storage tank is 75, it is clear from figures 5.29
to 5.32 that, about 95% of the accumulated discharged thermal energy is discharged during the
first 100 minutes, 55 minutes, 50 minutes, and 36 minutes of the discharging time at mass flow
rates 250, 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively. While for case that the initial temperature of
the storage tank is 85, it is clear from figures 5.33 to 5.36 that, about 95% of the accumulated
discharged thermal energy was discharged during the first 100 minutes, 60 minutes, 55
minutes, and 45 minutes of the discharging time at mass flow rates 250, 500, 600, and 800
lit/hr. One may attribute this trend to the high difference between the inlet temperature of the
HTF and storage tank temperature during the first period, which decreases after that.

Figure 5.29 Time variation of accumulated discharged thermal energy at 250 L/hr and 75
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

Accumulated Heat Quantaty
101


0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

102


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

103


0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

104

5.3.4 Percentage of Thermal Energy Discharged at Different Ranges of Water
Temperature
Figure 5.37, figure 5.38, figure 5.39, and figure 5.40 show the Percentage of thermal energy
discharged at different ranges of water Temperature during discharging process at 250, 500,
600, and 800 lit/hr and initial temperature of storage tank of 75. Three ranges of temperature
were selected to indicate the corresponding water temperatures. These ranges are (1)
Temperature higher than 70, (2) Temperature between 40 and 70, (3) Temperature lower
than 40.
Figure 5.37 shows that 72.85% of discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher
than 70, 20.85% discharged at temperature between 40 and 70, and 6.3% discharged at
temperature lower than 40. Figure 5.38 shows that 64.3% of the discharged thermal energy
discharged at temperature higher than 70, 26.3% discharged at temperature between 40
and 70, and 9.4% discharged at temperature lower than 40. Figure 5.39 shows that 62.7%
of discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher than 70, 25.2% discharged at
temperature between 40 and 70, and 12.1% discharged at temperature lower than 40.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

105

Figure 5.40 shows that 61% of discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher
than 70, 20.7% discharged at temperature between 40 and 70, and 18.3% discharged at
temperature lower than 40.
Figure 5.41, figure 5.42, figure 5.43, and figure 5.44 shows the Percentage of thermal energy
discharged at different ranges of water Temperature during discharging process at 250, 500,
600, and 800 lit/hr and initial temperature of storage tank of 85. Three ranges of temperature
are selected to indicate the corresponding water temperatures. These ranges are (1)
Temperature higher than 70, (2) Temperature between 40 and 70, (3) Temperature lower
than 40.
Figure 5.41 shows that 80 % of discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher
than 70, 14% discharged at temperature between 40 and 70, and 6% discharged at
temperature lower than 40. Figure 5.42 shows that 73.3% of discharged thermal energy
discharged at temperature higher than 70, 18.3% discharged at temperature between 40
and 70, and 8.4% discharged at temperature lower than 40. Figure 5.43 shows that 70% of
discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher than 70, 18.1% discharged at
temperature between 40 and 70, and 11.9% discharged at temperature lower than 40.
Figure 5.44 shows that 65.1% of discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher
than 70, 21% discharged at temperature between 40 and 70, and 13.9% discharged at
temperature lower than 40.

106

Figure 5.37 Percentage of thermal energy discharged at different ranges of water Temperature at
250 L/hr and 75

500 L/hr and 75
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
107

600 L/hr and 75

800 L/hr and 75
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
108

250 L/hr and 85

500 L/hr and 85
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
109

600 L/hr and 85
Figure
5.44 Percentage of thermal energy discharged at different ranges of water Temperature at 800
L/hr and 85
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
110

5.4 PARAMETRIC STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF VARYING OPERATING
CONDITIONS ON THE THERMAL STORAGE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
USING A PACKED BED OF PCM BALLS
5.4.1 Effect of HTF Mass Flow Rate on Charging and Discharging Time
a) Charging mode
Figure 5.45 shows the effect of mass flow rate on the time required to complete charging
process with maximum inlet HTF temperature of 75 and 85. It is obvious in this figure
that, in case of charging with maximum inlet HTF temperature of 75, the charging time
decreased by 12 minutes (6.1%) as mass flow rate increased from 500 to 600 lit/hr, 18 minutes
(9.8%) as mass flow rate increased from 600 to 800 lit/hr, and 30 minutes (15.4%) as mass
flow rate increased from 500 to 800 lit/hr. It is also indicated in figure 5.45 that, in case of
charging with maximum inlet HTF temperature of 85, the charging time decreased by 11
minutes (5.4%) as mass flow rate increased from 500 to 600 lit/hr, 19 minutes (9.8%) as mass
flow rate increased from 600 to 800 lit/hr, and 30 minutes (14.7%) as mass flow rate increased
from 500 to 800 lit/hr. In conclusion, the HTF mass flow rate has a significant effect on
charging time and the time required to complete charging process decreases as mass flow rate
increases.
b) Discharging mode
Figure 5.46 shows effect of mass flow rate on the time required to complete the discharging
process with storage tank at initial temperatures of 75 and 85. It is obvious in this figure
that, in case of storage tank at initial temperature of 75, the discharging time decreased by 71
minutes (40.1%) as the mass flow rate increased from 250 to 500 lit/hr, 6 minutes (5.6%) as
mass flow rate increased from 500 to 600 lit/hr, 32 minutes (32%) as mass flow rate increased
from 600 lit/hr to 800 lit/hr, and 109 minutes (61.6%) as mass flow rate increased from 250 to
800 lit/hr. it is also indicated in figure 5.46 that, in case that the storage tank has an initial
temperature of 85, the discharging time decreased by 64 minutes (35.9%) as mass flow rate
increased from 250 to 500 lit/hr, 8 minutes (7%) as mass flow rate increased from 500 to 600
lit/hr, 26 minutes (24.5%) as mass flow rate increased from 600 lit/hr to 800 lit/hr, and 98
minutes (55%) as mass flow rate increased from 250 to 800 lit/hr. Therefore, the HTF mass
flow rate has a significant effect on discharging time and the time required to complete
discharging process decreases as mass flow rate increases.
111

Figure 5.45 Charging Time versus different mass flow rates during charging with inlet HTF
temperature of 75 and 85

Figure 5.46 Discharging Time versus different mass flow rates during discharging at storage tank
initial temperature of 75 and 85
450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850
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112

5.4.2 Effect of HTF Mass Flow Rate on Accumulated Stored and Discharged
Thermal Energy
a) Charging mode
Figure 5.47 shows the accumulated stored thermal energy at different mass flow rates during
charging process with HTF inlet temperature of 75 and 85. It is obvious in this figure that
the accumulated stored thermal energy was nearly constant at the three mass flow rates.
Therefore, the HTF mass flow rate has no significant effect on the accumulated stored thermal
energy during charging process either at HTF inlet temperature of 75 or 85.
b) Discharging mode
Figure 5.48 shows the accumulated discharged thermal energy at different mass flow rates
during discharging process at initial temperatures of the storage tank of 75 and 85. It is
observed in this figure that the accumulated discharged thermal energy was nearly constant at
the three mass flow rates. Therefore, the HTF mass flow rate has no effect on the accumulated
discharged thermal energy during discharging process either at HTF inlet temperature of 75
or 85.

113

Figure 5.47 Accumulated stored thermal energy versus different mass flow rates during charging
with inlet HTF temperature of 75 and 85

Figure 5.48 Accumulated discharged thermal energy versus different mass flow rates during
discharging at storage tank initial temperature of 75 and 85
500 550 600 650 700 750 800
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114

5.4.3 Effect of HTF Mass Flow Rate on Discharged Water Temperature during
Discharging Process
CASE A: Initial Temperature of the Storage Tank is 75
a) Percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between 70
and 75
Figure 5.49 shows the variation of the amount of discharged thermal energy at water
temperature between 70 and 75 as percentage of total discharged thermal energy versus
mass flow rate in case of storage tank initial temperature is 75. It is obvious in the figure that
the percentage of thermal energy discharged at water temperature between 70 and 75 is
72.85% at mass flow rate of 250 lit/hr, 64.3% at 500 lit/hr, 62.7% at 600 lit/hr, and 61% at 800
lit/hr. The amount of thermal energy discharged at water temperature between 70 and 75
increased from 61% to 72.85% when mass flow rate decreased from 800 to 250 lit/hr.
b) Percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between 40
and 75
Figure 5.50 shows the variation of the amount of discharged thermal energy at water
mass flow rate in case of storage tank initial temperature is 75. It is obvious in the figure that
93.7% at mass flow rate of 250 lit/hr, 90.6% at 500 lit/hr, 87.9% at 600 lit/hr, and 81.7% at 800
increased from 81.7% to 93.7% when mass flow rate decreased from 800 to 250 lit/hr.
115

Figure 5.49 Percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between 70 and
75 VS different mass flow rates at storage tank initial temperature of 75

200 300 400 500 600 700 800
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116

