Applied Energy 14 (1983) 197-209

A S o l a r W a t e r H e a t e r B a s e d on P h a s e - C h a n g i n g
Material

Ashok Kumar Bhargava*

Physics Department, Ramjas College,

Delhi University, Delhi-110007 (India)

S UMMA R Y

A water heater utilising a material which changes phase for storage

of solar energy is discussed. The transient analysis is carried out by
replacing the solid-liquid block of the phase-changing material by a
fictitious solid and assuming that the solid-liquid boundary remains
stationary throughout the day. The efficiency of the system and the outlet
water temperature during the evening hours increase with the increase in
the thermal conductivity of the solid-liquid phases of the materials. Hot
water can be obtained throughout the day if water pipes are placed near
the surface of the storage material. The outlet water temperature curve
becomes flat if the pipes are placed near the bottom of the storage
material.

NOMENCLATURE

A area of the collector.

c specific heat.
hi heat transfer coefficient: from PCM surface to the glazing.
ha heat transfer coefficient: from glazing to the ambient environment.
hA heat transfer coefficient: from the back of the insulation to the
ambient environment.
K thermal conductivity.
k thermal conductivity of air.
* Present address: B2/4B Lawrence Road, Delhi-110035 (India).
197
Applied Energy 0306-2619/83/$03"00 © Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England,
1983. Printed in Great Britain
198 Ashok Kumar Bhargava

L latent heat of melting.

l thickness of the various regions of the water heater.
rhw rate of water flow through the plastic pipes.
M mass.
S solar insolation.
t time.
T temperature.
Tav average temperature of the fictitious solid.
TO PCM melting point.
x coordinate.
fraction of the solar insolation absorbed by PCM surface.
Zg fraction of solar insolation absorbed by the glazing.
~o angular frequency.
p density.

Subscripts
A ambient.
eft effective.
g glass.
1 liquid.
s solid.
W water.

I N T R O D U C T I ON

In the utilisation of solar energy one of the main problems is its storage.
The energy is available at a time when it is not much in demand. It should
be stored during day time for use in the evening and night time. With
metallic fiat plate collectors, there is no storage because of the low specific
heat and high conductivity of the collector material. Phase-changing
materials (PCM) present us with an attractive possible means of storing
solar energy. During the day time the PCM melts and the solar energy is
stored as the latent heat of the material. The energy so stored can be
withdrawn during the evening hours from the system either by air or by
water. Solar systems based on phase-changing materials are less bulky
because of their low density. The three commonly used PCM materials
are: sodium sulphate decahydrate (Na2SO 4. 10H20 ), sodium phosphate
dodecahydrate (Na2HPO 4. 12H20) and Pl16 Wax. One can employ
different kinds of wax with different melting points.
 A solar water heater based on phase-changing material 199

The analysis of PCM systems is difficult due to the time-dependent

liquid-solid interface. However, a simpler model has been posed 1- 3 t o
evaluate the performance of PCM-based systems. In this method the
actual liquid-solid PCM is replaced by a fictitious solid. The effective
thermal properties, thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity, of the
fictitious solid are related to the physical properties of the solid and the
liquid phases of PCM. For the purpose of the calculations, average values
of the solar insolation and the ambient temperature for the whole day are
used. Such replacements simplify the problem considerably and the
performance of the system can be evaluated without resorting to
computer calculations in solving non-linear partial differential equations
governing the behaviour of the actual PCM slab.
In this paper the performance of a solar water heater, which utilises a
phase-changing material as the heat storage material, is evaluated. The
three different phase-changing materials studied are: Na2SO 4. 10H:O,
Na2HPO4.12H20 and P116 Wax. The thermal conductivities and the
melting temperatures of these three materials differ considerably. The
effects of various design parameters (e.g. size of the PCM block, positions
of the water pipes, and the rate of water flow through the system) on the
efficiency are studied. The efficiency as well as the outlet water tempera-
ture depend on the thermal conductivity of the liquid-solid phases of
PCM. The efficiency increases as the thermal conductivity of the materials
increases (Na2HPO 4 possessing the highest thermal conductivity). It is
shown that hot water can be obtained throughout the day if the water
pipes are placed near the surface. However, the difference between inlet
and outlet water temperature during the evening and night hours
increases as the depth of the pipes below the surface increases. The outlet
water temperature curve becomes fiat as the depth of the water pipes
inside the PCM block increases.