CASE B: Initial Temperature of the Storage Tank is 85
a) Percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between 70
and 85
Figure 5.51 shows the variation of the amount of thermal energy discharged at water
mass flow rate in case of storage tank initial temperature of 85. It is obvious in the figure that
the percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between 70 and 85 is
80% at mass flow rate of 250 lit/hr, 73.3% at 500 lit/hr, 70% at 600 lit/hr, and 65.1% at 800
increased from 65.1% to 80% when mass flow rate decreased from 800 to 250 lit/hr.
b) Percentage of discharged thermal energy at water temperature between 40
and 85
Figure 5.52 shows the variation of the amount of thermal energy discharged at water
mass flow rate in case of storage tank initial temperature of 85. It is obvious in the figure that
94% at mass flow rate of 250 lit/hr, 91.6% at 500 lit/hr, 88.1% at 600 lit/hr, and 86.1% at 800
lit/hr. The amount of water discharged with temperature between 40 and 85 increased from
86.1% to 94% when mass flow rate decreased from 800 to 250 lit/hr. Therefore, low mass flow
rates lead to discharge larger amounts of thermal energy at high water temperatures.
117


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118

5.4.4 Effect of Maximum HTF Inlet Temperature on Charging Time at Varied
Mass Flow Rates
Time required for completing the charging process at HTF inlet temperatures of 75 and 85
at three different mass flow rates is shown in figure 5.53. It is obvious in the figure that
increasing the HTF inlet temperature from 75 to 85 causes an increase in charging time
with 9 minutes (4.6%) at mass flow rate of 500 lit/hr, 10 minutes (5.4%) at mass flow rate of
600 lit/hr, and 9 minutes (5.4%) at mass flow rate of 800 lit/hr. Therefore, increasing HTF inlet
temperature leads to the increase of the required time for charging process.
5.4.5 Effect of Storage Tank Initial Temperature on Discharging Time at Varied
Mass Flow Rates
Time required for completing the discharging process at initial temperatures of the storage tank
of 75 and 85 is shown in Figure 5.54. Four different values of mass flow rates have been
investigated. It is obvious in the figure that increasing the initial temperature of the storage tank
from 75 to 85 has increased the time required for discharging process by 1 minute (0.56%)
in case of mass flow rate of 250 lit/hr, 8 minutes (7.5%) at mass flow rate of 500 lit/hr, 6
minutes (6%) at mass flow rate of 600 lit/hr and 12 minutes (17.6%) at mass flow rate of 800
lit/hr. Therefore, increasing the initial temperature of the storage tank has no significant effect
on discharging time at low mass flow rates, but it becomes more significant at high mass flow
rates. Discharging time increases as the initial temperature of the storage tank increases.

119

Figure 5.53 Charging time versus different HTF inlet temperatures at different mass flow rates

Figure 5.54 Discharging Time versus different storage tank initial temperature at different mass
flow rates
74 76 78 80 82 84 86
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120

5.4.6 Effect of Maximum HTF Inlet Temperature on Accumulated Stored Thermal
Energy during Charging Process at Varied Mass Flow Rates
Figure 5.55 indicates the variation of the accumulated stored thermal energy versus maximum
inlet HTF of 75 and 85. Three different mass flow rates have been investigated. It is clear
in the figure that increasing the maximum HTF inlet temperature from 75 to 85, had
increased the accumulated stored thermal energy from 102170 kJ to 113852 kJ (11.4%) at mass
flow rate 500 lit/hr, from 101950 kJ to 113642 kJ (11.4%) at mass flow rate 600 lit/hr, and
from 101596 kJ to 113695 kJ (11.9%) at mass flow rate 800 lit/hr. When the HTF inlet
temperature increased from 75 to 85, the accumulated stored thermal energy increased by
11.4%, 11.4%, and 11.9% at mass flow rates of 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively.
Therefore, increasing the charging HTF maximum inlet temperature leads to a significant
increase in the accumulated stored thermal energy.
5.4.7 Effect of Initial Temperature of the Storage Tank on Accumulated
Discharged Thermal Energy during Discharging Process with Varied Mass
Flow Rates
Figure 5.56 indicates the variation of the accumulated discharged thermal energy versus initial
storage tank temperature of 75 and 85 at four different values of mass flow rates. The
storage tank contained approximately the same amount of thermal energy for all mass flow
rates when discharging process started. In case of 75, the storage tank contained 101537 kJ,
102170 kJ, 101950 kJ, and 101596 kJ at mass flow rates of 250, 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr. In
case of 85, the storage tank contained 113761 kJ, 113852 kJ, 113642 kJ, and 113695 kJ at
mass flow rates of 250, 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr. Therefore, the maximum difference in the
quantity of thermal energy in the storage tank is (0.6%) for case of 75 and (0.18%) for case
of 85.
It is clear in the figure that when the initial temperature of the storage tank increased from 75
to 85, the discharged thermal energy increased from 91525 to 106777 kJ (16.6%), from
90248 to 106751 kJ (18.2%), from 89459 to 106554 kJ (19%), and from 89301 to 104328 kJ
(16.8%) at mass flow rates 250, 500, 600, and 800 lit/hr, respectively. Therefore, a significant
increase in the accumulated discharged thermal energy occurs when the initial temperature of
the storage tank increases.

121

Figure 5.55 Accumulated stored thermal energy versus HTF inlet temperature at various mass
flow rates during charging process

Figure 5.56 Discharged thermal energy versus storage tank initial temperature at various mass
flow rates
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122

5.5 PARAMETRIC STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF VARYING OPERATING
CONDITIONS ON THE THERMAL STORAGE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
USING WATER AS A STORAGE MEDIUM
In order to investigate the enhancement of the PCM packed bed to the performance of the solar
thermal energy storage system, two experiments have been performed using water only as a
storage medium in the storage tank. In these experiments, the storage tank is divided in to three
equal zones that are the top zone, the middle zone, and the bottom zone. Each zone has height
of 31cm.
First experiment has been done with same conditions as one of PCM packed bed experiments
to give a clear indication about the difference in the thermal performance between the two
systems. In the second experiment, the mass flow rate and the initial temperature of the storage
tank have been increased in order to allow a wider investigation for the effect of different
parameters on the thermal performance of the storage system. Results of these experiments are
discussed below.
5.5.1 First Experiment
In this experiment, the storage tank has been charged at mass flow rate of 600 L/hr, maximum
inlet HTF temperature of 85, and initial average temperature of the storage tank is 22.
Results of this experiment are shown in figures 5.57 and 5.58.
Figure 5.57 shows the time variation of the charging HTF and water temperatures at different
positions inside the storage tank during charging with HTF at the above mentioned conditions.
It is clear in the figure that water in the top zone reached the required temperature of 85 after
165 minutes while water in the bottom zone reached this temperature after 183 minutes. In
figure 5.58, the time variations of the accumulated sensible heat stored by each zone inside the
storage tank are set out. It is clear in the figure that the three zones have stored approximately
an equal amount of thermal energy and the total thermal energy stored is 101450 kJ.
5.5.2 Second Experiment
In this experiment, the storage tank has been charged at mass flow rate of 800 L/hr, maximum
inlet HTF temperature of 85, and initial average temperature of the storage tank is 28.8.
Results of this experiment are shown in figures 5.59 and 5.60.
Figure 5.59 shows the time variation of the charging HTF and water temperatures at different
positions inside the storage tank during charging with HTF at the above mentioned conditions.
It is clear in the figure that water in the top zone reached the required temperature after
123

156 minutes while water in the bottom zone reached this temperature after 176 minutes. In
figure 5.60, the time variations of the accumulated sensible heat stored by each zone inside the
storage tank are given. The three zones have stored approximately an equal amount of thermal
energy and total thermal energy stored is 90469 kJ.
5.5.3 Effect of Mass Flow Rate and Storage Tank Initial Temperature on Charging
Time and Accumulated Thermal Energy Using Water as Storage Medium
The effect of HTF mass flow rate and initial average temperature of the storage tank during
charging process in case of using water only as a storage medium has been investigated by
increasing the mass flow rate from 600 to 800 lit/hr and increasing the initial average
temperature of the storage tank from 22 to 28.8.
5.5.3.1 Effect of HTF mass flow rate and initial temperature of the storage tank
on charging time
Figure 5.61 shows the charging time for case (a) mass flow rate is 600 lit/hr and storage tank
initial average temperature is 22 and case (b) mass flow rate is 800 lit/hr and storage tank
initial temperature is 28.8. It is obvious in the figure that increasing of mass flow rate from
600 to 800 lit/hr (33.3%) and storage tank initial temperature from 22 to 28.8 (31%) has
decreased the charging time by 7 minutes (3.8%), from 183 minutes to 176 minutes.
5.5.3.2 Effect of HTF mass flow rate and initial temperature of the storage tank
on accumulated stored thermal energy
Figure 5.62 shows the accumulated stored thermal energy for case (a) mass flow rate is 600
lit/hr and storage tank initial average temperature is 22 and case (b) mass flow rate is 800
lit/hr and storage tank initial temperature is 28.8. It is remarked in this figure that increasing
mass flow rate from 600 to 800 lit/hr and storage tank initial temperature from 22 to 28.8
has decreased the accumulated stored thermal energy by 10.8%, from 101450 kJ to 90469 kJ.
It is concluded from the analysis of the previous experiments done with the PCM packed bed
that the mass flow has no significant effect on the accumulated stored thermal energy.
Therefore, the decrease in the accumulated stored thermal energy, in this case, is a result of
increasing the initial average temperature of the storage tank from 22 to 28.8. The
accumulated stored thermal energy decreased by 10.8% when the initial temperature of the
storage tank increased from 22 to 28.8 (31%).