T H E R M A L PROPERTIES OF THE FICTITIOUS SOLID

The water heater consists of a PCM slab enclosed in a wooden box

covered by a single glass sheet (see Fig. 1). The heat is withdrawn from the
system by the continuous flow of water through the plastic pipes placed
inside the PCM slab at an appropriate depth. Initially the PCM slab is in
the solid phase. As solar insolations fall on the PCM, its temperature rises
and part of the solid is converted into liquid. The solar energy is stored as
200 Ashok Kumar Bhargava

Solar insolations

11
-X'O

Liquid phase- - ---~-- ._

x = [1
Solid p h a s e - ~ [ I= ..... ~ nr~--x=l 2

Water pipes ~ " ~'~ . . . . . . J"- x=13

,o,.,a,ioo .- x : l

Fig. I. The structure of the water heater at a particular time.

the latent heat of melting. The position of the liquid-solid boundary, 1I,
changes with the time of day. Non-linear partial differential equations
govern the behaviour of the system. However, the analysis of the system
can be greatly simplified because it is possible to replace the liquid-solid
PCM by a fictitioussolid. The system shown in Fig. I is analysed in the
steady state by assuming that the average solar insolation received by the
PCM in a day is S o and the liquid-solid boundary remains stationary
throughout the day. The effective conductivity and the effective specific
heat of the fictitioussolid then can be related to the physical properties of
the liquid-solid phase of the PCM and the depth of the liquid phase, 11.
The behavior of the fictitious solid is now governed by linear partial
differential equations which are easy to handle.
For the analysis we assume that during the whole day: (i) the liquid
depth remains stationary at l 1, (ii) the surface of the liquid receives an
average solar insolation So, (iii) the average ambient temperature is TA0
and (iv) when the steady state is reached the temperatures in the liquid,
solid and the insulator vary linearly with distance. We write:
T i = Tio - xTil (1)
i = 1,2,3,4 for li_ l <_X <_li, lo = O
The unknowns Tio, Til and l 1 can be determined by the following
boundary conditions which represent energy conservation and the
continuity of the temperature at the glass cover and at the x = 0, 11, 12, 13
and l 4 planes:
At the glass cover:

g gc g~-=zgS(t) +h,(Tl(x=O)- T g ) - h a ( T g - T s) (2)

 A solar water heater based on phase-changing material 201

At the x = 0 plane:

-K C~Tll =~S(t)-h,(Tl(x=O )- Tg) (3)

ax I~:o
At the x -- l 1 plane:
~,T l ~T 2
(4)

T l ( x = 11) = T 2 ( x = 11) = T O (5)

At the x = l2 plane:

- K~ OT2 = - K OT31 (6)

T2(x = / 2 ) = T3(x = / z ) (7)

At the x - - l 3 plane:

- K~ OT3 = - K OTu (8)

~x x=13 3~x x=13

r3(x = 13) = T4(x = 13) (9)

At the x -- l4 plane:

-K OT4 =hA(T4(x=14)- TA) (10)

3 ~ X x=14

Here Q is the rate of heat withdrawal by the water. F o r the geometry of the
system 4
Q = r h w c w ( T 2 ( x = l,) - TA) (11)
The average temperature of the fictitious solid is given by:
f,3
T~v = 13 Jo T ( x ) d x

1
= 13 [ll Tlo + (12 - ll )T20 --~ (13 - / 2 ) T 3 o
- 1112T11 - 1 2 - - 12)T2 1
~(12 - - ~1( / 3 2 - - 122)T31 ] (1 2)
The average total heat received by the fictitious solid during the whole
day is
13PACeff(Tav- TAO)
202 Ashok Kumar Bhargava

The heat received is utilised in two ways: (i) part of it is stored as the latent
heat of the liquid, LllAp; and (ii) another portion, 13Apcs(Tav - TAO), is
used in raising the temperature of the PCM slab from TAOto T=v. Energy
conservation gives:
11 L
Ceff= Cs 4 (13)
13 T a r - TAO
The effective thermal conductivity of the fictitious solid is defined as 2

II ) II
Kef f = K s 1 - 13 + K= l~ (14)

MODEL FORMULATION

The water heater, after replacement of the PCM by the fictitious solid, is
shown in Fig. 2. The fictitious solid is contained between the x = 0 and
x = l 3 planes. The heat is withdrawn from the system by the continuous
flow of water through the pipes placed at a depth l 2 inside the solid block.
In the solid slab, the heat travels in the downward direction. For
simplicity we assume that the side walls are suitably insulated such that
the axial heat conduction through the walls is negligible. The heat
conduction in the downward direction is then governed by the one-
dimensional Fourier heat conduction equation:

0rx 2r=j
t~t - a J ~x z (15)

for lj_ 1 < x < l ~ , j = O , 2, 3 and / o = 0 .