124

Figure 5.57 Time variation of the temperatures of the HTF and water at different positions
during charging with 600 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85

Figure 5.58 Time variation of accumulated thermal energy stored by different zones during
charging with 600 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85
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125

Figure 5.59 Time variation of the temperatures of the HTF and water at different positions
during charging with 800 L/hr and HTF temperature of 85

Figure 5.60 Time variation of accumulated thermal energy stored by different zones during
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126

Figure 5.61 Charging Time for Case (a) 600 L/hr - initial storage tank temperature 22 and Case
(b) 800 lit/hr initial storage tank temperature 28.8

Figure 5.62 Accumulated stored thermal energy for Case (a) 600 L/hr - initial storage tank
temperature 22 and Case (b) 800 lit/hr initial storage tank temperature 28.8
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127

5.6 COMPARISON BETWEEN PCM BALLS AND WATER AS STORAGE
MEDIUM
It is become well known now that the solar energy storage system is a very important
component of any system driven by solar energy; this is because of the availability of solar
energy for limited period during the day. Therefore, in the solar energy storage systems, it is
very important to collect as much as possible of thermal energy in a short time. Thus,
Accumulated Stored Thermal Energy and Time required to complete charging process are the
most important parameters for an efficient solar thermal energy storage system. In this study,
these two parameters have been investigated and compared in two cases of storage systems.
These cases are case (a) Water storage system, and case (b) Combined water and PCM packed
bed storage system. According to the experimental matrix presented in chapter four, two
experiments have been done by using water only as storage medium in order to compare the
thermal performance of the storage system when being integrated with the PCM packed bed.
Comparison between the two cases is performed with the following operating conditions: HTF
mass flow rate of 600 lit/hr, maximum inlet HTF temperature of 85, and average initial
temperature of the storage tank of 22. Results of these experiments are discussed below.
5.6.3 Accumulated Stored Thermal Energy
Figure 5.63 shows the accumulated thermal energy stored for case (a) where only water is used
as storage medium and case (b) PCM packed bed is integrated in the storage tank as mentioned
in chapter four. It is obvious that for same volume, the accumulated thermal energy stored is
101450 kJ in case of water while it is 113642 kJ in case of PCM packed bed. Therefore, the
PCM packed bed enhanced the accumulated stored thermal energy by 12%.
5.6.4 Time Required for Completing the Charging Process
Figure 5.64 shows the time required to complete the charging process for both cases
mentioned above. It is obvious that time required to complete the charging process is 183
minutes in case of water while it is 193 minutes in case of PCM packed bed. Therefore, the
PCM packed bed required 5.46% more time than water to complete the charging process.
128

Figure 5.63 Accumulated stored thermal energy for case (a) water and case (b) PCM and water

Figure 5.64 Time required for completing charging process for case (a) water and case (b) PCM
and water
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129

5.7 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS REPEATABILITY
In order to investigate the current experimental results repeatability, Three charging
experiments and one discharging experiment have been undertaken. Following are the
discussion of the results of these experiments
5.7.1 First Repeatability Experiment
(Mass flow rate 600 L/hr - Maximum inlet HTF temperature 85)
a) Charging mode
Figure 5.65 shows the time variation of the HTF, PCM balls, and Water temperatures at
different positions inside the storage tank during charging at the above mentioned conditions. It
is obvious in the figure that the time required to complete charging process is 186 minutes
while it was 193 minutes in the previous experiment with same conditions.
In figure 5.66, the accumulated sensible heat stored by water and PCM balls located at
different positions inside the storage tank, during charging at the above mentioned conditions,
are set out. It is remarked in this figure that water in voids in the top zone stored sensible heat
of 13366 kJ, which is more than that in the previous experiment by about 8% and water in
voids in the middle zone stored sensible heat of 13302 kJ, which is more than that in the
previous experiment by about 10%. PCM balls in top and middle zones and water in the
bottom zone stored approximately the same amount of sensible heat as in the previous
experiment. Total thermal energy (Latent and Sensible) stored is 114776 kJ, while it was
113642 kJ in the previous experiment, the difference is 1%.
b) Discharging mode
Figure 5.67 shows the variation of the temperatures of water and PCM balls at different
positions inside the main storage tank. It is obvious that water and PCM balls in different zones
have the same behaviour during discharging of their stored thermal energy as in previous
experiment.
Figure 5.68 shows the variation of temperature of the discharged water versus time. It took
about 104 minutes to discharge all stored thermal energy while it took 106 minutes in the
previous experiment. Discharged water temperature kept constant and equal to the storage tank
temperature of 85 for the first 18 minutes, while in previous experiment it remained constant
for 16 minutes.
130

Figure 5.69 shows the variation of the accumulated discharged thermal energy versus time.
Accumulated discharged thermal energy increased rapidly during first 55 minutes,
approximately, about 95% of discharged thermal energy was accumulated during the first 55
minutes. This is similar to the previous experiment.
Figure 5.70 shows the percentage of discharged thermal energy at different temperature range.
It is obvious that 72.3% of discharged thermal energy discharged at temperature higher than
70, 17% discharged at temperature between 40 and 70, and 10.7% discharged at
temperature lower than 40. These values were 70%, 18.1%, and 11.9%, respectively in the
previous experiment.
5.7.2 Second Repeatability Experiment
Figure 5.71 shows the variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls and water versus time
at different positions inside the storage tank. It is obvious that the time required to complete
charging process is 162 minutes while it was 165 minutes in the previous experiment with
same conditions.
Figure 5.72 shows the accumulated sensible heat stored by water and PCM balls located at
different positions inside the storage tank. Total thermal energy (Sensible and Latent) stored is
101537 kJ while it was 101596 kJ in the previous experiment with same conditions.
5.7.3 Third Repeatability Experiment
Figure 5.73 shows the variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls, and Water versus
time at different positions inside the storage tank. It is obvious that the time required to
complete charging process is 177 minutes while it was 174 minutes in the previous experiment
with same conditions.
Figure 5.74 shows the accumulated sensible heat stored by water and PCM balls located at
different positions inside the storage tank. Total thermal energy (Sensible and Latent) stored is
113761 kJ while it was 113695 kJ in the previous experiment with same conditions.
131

Figure 5.65 Time variation of the temperatures of HTF, PCM balls, and Water at different

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
132

positions during discharging at 600 L/hr and 85

and 85
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

133


Figure 5.70 Percentage of thermal energy discharged at different ranges of water temperature at
600 L/hr and 85
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Temperature (C)
%

o
f

D
i
s
c
h
a
r
g
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
Q
)

% Q vs Temperature
134


Figure 5.72 Time variation of accumulated sensible heat stored by different zones during
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
135


Figure 5.74 Time variation of accumulated sensible heat stored by different zones during
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Time (min)
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

(
C
)

Charging Inlet
Water Top
PCM Top
Water Middle
PCM Middle
Water Bottom
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Time (min)
Q

(
k
J
)

SH PCM Top
SH PCM Middle
SH Water Bottom
SH Water Middle
SH Water Top
136

5.8 MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS TO PREDICT THE ENHANCEMENT
IN STORED THERMAL ENERGY DUE TO PCM PACKED BED
According to the results of the current experimental investigation, it was found that the PCM
packed bed has enhanced the accumulated stored thermal energy by 12%. This percentage is
not high. This may be attributed to that the difference between initial temperature of the storage
tank and the required storage temperature was as large as it caused that most of the stored
thermal energy was stored in form of sensible heat. It is known that the water has a high
specific heat so it has a high thermal energy storage capacity in form of sensible heat.
Therefore, the following mathematical analysis has been performed to indicate theoretically,
the effect of the temperature difference (between the initial storage tank temperature and the
required storage temperature) on the accumulated thermal energy stored by the water only and
by the PCM packed bed.
5.8.1 Constant Storage Temperature and Variable Initial Temperature of the
Storage Tank
In this case, the required storage temperature is kept constant at 85 and the initial storage
tank temperature is varied by step of 5 starting from 20 until 65.
Conditions T
1
= 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65 and T
2
= 85
1. Storage Tank Filled With Packed Bed and Water (Experimental Case)
In this case, the calculation and comparison will be done for two cases. First case is that the
storage tank is filled with water only as a storage medium while the second case is that the
storage tank is filled with a PCM balls packed bed that occupies about 76.4% of the storage
tank volume and the other 23.6% is occupied by water.
a) Water (100%)
Volume = (
a
4
) * (D
Storage Tank
)
2
* (L
Storage

Tank
)
Volume = (
a
4
) * (0.726)
2
* (0.93) = 0.3847 m
3

Q
water
= m
w
* C
p w
* (T
2
T
1
) =
w
* V
w
* C
p w
* T
Q
water
= (1000) * (0.3847) * (4.186) * (85-20)
Q
water
= 104,673 kJ
Q
Total
= 104,673 kJ
137

b) PCM (76.4%) and Water (23.6%)
Volume of PCM balls =
4
3
a r
3
n
=
4
3
a . 2
3
1 = 0.20139 m
3

Geometrical Bed Volume = a r
t
2

ed
= a . 33
2
. 1 = 0.2939 m
3
V
water in voids
= Geometrical Bed Volume Volume of PCM balls
= 0.2939 - 0.20139 = 0.09251 m
3

Q
PCM,

Sensible heat
= m
C

T
=
Numer uJ x C

T
= 890 * 0.20139 * 2.2 * (8520) = 25,631 kJ
Q
PCM, Latent heat
= m
LH

= 890 * 0.20139 * 220 = 39,432 kJ
Q
water in voids
= m
w
C
P w
T =
w
F
w
C
P w
T
= 1000 * 0.09251 * 4.186 * (85 20) = 25,171 kJ
Q
water bottom zone
= m
w
* C
p w
* (T
2
T
1
) =
w
* V
w
* C
p w
* T
V
w
= (
a
4
) * (D
bottom zone
)
2
* (L
buttom zone
)
V
w
= (
a
4
) * (0.726)
2
* (0.22) = 0.091 m
3

Q
water bottom zone
= (1000) * (0.091) * (4.186) * (85-20)
Q
water bottom zone
= 24,760 kJ
Q
Total
= Q
PCM,

Sensible heat
+

Q
PCM, Latent heat
+

Q
water in voids
+

Q
water bottom zone

Q
Total
= 114,994 kJ
Table 5-3 shows the thermal energy stored in case of water (100%) and case of PCM (76.4%)
water (23.6%) for different initial temperature of the storage tank and constant storage
temperature of 85, and the enhancement of thermal energy stored due to PCM packed bed
for different initial temperature of the storage tank.

138

Table 5-3 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water, case (b) water - PCM packed bed and
enhancement in the stored thermal energy due to PCM packed bed
Conditions (T) Water (kJ) Water and PCM (kJ) % Q
Enhancement

20 - 85 104,673 114,994 9.86%
25 - 85 96,621 109,182 13.00%
30 - 85 88,569 103,369 16.71%
35 - 85 80,518 97,557 21.16%
40 - 85 72,466 91,744 26.60%
45 - 85 64,414 85,932 33.41%
50 - 85 56,362 80,119 42.15%
55 - 85 48,311 74,307 53.81%
60 - 85 40,259 68,495 70.14%
65 - 85 32,207 62,682 94.62%
Figure 5.75 shows the variation of the total thermal energy stored versus the initial
temperature of the storage tank for case of water only as storage medium and case of PCM
packed bed and water as storage medium. It is obvious in the figure that for both cases, the
quantity of stored thermal energy decreases as the initial storage tank temperature increases,
but the decrease in case of the water is more than that for the case of PCM packed bed. When
the initial storage tank temperature increased from 20 to 65, the stored thermal energy
decreased from 104,673 kJ to 32,207 kJ (69.2%) in case of water, and from 114,994 kJ to
62,682 kJ (45.5%) in case of the PCM packed bed with water.
Figure 5.76 shows the effect of the initial temperature of the storage tank on the enhancement
of thermal energy stored by the PCM packed bed as a percentage of the thermal energy stored
in case of water only. It is obvious in the figure that the enhancement percentage was 9.86%,
33.41%, and 94.62% at initial temperature of the storage tank of 20, 45, and 65.
Therefore, the initial temperature of the storage tank has a significant effect on the
enhancement of the thermal energy stored by the PCM packed bed when compared with water.
In other words, it may be concluded that PCM packed bed enhancement for thermal energy
storage increases as the initial temperature of the storage tank is more nearer to the phase
change temperature of the PCM.
5.8.2 Constant Initial Temperature of the Storage Tank and Variable Storage
Temperature
In this case, the initial storage tank temperature is kept constant at 20 and the storage
temperature was varied by a step of 5 starting with 25 until 85.
139

Figure 5.75 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water only and case (b) water and PCM
packed bed at constant storage temperature of 85 and varied initial storage tank temperature

Figure 5.76 Percentage of enhancement of total thermal energy stored by PCM packed bed at
constant storage temperature of 85 and varied initial temperature of the storage tank
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
x 10
4
T
o
t
a
l

S
t
o
r
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
k
J
)

Water
PCM and Water
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%

o
f

E
n
c
h
a
n
c
e
m
e
n
t

i
n

T
o
t
a
l

S
t
o
r
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

Enhancement in Stored Q due to PCM
140

Conditions T
1
= 20 and T
2
= 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85
Same equations and calculation steps used in the first part will be used in this part. Results are
shown in Table 5-4, figure 5.77, and figure 5.78.
Figure 5.77 shows the variation of the total thermal energy stored versus the storage
temperature of the storage tank for the case of water only as storage material and case of PCM
packed bed and water as storage materials. It is obvious that the water stores more thermal
energy than PCM packed bed from storage temperature of 25 untill 65. From 65 to 70,
the PCM packed bed stored much more thermal energy than water and this is because the
storage as latent heat is introduced. From 70 to 85, the quantity of stored thermal energy
increases in both cases but it increased in case of water more than in case of PCM packed bed.
Table 5-4 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water, case (b) water and PCM packed bed, and
enhancement in the stored thermal energy due to PCM packed bed
Conditions (T) Water (kJ) Water and PCM (kJ) % Q
Enhancement

20 - 25 8052 5812 -27.81%
20 - 30 16104 11625 -27.81%
20 35 24155 17437 -27.81%
20 40 32207 23250 -27.81%
20 45 40259 29062 -27.81%
20 50 48311 34875 -27.81%
20 55 56362 40687 -27.81%
20 60 64414 46500 -27.81%
20 - 65 72466 52312 -27.81%
20 - 70 80518 97557 21.16%
20 75 88569 103369 16.71%
20 - 80 96621 109182 13.00%
20 - 85 104673 114994 9.86%

Figure 5.78 shows the effect of the storage temperature of the storage tank on the enhancement
of thermal energy stored by the PCM packed bed. It is obvious that for storage temperature of
25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, and 65, the thermal energy stored in the case of water was
higher than that in the case of packed bed by 27.81%. When the latent heat storage is
introduced at storage temperature of 70, the PCM packed bed stored more thermal energy
than water by 21.16%. After that, the enhancement in thermal energy stored by the PCM
packed bed decreased to 16.71%, 13%, and 9.86% at storage temperature of 75, 80, and
85, respectively.
141

Figure 5.77 Total thermal energy stored in case (a) water only and case (b) water and PCM
packed bed at constant initial temperature of the storage tank and varied storage temperature

Figure 5.78 Percentage of enhancement of total thermal energy stored by PCM packed bed at
constant initial temperature of storage tank and varied storage temperature
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
x 10
4
Storage Temperature (C)
T
o
t
a
l

S
t
o
r
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

(
k
J
)

Water
PCM and Water
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
Storage Temperature (C)
%

o
f

E
n
c
h
a
n
c
e
m
e
n
t

i
n

T
o
t
a
l

S
t
o
r
e
d

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

Enhancement in Stored Q due to PCM
142

CHAPTER SIX
APPLICATION OF SOLAR DESALINATION SYSTEM IN EGYPT
(CASE STUDY)
Water, energy, and clean environment are three inseparable and substantial commodities for
sustaining human life on the earth. During the recent last years, rapid growth of population and
industry in the developing countries has increased the demand of fresh water, energy, and clean
environment [59]. Supply of freshwater from seawater requires huge amounts of energy and
unfortunately, conventional energy sources are able to satisfy the increasing energy demand
only for few next years. This chapter presents a case study for the application of a solar
desalination plant including thermal energy storage unit in Egypt
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Egypt is a country in North Africa, with Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest
Asia. Egypt covers an area of 1,002,450 km
2
where 0.632% of this area is water. The great
majority of its estimated 79,699,427 people lives near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of
about 40,000 km
2
(4% of the total area) [75]. Egypt is bordered by two seas, the Mediterranean
Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the east. The Eastern desert covers 221,940 km
2
(22%) of
Egypts area. Figure 6.1 shows Egypts map
6.2 WATER STATUS IN EGYPT
Water is very important for creating a life in any part in the world. The Nile River is the main
source of water in Egypt. Egypt receives 55.5 km/year from the Nile River according to the
1959 Nile Waters Agreement between Egypt and Sudan. This Agreement has been issued
according to the average flow of the Nile during the period between 1900 and 1959 at Aswan
of 84 km/year. The total losses from the High Dam Lake are 10 km
3
/year, and thus the net
flow of water is 74 km/year, where Sudan takes 18.5 km/year while Egypt takes 55.5 km/y.
In addition, there is 0.5 km/year of internal surface water resources, and thus, the total surface
water resources is 56.0 km/year. Concerning the groundwater resources, there is 1 km of
groundwater enters Egypt from Libya each year and 1.3 km/year of internal renewable
groundwater resources, hence, the total renewable groundwater resources are 2.3 km/year
[60]. Currently, the amount of desalinated water in Egypt is 300,000 m
3
/day [60]; Table 6-1
shows examples of the private sector desalination units in Sinai.