The temperature distribution Txj of the flh region is given by"

T;(x, t) = rio - xTjl +

m=l

x [Aj,. exp (a~x) + Bj,, exp ( - ejx)]Xexp (im~ot) (16)

where
~j=-(1 + i)/~;v/~
 A solar water heater based on phase-changing material 203

Solar insolotions

i,i
r°7[Tl °l
V//////////////A Z
Fig. 2. T h e structure of the water heater after replacement of the phase-change material
by the fictitious solid c o n t a i n e d between the x = 0 a n d x = l 3 planes.

and
((DjOjCj~I/2

The unknowns Tj0 , Tjl , Aj,, and Bj,, in eqn (16) are determined from the
boundary conditions at the glass cover, at x = 0, 12, 13 and 14 planes
representing the energy conservation and the continuity of temperature.
These seven boundary conditions can be easily obtained from eqns (2),
(3), and (6)-(I0) by suitable modifications. Now the whole solid block is
described by an effective conductivity Ke~f (eqn (14)) and effective specific
heat Ceff(eqn (I 3)).
The inputs of the model are solar insolation and the ambient
temperature. These are periodic functions of time with a period of 24
hours. Since the driving forces are periodic, all other quantities of interest,
i.e. temperatures inside the solid block, and the cover temperature will
also be periodic functions of time having the same period. The periodic
quantities which are not x-dependent are represented by the real part of
the Fourier series, i.e.
0(;

S ( t ) = S O + Re ) ' S,. exp (imo)t) (17)

m=l

where
Sm = PSm exp ( - i~s,.)

T A = TAO +Re 2 TA"exp(imcnt) (18)

m=l
204 Ashok Kumar Bhargava

where

TAm = PA,. exp ( - tram)

oo

Tg = Tgo + Re ) ' , Tg,.exp(im~ot) (19)

¢ d
m=l

The substitution of eqns (17)-(19) in the appropriate b o u n d a r y con-

ditions gives two sets of seven simultaneous linear equations (one set has
m dependent variables and the other set has m independent variables).
These equations were solved numerically on an IBM 360 model 44
computer at Delhi University.
The average daily efficiency of the system is defined as

~24Q(t)dt
q - ~24S(t) dt (20)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this work calculations are carried out for three different materials:
Na2SO 4. 10HEO,Na2HPO 4. 12HeO and P116 wax. The relevant physical
properties of these three materials are shown in Table 1. The thermal
performance of the solar water heater is evaluated for 15 October 1979.
F o r the numerical analysis, hourly d a t a of the solar insolation (see Fig. 3),
and the ambient temperature at New Delhi are taken. The data are fitted
by seven harmonics of the Fourier series. For seven harmonics the

TABLE 1
The Physical Properties of Three Kinds of Phase-changing Materials

Property P116 Wax Na2SO a. lOH20 Na2HP04.12H20

cs (kJkg -1 °C -1) 2"89 1-92 1"68

cI(kJ kg- 1 °C- 1) 2"89 3"26 1'93
Ks (kJ h- x oC- l) 0"497 1"850 10"548
K1(kJh -l °C-I) 0-497 2'120 2-120
Ps (kg m-3) 786 1460 1 520
L (kJ kg- ~) 209 251 279
TO(°C) 46.7 32 36.11
 A solar water heater basedon phase-changing material 205

3200

,~ 2/-.00
-r.=

.G
1600-

C/3

800

Z, 8 12 16 20
Time (h)
Fig. 3. Solar insolati0n as a function of time for 15 October 1979.

sum of the squares of the differences between experimental and the

calculated points is a minimum. The Fourier coefficients are shown in
Table 2 .
The heat transfer coefficients h 1 and h a are temperature-dependent
quantities. Their values depend on the time of the day and on other
parameters such as rh w and l 1. In the calculations, for fixed values of rh w
and l 1, one must use a value averaged over the whole day. The coefficients