143

Figure 6.1 Egypts map [Source: http://www.all-about-egypt.com/egypt-tourist-attractions.html]
Egypt is facing substantial challenges of water shortage due to its few water resources and high
population. This problem started to appear during the recent last years. The annual growth rate
of the population in Egypt that estimated as 1.8%, is one of the main driving forces for
freshwater demand that create a new challenge to use these large areas of empty deserts to
produce energy and desalinate the sea water.
Table 6-1 Some private sector desalination units in Sinai [61]

144

6.3 ENERGY STATUS IN EGYPT
Crude Oil and Natural Gas are the main energy resources in Egypt. Egypts Oil production and
reserves are shown in figure 6.2, while figure 6.3 shows Egypts Natural Gas production and
reserves. The peak demand reached 21,330 MW and the total electrical power produced in
2009 is 131,040 GWh with annual growth rate, approximately, of 4.7% [63]. Based on the past
and current indicators, Table 6-2 shows a scenario suggested by Comsan [64] for the
population, installed power, installed power per capita, and installed power annual growth rate
in Egypt for the period between 2007 and 2052. Egypt is working on promotion of nuclear
power as source of electrical energy; it has a 22 MW nuclear research reactor at Inshas in the
Nile Delta since 1997. Currently, there is an ambitious plan to install a nuclear power plant for
electricity production with capacity of 1 GW
e
in El-Dabaa site on the Mediterranean Sea cost at
160 km west to Alexandria by 2017 [64]
Table 6-2 Egypts population and electrical power indicators (20072052) [64]

The Egyptian government strongly subsidises the prices of conventional energy, this is shown
in table 6-3 and table 6-4. Table 6-3 gives the current electricity prices in Egypt and Table 6-
4 gives the current petroleum products prices recorded in May 2010 in Egypt and compared to
prices in USA. Indeed, these high subsidies toward the conventional energy sources hamper
the promotion of renewable energy in Egypt. During the recent last years, more concern started
to be paid from the Egyptian government toward renewable energies. On 10
th
of April 2007,
the Supreme Council of Energy in Egypt agreed on an ambitious plan to increase the
percentage of renewable energy to 20% of the total electricity generated by 2020 with 8% from
hydropower and 12% from wind energy. In order to produce 20% of the electrical power needs
from renewable resources by 2020, 50 TWh, approximately, is needed and this could be
generated by 11 GW based on load factor more than 50%. Approximately 2900 MW of hydro
power are assured. Achieving 7200 MW of wind power requires an annual average of 600 MW
of new wind power capacity to be implemented [62].
Egypt has many attractive features and conditions which encourage the existence of renewable
energy projects, these features are:
145

Figure 6.2 Egypts oil production and reserves, 1990-2030 (BP and GTZ 2010) [83] [84]

Figure 6.3 Egypts natural gas reserves and production scenario, 1990-2030 (BP and GTZ 2010) [83] [84]
146

Table 6-3 Current Egypts electricity tariffs valid since October 2008, in piaster per kWh [62]

Table 6-4 Petroleum products prices in Egypt and USA recorded in May 2010 [62]

1. High Potential of Solar Energy: The Solar Atlas has been issued in 1991 and shows that
Egypt is one of the Sun Belt countries and has a high direct solar radiation intensity that
ranges between 2000 2600 kwh/m
2
/year from North to South [65]. Egypt has more than
3600 hours of sunshine per year [65] and technical solar thermal electricity generating
potential of 73.6 Petawatt-hour (PWh) [64]. Figure 6.4 shows the solar radiation map of
Egypt
2. High Potential of Wind Energy
3. High Potential of Bio energy
4. High Energy Demand
5. Political Stability: Egypt is characterized by its political stability and thus the decisions
and agreements will not be suddenly changed.
6. High Degree of Public Acceptance for Renewable Energy
*based on official exchange rate of 5.6 EGL= 5.6 US$
147

Figure 6.4 Solar radiation map for Egypt [65]
Following are the most important RE projects implemented in Egypt:
1. Aswan High Dam: Is the oldest renewable energy project in Egypt. It was constructed 30
years ago and has capacity of 2100 MW [64]
2. Zaafarana Wind Farm: Has capacity of 425 MW [64]
3. Kuraymat Solar Power Plant: Integrated Solar Combined Cycle System (ISCCS) is still
under construction at the Kuraymat site 92 km south to Cairo. It consists of a parabolic
trough solar field combined with a conventional gas turbine plant. The total capacity of the
power plant is 140 MW including 20 MW supplied by the Concentrated Solar Power Plant
that will start to operate in 2011 [64]
4. In addition, the present Egypts installed capacity of PV systems is close to 5 MW and the
installed capacity of solar water heating is around 300 MW [64]. Also, the installed
hydropower electricity plants are given in table 6-5.

148

Table 6-5 Hydropower electricity generating plants in Egypt [64]

6.4 DESALINATION TECHNIQUES
Desalination is a process that separates the dissolved salts from saline water to produce fresh
water [66]. The total capacity of the desalination plants around the world is 59.9 million
m
3
/day [67]. Figure 6.5 shows that the desalination techniques are mainly classified into two
types: (1) processes based on physical change in the state of the seawater by evaporation, and
(2) processes use a membrane working by the concept of filtration [66]. Based on the
worldwide installed capacity, the percentage of plants that use reverse osmosis (RO),
multistage-flash desalination (MSF), multiple-effect desalination (MED), electrodialysis (ED)
and other newer concept systems are 53%, 25%, 8%, 3%, and 11%. The main source of saline
water for desalination plants are seawater (67%), brackish ground water (19%), and other
sources such as rivers and small salt lakes [67].
6.4.1 Distillation Processes
Distillation processes are similar to the natural water cycle as seawater is being heated to
produce water vapour, after that, this water vapour is condensed to produce fresh water, these
processes require thermal energy to cause the water evaporation; these processes include [66]
1. Multi Stage Flash Distillation (MSF)
Seawater feed is pressurized and its temperature is raised to the maximum allowable
temperature of the plant. After that, the hot water enters a chamber maintained at pressure
less than the saturation vapour pressure of the water and a fraction of its water content
flashes into steam. The flashed steam is free of brine as it passes through a mist eliminator
and condenses on the external surface of the tubes. Finally, the condensed liquid is collected
as a hot fresh water product [66]. The MSF consumes electrical energy of 3.5 - 5 kWh/m
3

and thermal energy of 69.44 - 83.33 kWh/m
3
[67].
149

Figure 6.5 Classification of desalination processes [66]
2. Multi-Effect Distillation (MED)
MED units operate by reducing the ambient pressure at each following stage which allows
the feed water to boil many times without supplying additional thermal energy. The steam
from the heat source enters a series of tubes where it condenses and heats the surface of the
tubes in order to act as a heat transfer surface to evaporate seawater flowing on the other
side. The Seawater is evaporated by the heat of condensation of the steam flowing in the
tubes. Finally, the fresh water is produced by the condensation of the evaporated seawater
when it enters the next stage that is kept under lower pressure [66]. Figure 6.6 shows a
diagram of MED unit. The MED consumes electrical energy of 1.5 - 2.5 kWh/m
3
and
thermal energy of 41.67 - 61.11 kWh/m
3
[67].
3. Vapour Compression Distillation
The VC process is used for small and medium size seawater desalination plants. Thermal
energy required for water evaporation is supplied from the compression of vapour [66].

150

Figure 6.6 Diagram of a Multi-effect desalination (MED) unit [66]
6.4.2 Membrane Processes
These processes separate the salt from the seawater by using different types of membranes.
Commercially, membranes are used in two desalination processes that are reverse osmosis and
electrodialysis [66]
1. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
Water in the pressurized saline solution is separated out from the solutes by a membrane.
Pressurizing the feed water consumes the major amount of energy. The developments of
membranes that can operate at low pressure have reduced the energy consumption of the
RO plants [66]. The RO consumes electrical energy of 48 kWh/m
3
[67]
2. Electrodialysis (ED)
The electrodialysis desalination unit composes of several hundred of cell pairs that are
bounded together with electrodes on the outside; its known as a membrane stack. Seawater
passes through these cells at the same time in order to produce a continuous and parallel
flow of the fresh water product [66]. Energy required for seawater ED is 17 kWh/m
3
[67].

151

6.4.3 Solar Desalination
Solar energy received on each km
2
of desert land is sufficient to desalinate 165,000 m
3
per day
or 60 million m
3
per year [68]. Solar desalination can be 1) Direct usage of solar energy where
the solar energy is used directly to evaporate the seawater and 2) Indirect usage where the solar
energy is used to generate electricity.
6.4.3.1 Desalination Systems Driven By Solar Thermal Energy
The solar thermal unit in the solar desalination plant includes a field of solar collectors that
raise the temperature of the seawater to the required temperatures. The required temperature for
the fed seawater entering the evaporator depends on the used desalination technique and it
ranges between 70 and 120 [66]
The best combination between a solar thermal unit and a desalination unit is the solar multi-
effect (MED) desalination. The solar thermal field is responsible to supply the required thermal
energy to the desalination plant. Moreover, there is some electricity needed for other auxiliaries
(e.g. the pumping system) [66]. Figure 6.7 shows a combination of solar thermal-MED plant
diagram and Table 6-6 shows some examples of existing solar thermal MED plants. It is
recommended that the combination between a solar thermal plant and desalination units is done
for the medium and large scales of fresh water production [66].
Table 6-6 Examples of existing solar thermal MED plants [66]

152

Figure 6.7 Combination of solar thermal-MED plant diagram [66]
6.5 PROPOSED SYSTEM DESIGN
The proposed system is a decentralized desalination system that provides fresh water and hot
water by using solar energy as source of energy. It is planed that a new city is constructed in
the Eastern desert in Egypt and get its needs of fresh water and hot water from the proposed
system. Additionally, this system can be used in the tourist cities in Sinai Peninsula. Figure 6.8
shows a schematic diagram of this system. The system consists of 1) Solar collector, 2) MED
unit, 3) Storage tank, 4) Heat exchanger, 5) Pumping system, and 6) Piping system
The system has two modes of operation, charging and discharging modes. During the charging
mode, at sunshine hours, sea water is heated inside the solar collectors, and then fraction of it is
supplied directly to the desalination unit while the other fraction is supplied to charge the
storage tank with thermal energy. During the discharging mode, after sunset, the hot water
stored inside the storage tank, according to its outlet temperature, is supplied to the
desalination unit and the heat exchanger for the domestic household use. It is well known that
during discharging mode, the outlet temperature of the discharged water from the regenerator
storage system decreases gradually with time, thus, the discharged hot water is supplied to the
desalination unit as long as its outlet temperature from the storage tank is 70, and is
supplied to the heat exchanger if its outlet temperature is < 70.
153

The MED technique employs as the desalination unit and the thermal storage system,
according to the economical study, may use water or packed bed of the PCM balls presented in
Chapter 4. This thermal energy storage system reduces the capacity of the MED unit and thus,
it is expected to reduce the total capital investment costs. The system is designed to produce
freshwater of 520 m
3
/day. Following are the calculations in order to identify the size of each
component of this system.
6.5.1 Simulation of fresh water demand (The MED unit)
A four person household consumes freshwater of 0.52 m
3
/day (Assuming that water
consumption is 130 liters per person and day) [69]. Hence, this system is able to supply
freshwater to 1000 four person households. It was shown that 41.67-61.11 kW
th
h of thermal
energy and 1.5-2.5 kW
e
h of electrical energy are required to desalinate 1 m
3
of seawater by the
MED technique [67]. The system is designed based on the highest assumptions of 61.11
kW
th
h/m
3
and 2.5 kW
e
h/m
3
. Therefore, 11.598678 GW
th
h (41,755.2408 GJ) is the thermal
energy required to supply the 189,800 m
3
/year. While 0.4745 GW
e
h (1,708.2 GJ) is the
electrical energy needed and is supplied from the conventional energy sources.
The selected MED unit has a capacity of 260 m
3
/day, thus the storage tank should store
15.8886 MW
th
h (57,198.96 MJ) per day to supply the MED unit with the required thermal
energy later after sunset. For the MED technique, the feed seawater should be at least .
According to the experimental study presented in Chapter 5, it is found during discharging a
storage tank containing a packed bed of PCM balls and kept at 85 that, at low mass flow
rates its possible to get 80% of the discharged thermal energy at water temperature higher than
70. Also, thermal losses from the storage tanks were found to be around 10%. Therefore,
22.0675 MW
th
h (79,443 MJ) should be stored in the storage tanks in order to get the required
thermal energy for the desalination unit. This brings a total thermal energy of 37.9561 MW
th
h
(136,641.96

MJ) to be collected daily by the solar collectors during sunshine. Figure 6.9
shows that the MED unit requires 9 m
3
of feed water to produce 1 m
3
of fresh water [60]
6.5.2 Simulation of hot water demand
Hot water demand is calculated according to the behaviour of an occupant such as face
washing, bathing, cooking, and washing machines. Space heating by hot water is excluded in
this study [70]. Shimoda et al. [70] derived Eq. (6.1) to calculate the energy demand for hot
water use

Q
HW
= C
HW
(T
HW
T
TW
) 4. 1 (. 1)
154

Storage Tank

MED
Desalination Unit

Heat
Exchanger

Domestic
Hot Water
Pump 4
Pump 3
Pump 2
Pump 1
Solar Collector
Sea Water
If T
out
> 70
If T
out
< 70
Charging system
Discharging system
Figure 6.8 Schematic diagram of hybrid solar system for water desalination and water heating in rural areas

155

Figure 6.9 The water cycle of the MED unit [60]
Q
HW
: Energy demand for hot water use (kJ)

C
HW
: Amount of hot water (m
3
)

T
HW
: Hot water temperature ()
T
TW
: City water temperature ()
Nabeshima [71] derived Eq. (6.2) to calculate the city water temperature
T
TW
= 1. 2 +. 1 T
a1
+. 2 T
a2
(. 2)
T
a1
: Daily average outdoor air temperature on the same day []

T
a2
: Average outdoor air temperature for the previous seven days []
The heat exchanger receives 3.97215 MWh (14,299.74 MJ) from the storage tank. Assume
that the heat exchanger effectiveness is 80%, thus, the amount of thermal energy transferred to
the heated fresh water is 3.17772 MWh (11,439.792 MJ)
Substituting in Eq. (6.2) by T
a1
= 32

and T
a2
= 3, thus, T
TW
= 2.
Substituting in Eq. (6.1) by Q
HW
= 11, 43. 2 MJ, T
HW
= , T
TW
= 2.

We get C
HW
=

88,043.4

m
3
/day of hot water
6.5.3 Solar Collectors
Frederick [72] presented Eq. (6.3) to calculate the area of a flat plate solar collector required
for a solar thermal system.
I
C

= Q
U
+Q
uss
+Q
stg
(. 3)
I
C
: The instantaneous solar radiation incident on the collector per unit area (W/m
2
)
: The collector surface area (m

2
)
Q
U
: The useful energy transferred to the fluid inside the tubes of the collector (W)
Q
uss
: The heat loss from the collector (W)
156

Q
stg
: The energy stored in the collector [Q
stg
= , due to assumption that the solar thermal
system is at steady state conditions] (W)
Heat losses from a solar collector is determined from its efficiency that is defined as the ratio
of the amount of heat collected by the HTF to the amount of solar radiation collected by the
absorber plates of the collector; El Nashar [76] derived Eqs. (6.4) & (6.5) to calculate the
efficiency of the flat plate solar collector (q
)
x =
. 5 (T
1
+T
2
) T
a
I
C
(. 4)
x: Solar collector parameter ( m
2
kW)
T
1
: Collector inlet HTF temperature ()
T
2
: Collector outlet HTF temperature ()
T
a
: Ambient temperature ()
q
= . 4 2. x 1. 2 x
2
(. 5)
For our system, flat plate collector is selected and the efficiency of the flat plate solar collectors
used in the system is
x =
. 5 (2. +5) 32
2445
= . 121
q
= . 4 2. . 121 1. 2 (. 121)
2
= . 132
Heat losses from the solar collector is calculated from Eq. (6.6)
q
=
Q
U
Q
U
+Q
uss
(. )
Substituting in Eq. (6.3), the average I
C
on the eastern desert is 6.7 kWh/m
2
/day [65], thermal
losses are 0.2297 Q
U
, and Q
U
= 136,641.96

MJ, thus
. 3
= Q
U
+. 22 Q
U

= 6,967 m
2

6.5.4 Storage System
According to the experimental results, it was possible to store 113,000 kJ of thermal energy in
a 0.5 m
3
cylindrical storage tank loaded with 6010 PCM balls. Thus, a storage tank with
volume of 351.52 m
3
loaded with 4,225,243 PCM balls

is required to store 79,443 MJ. Also, a
157

storage tank filled only with water has volume of 0.5 m
3
stored 104,000 kJ, thus a storage tank
filled only with water has volume of 381.94 m
3
is required to store 79,443 MJ
Table 6-7 shows the technical specification of the decentralized solar desalination system. The
difference between the system with and without storage unit is in the solar collector area,
where system integrated with storage unit needs a larger collector area because there are
thermal losses during storage and these losses must be compensated in order to produce the
designed output. Also, there is a difference in the storage tank volume because the system that
uses water as storage medium requires larger volume than that of system that uses the PCM
packed bed as storage medium.
Table 6-7 Technical specifications of the solar desalination and hot water system
Parameter Unit Value
Solar Field (with storage)
Solar collector surface area m
2
6,967
Thermal energy collected by solar collectors MJ/day 136,641.96
Solar Field (without storage)
Solar collector surface area m
2
6,562
Thermal energy collected by solar collectors MJ/day 128,697.66
MED Unit
Thermal energy required for the MED unit GJ/year 41,755.2408
Electrical energy required for the MED unit GW
e
h/year 0.4745
Daily fresh water production m
3
/day 520
Annual fresh water production m
3
/year 189,800
Amount of feed sea water m
3
/year 1,708,200
Storage System
Thermal energy stored MJ/day 79,443
Volume of the storage tank (PCM and water) m
3
351.52
Volume of the storage tank (water) m
3
381.94
Thermal losses MJ/day 7,944.3
Hot water system
Thermal energy supplied to the heat exchanger MJ/day 14,299.74
Annual hot water production Million m
3
/year 32.1358
Daily hot water production m
3
/day 88,043.4
158

6.6 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
6.6.1 Introduction
During the recent last years, many environmental problems were started to be obvious through
their tangible effects on natural balance of the earth life. Environmental pollution is a
consequence of the human activities especially in the industrial field.
In the developing countries, the issue of climate change is not important. The issues of clean
water, food security and reducing poverty are more important to these countries than the issue
of climate change [73]. The consequences of this extreme pollution of the environment
appeared in
1) Global Warming and Green House Effect: Due to the increase of the global green house
gases (e.g. CO
2
), many parts on the earth are facing unusual increase in its temperature, the
temperature is increasing and this will lead to the ice melting in the north and south poles.
Indeed, some investigations found that ice in some places has already started to melt. As a
result, the sea level will increase and this will lead to extreme consequences on many parts
of the earth.
2) Depletion of the Ozone Layer: Ozone layer that absorbs most of the Ultraviolet sunlight
radiation is being depleted; these Ultraviolet radiations have very dangerous effects on the
human, plants and animals.
3) Acid Rains: When SO
2
and NO
x
react with H
2
O, a mixture of sulphuric acid and nitric acid
is formed and then combine with rain forming acidic rains. These acidic rains damage the
agricultural lands, plants, water in rivers and buildings.
The current global concentration of CO
2
in the atmosphere is 383 ppm and it was 280 ppm
before the Industrial Revolution [74]. Many efforts are done in order to reduce the polluting
emissions and protect the environment. Kyoto Protocol is among these efforts, Kyoto Protocol
was finalized in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan; members of the UNFCCC agreed that the
developed countries and countries with economies in transition to a market economy should
reduce their overall emissions of six GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,
hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride) by 5% below the 1990 levels
between 2008 and 2012. On 16
th
February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol was activated and 175
countries have agreed on it, including 36 countries that are responsible on 61.6% of carbon
dioxide emissions. USA and Australia objected this agreement but after that, Australia agreed
to join the agreement before the Bali summit in December 2007 [73].
159

6.6.2 Avoided Emissions by the Proposed System
The U.S. EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) gives a standard emission value of
pollutant gases from different fossil fuels. These values are given in Pound/Billion Btu; it is
multiplied by
0.4535
1055.05
to be converted into kg/GJ. Table 6-8 shows the standard values of
emissions for different fossil fuels.
The proposed system will produce energy of 46,974.6459

GJ per year (thermal losses are
excluded) for the desalination unit and hot water production. Table 6-9 shows the amount of
harmful emissions that will be avoided annually by this system when compared to case that the
same amount of energy is produced from Natural gas; Natural gas is selected because its the
most conventional energy source that used in Egypt for power generation.
6.6.3 Negative Impacts [77] [60]
1. Its likely that chemicals used to avoid fouling and corrosion of the pipes of the desalination
plants may appear in the brine
2. Discharge of hot brine with high salt concentration to the sea has negative effects on the
local species
3. Natural gas is the most common fuel used for electrical power generation in Egypt.
Compared to other fossil fuels, natural gas causes lower emissions of carbon dioxide of
approximately 0.5 kg CO
2
/kWh [62]. Thus, 237.25 tons of CO
2
are emitted annually due to
the use of the electrical power in the desalination plant.
Figure 6.10 shows the percentage of annual CO
2
emissions from the desalination unit in case
that natural gas is the energy source and case that solar energy is the energy source.
Table 6-8 Emissions from different fossil fuels given in kg per GJ [70] [74]
Emission Natural Gas Oil Coal
Carbon Dioxide 50.2909 70.4933 89.4061
Carbon Monoxide 0.0171 0.0141 0.0894
Nitrogen Oxides 0.0395 0.1925 0.1964
Sulfur Dioxide 0.0004 0.4822 1.1137
Particulates 0.0030 0.0361 1.1794
Mercury 0 0.000003 0.0000068

Table
Emission Natural Gas
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon Monoxide
Nitrogen Oxides
Sulfur Dioxide
Particulates
Mercury

Figure 6.10 Annual CO
6.7 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDY
Cultivating the desert is an old dream of humanity. In Egypt, about 96% of lands are deserts
without any available fresh water resources. These deserts can be cultivated but this is
hampered due to the lack of water.
Because of limited commercialization o
the prices and economical studies
have high capital costs and
construction materials that are
same for all locations [79].
El Nashar [76] presented Eq. (

160
Table 6-9 Annual avoided emissions in tons
Natural Gas Oil
2,362.397 3,311.397
0.803 0.662
1.855 9.042
0.0187 22.651
0.140 1.695
0 0.00014
Annual CO
2
emissions for cases of natural gas and solar energy

ECONOMIC STUDY
hampered due to the lack of water.
Because of limited commercialization of the solar desalination plants, there is a few
studies of these solar desalination plants. Solar desalination plants
and their costs are not same as it depends on the prices of the
are different for each location, hence, the fresh water cost is
Eq. (6.7) to calculate the specific capital cost of the heat storage unit
:
^d
) vw. =
5
^d
juu
?
u.v
=. ?
2,599.65
237.25
Annual CO
2
emissions in tons
Coal
4,199.819
4.199
9.225
52.315
55.401
0.00031

emissions for cases of natural gas and solar energy
there is a few data about
. Solar desalination plants
are not same as it depends on the prices of the
hence, the fresh water cost is not the
to calculate the specific capital cost of the heat storage unit
?
Natural Gas
Solar Energy
161

C
st
: Specific cost of storage capacity ($/m
3
), M
st
: Storage capacity (m
3
)
The heat exchanger costs and hot water revenue are excluded from this economical study and
only fresh water costs are compared for these systems. Table 6-10 shows an economical study
to compare between four different water desalination systems; these systems are:
1. Conventional energy MED: Natural gas is used as energy source. This system consumes
41,755.2408 GJ of thermal energy to produce 189,800 m
3
/year of fresh water.
2. Solar MED without storage: Solar energy is the energy source. There is no storage unit,
this system operates only during the sunshine hours and consumes 46,974.6459 GJ of
thermal energy where 41,755.2408 GJ is consumed to produce 189,800 m
3
/year of fresh
water and the other 5,219.4051 GJ is used to produce hot water.
3. Solar MED with water storage: Is the proposed solar desalination system. Water is used as
a storage medium. This system consumes 49,874.3154 GJ of thermal energy where
41,755.2408 GJ is consumed to produce 189,800 m
3
/year of fresh water and the other
8,119.0746 GJ is used to produce hot water and to compensate thermal losses from the
storage unit as mentioned earlier.
4. Solar MED with PCM storage: Is the proposed solar desalination system. PCM balls and
water is used as a storage medium. This system consumes 49,874.3154 GJ of thermal
energy where 41,755.2408 GJ is consumed to produce 189,800 m
3
/year of fresh water and
the other 8,119.0746 GJ is used to produce hot water and to compensate thermal losses
from the storage unit as mentioned earlier.
Each of these four systems consumes electrical energy of 1,708.2 GJ/year. The plant life time
is assumed to be 20 years for all systems.
The capital and operating costs of these four plants are shown in Table 6-10. It is obvious that
the solar plants are characterized by high capital costs (4 times as conventional plant) while the
conventional plant is characterized by its high operating costs (3.6 times as solar plants),
Figure 6.11 shows the difference between capital and operating costs for these different plants
It is concluded that the solar desalination plant with water storage system is the best system as
it has the lowest capital, operating and total cost among the solar plants. The cost of 1 m
3
of
freshwater from this solar system is 0.993 US$ (5.6 LE), this price is very competitive for the
Egyptian market. In future, thermal energy storage using PCM is shown to be promising as it
needs smaller storage volume but more research and development are still needed to promote
PCM for thermal energy storage.

Figure 6.11 Capital and Operating costs for the different
The average value of the avoided carbon emissions is about
is considered as a CDM project, then revenue of
Following are the direct Socio-
with water storage system on a wide scale in Egypt:
1. New communities will be established and many people will move to the deserts.
2. Deserts cultivation that lead to a new agricultural production from these new farm lands.
3. Many employment opportunities
4. Many employment opportunities
engaged in building of the infrastructure of these new cities and in the production of
desalination system components
5. Opening new markets for solar collectors, desalination un
(e.g. heat exchangers, pump, pipes, etc..), and this will
government through taxes
6. Compared to the conventional
solar system including thermal storage using water as storage medium is used
7. Fossil fuels will be exported
saving hard currency for the country
8. Significant increase in the Countrys Gross Domestic Product
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Conventional
MED
Solar without
storage
Capital and Operating Costs
162
Capital and Operating costs for the different desalination systems
The average value of the avoided carbon emissions is about US$17/ton CO
2
CDM project, then revenue of 40,160 US$ will be created annually.
-economical impacts for the application of this
system on a wide scale in Egypt:
communities will be established and many people will move to the deserts.
Deserts cultivation that lead to a new agricultural production from these new farm lands.
opportunities are created for people who will move to these new cities.
opportunities are created in the companies and factories which
desalination system components
Opening new markets for solar collectors, desalination units and other engineering devices
(e.g. heat exchangers, pump, pipes, etc..), and this will create a significant income to the
conventional desalination system, about 474,658.725 US$
cluding thermal storage using water as storage medium is used
exported rather than being used for seawater desalination,
hard currency for the country
Significant increase in the Countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Solar without
storage
Solar with
water storage
Solar with
PCM storage
Capital and Operating Costs
Operating Costs
Capital Costs

desalination systems
2
[78]. If this project
will be created annually.
economical impacts for the application of this solar desalination
communities will be established and many people will move to the deserts.
Deserts cultivation that lead to a new agricultural production from these new farm lands.
are created for people who will move to these new cities.
are created in the companies and factories which are
its and other engineering devices
a significant income to the
474,658.725 US$ is saved if this
cluding thermal storage using water as storage medium is used
water desalination, and therefore
Operating Costs
Capital Costs
163

Concept Conventional MED Solar without storage Solar with water storage Solar with PCM storage
Capital Costs (US$)
MED unit 1000 m
3
/d (2.85 M $) [80] 741,000 1,428,000 741,000 741,000
Solar Collector (80 -250 $/m
2
) [79] - 1,640,500 1,741,750 1,741,750
Storage Tank Eq. (6.7) [76] - - 156,059.0871 149,219.1994
Storage Material 1 PCM ball costs 0.4 $ - - - 1,690,097.2
Storage specific cost $/GJ - - 1,964.4 23,152.6
Maintenance 7% of capital costs [82] 51,870 214,795 184,716.6361 302,544.648
Total Capital Costs 792,870 3,283,295 2,823,525.723 4,624,611.047
Operating Costs (US$)
Electricity 0.1 $/kWh [62] 47,450 47,450 47,450 47,450
Fuel (Natural Gas) 3 $/GJ [62] 125,265.7224 - - -
Total Operating Costs $/year 172,715.7224 47,450 47,450 47,450
Total Costs For 20 years (project life) 4,247,184.448 4,232,295 3,772,525.723 5,573,611.047
Water Cost $/m
3
1.118 $/m
3
1.114 $/m
3
0.993 $/m
3
1.468 $/m
3

*All costs are in US$, * Electricity and fossil fuel prices are assumed to be constant during the project life
*A general rule of thumb for order of magnitude estimates of capital costs is 30% [81]
*All costs are based on the highest values
Table 6-10 Economical study of different systems for seawater desalination in Egypt
164

6.8 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROMOTION IN
EGYPT
History shows that establishing a new industry needs not only a technology, but also an
accurate and powerful policy. Many efforts are needed to promote renewable energy in Egypt.
Egypt has a different situation as the renewable energy promotion is possible only by the
government because the conventional energy is strongly subsidized by the government. These
subsidies are the major hurdle for RE promotion in Egypt. The legislations are the key for
renewable energy promotion. Following are the suggested plan for the Egyptian government in
order to promote renewable energy in Egypt
1. Private Sector must be invited and allowed to engage in the energy production only
from renewable resources.
Private Sector will be controlled by the ministry of energy and electricity and the
government will buy all the produced energy
2. Concessional loans are offered by the government for renewable energy projects
3. Renewable energy projects are announced to be free of taxes during the first 10 years
of operation
4. All machines for renewable energy factories are announced to be free of customs
5. Subsidies are removed out from high consumptions of electricity and fuel; this will be
applied only on household users
6. Establishing of a national project for solar water heaters; the government pay the solar
collector price and customers pay back the money to the government during 10 years.
7. New cities and tourist cities are obligated to use solar collectors as source for hot water
8. New cities and tourist cities are obligated to use solar air conditioners
9. Tourist cities in Sinai are obligated to use solar desalination plants and are not allowed to
use the conventional desalination plants
10. More concern should be paid to biomass and biogas as source of energy because the
technology is well established and not expensive as other renewables
11. Repowering of Zafarana wind farm; most of wind turbines in Zafarana wind farm have
small capacity e.g. 600 kW, these wind turbines are repowered with new wind turbines of 5
MW.
12. New wind farms should be implemented
165

CHAPTER SEVEN
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The aim of this work is to study and optimize the proposed latent thermal energy storage
system based on a new technology of phase change material balls having no encapsulation
thickness and to present a case study of the integration of this system with a solar desalination
plant to produce fresh water in Egypt.
The effect of each of the independent parameters on the amount of thermal energy stored,
amount of thermal energy retrieved, temperature of discharged water, charging time and
discharging time are studied.
7.2 CONCLUSIONS
The scope of this study is to figure out the optimum operating conditions for a latent heat
storage system and to indicate the enhancement in the thermal energy storage capacity due to
the PCM packed bed. Several values of HTF mass flow rate and inlet temperature are
investigated. It is found that the packed bed enhanced the thermal energy stored by 12%.
Indeed, this percentage is not significant when economical issues are taken into account. One
reason of that is that the difference between the initial temperature of the storage tank (water
and the PCM balls packed bed) and the required storage temperature is big, and this led to that
the majority of the stored thermal energy is stored in form of sensible heat. It is well known
that water has a high capacity of sensible heat storage when compared to other storage
materials (e.g. the specific heat of water equal to 1.9 of the specific heat of PCM balls used in
this study), thus, water shows the best storage ability in region of sensible heat storage.
Nevertheless, the latent heat storage can have the major role for applications with smaller
operating temperature differences. Following are the conclusions that could be drawn from this
thesis:
7.2.1 Conclusions of The Experimental Work:
1. During charging and discharging processes, water reaches the required temperature and
discharges its stored thermal energy faster than PCM balls in the same zone
2. HTF mass flow rate has a significant effect on charging and discharging time; the time
required to complete charging and discharging processes decreases as mass flow rate
increases.
166

3. HTF mass flow rate has no significant effect on the accumulated stored and discharged
thermal energy.
4. High rate of thermal energy storage and retrieval during the initial time period and
thereafter the storage and retrieval rate of thermal energy decrease versus the time.
5. Low mass flow rates lead to discharge larger amounts of thermal energy at high water
temperatures.
6. Increasing HTF inlet temperature leads to the increase of the required time for charging
process.
7. Increasing the initial temperature of the storage tank has no significant effect on
discharging time at low mass flow rates, but it becomes more significant at high mass flow
rates. Discharging time increases as the initial temperature of the storage tank increases.
8. Increasing the charging HTF maximum inlet temperature leads to a significant increase in
the accumulated stored thermal energy and a significant increase in the accumulated
discharged thermal energy occurs as the initial temperature of the storage tank increases
9. The combined water and PCM packed bed enhanced the accumulated stored thermal
energy by 12% and required 5.46% more time than water to complete the charging process
for the same storage volume.
10. During water experiments, it was found that the accumulated stored thermal energy
decreases as the average initial temperature of the storage tank increases.
7.2.2 Conclusions of The Case Study:
1. Energy and water in Egypt are not sufficient to cover the local demand within the next 30
years, thus, there is a need to find new energy and water resources in Egypt.
2. The application of the proposed solar desalination system in Egypt can avoid 2362 tons of
CO
2
annually and several economical and social benefits are attained.
3. The cost of 1 m
3
of freshwater from the conventional system based on natural gas, solar
system without storage, solar system with storage based on water, and solar system with
storage based on a combined water and packed bed of the phase change material balls is
6.2, 6.2, 5.6, and 8.2 LE, respectively. Therefore, a solar desalination system integrated
with a storage unit based on water is found to be the best choice for seawater desalination
in Egypt.

167

7.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK
More research work is needed in the field of thermal energy storage using phase change
materials. Following are recommendations for future research
1. Investigation of the use of other heat transfer fluids having thermal conductivity higher
than that of water.
2. Investigation of thermal losses after thermal storage for a period of time in case of thermal
energy storage using phase change materials and compare it with energy storage using
water.
3. Investigation of new materials that have a high thermal conductivity in order to be
employed as phase change materials for thermal energy storage.

168

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