TABLE 2
The Fourier Coefficients of the Meteorological Data Solar Insolation and Ambient
Temperature, S O = 1034 W m - 2 kJ h - 1 m - 2, TA° = 28 °C

m 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

ps,,(kJh l m - 2 ) 1 784-50 751.030 25.099 166.468 23-211 76.429 12.866

as,.(rad) 3-001 5.985 0.643 2.693 0-528 5.045 2.124
pA,,(°C) 8"107 1"304 0-432 0"382 0-144 0"175 0'208
aA,,(rad ) 3.381 0.307 5-717 2.698 2.654 4.383 1-624
206 Ashok Kumar Bhargava

h I a n d h a are sums o f two parts, d u e to r a d i a t i o n a n d c o n v e c t i o n , i.e.

h a = hwind + hrga (21)

h~ = hrsg + h c (22)
where
hrg a - 8 o [ T x a 1 ( x = 0 ) - Tag]/[Tx,(X = 0) - Tg] (23)
0.31
hc 0.093k ~gfll 3 (Txl(X = 0 ) -- Tg) (24)
- l l_7 -
hwi,d = (20"5 + 14.3 V) kJ m - 2 h - 1 (25)
V is the wind velocity in m s - 1 . hrsg is given b y an expression similar
to eqn (23) with suitable modifications. T h e glass plate is kept at a
distance o f 3 c m f r o m the a b s o r b i n g surface a n d the initial values
o f the heat t r a n s f e r coefficients are t a k e n to be h a = 1 0 0 k J h - i m - 2 ,
h i = 30 kJ h - 1 m - 2 and hA = 70 kJ h - 1 m - 2. T h e value o f H A remains
c o n s t a n t t h r o u g h o u t the c a l c u l a t i o n s because the d o m i n a n t m o d e o f heat
loss f r o m the b a c k o f the c o l l e c t o r to the a m b i e n t e n v i r o n m e n t is d u e to
the flow o f air. W i t h the initial values o f h a a n d h~, the t e m p e r a t u r e
d i s t r i b u t i o n inside the w a t e r h e a t e r is o b t a i n e d . This t e m p e r a t u r e
d i s t r i b u t i o n is used in calculating h a a n d h~ at each h o u r o f the day. A n
average value o f h a a n d h~ is first calculated, a n d t h e n the t e m p e r a t u r e
d i s t r i b u t i o n o f the w a t e r h e a t e r is calculated. This iterative process is

TABLE 3
The Properties of the Fictitious Solid for Some Values of l 2 and rhw: I t is the average depth
of the liquid for the whole day

NaESO 4. 10H20 Na2HPO,. 12H20 P116 Wax

rhw (kg/h~)lz (m) 0.02 0-08 0-02 0.08 0.02 0-08
\

Tar (°C) 20 30.3 35-1 30.4 34.8 29.0 37-1

60 27.8 33.4 27.6 33.4 27.3 36-5
Ke. (kJ h- x °C- 1) 20 2-08 1.95 2-42 6.87 0.497 0.497
60 2.11 1.98 1.38 6.08 0.497 0.497
ceff (kJ kg -1 °C -1) 20 8-3 16.0 3.27 16.4 2.41 6.18
60 5.4 16-1 5.28 15-8 1.35 6.15
11 (m) 20 0.016 0-062 0 . 0 2 1 0.056 0.012 0.020
60 0.005 0-052 0 - 0 1 5 0-047 0.008 0.019
 A solar water heater based on phase-changing material 207

continued until the difference between two successive values of the

efficiency is less than 1%. In our calculations, the sky temperature TS is
taken to be 10°C less than the ambient temperature, e = 0.9, rg = 0"06
and ~ = 0.80.
In Table 3, the effective conductivity, the effective specific heat, the
average temperature and the average liquid depth for l 3 = 0" 10 m and for
selected values ofl 2 and rhw are shown. The storage of energy depends on
the specific heat, the higher the specific heat the greater the energy that
can be stored. Since the latent heats of all the three materials are
approximately the same, one would expect that average specific heats
would be the same for all of them. The flow of heat from the surface
depends on the thermal conductivity. If the thermal conductivity of the
material is high, the heat will be quickly removed to the heat retrieval
plane, thus preventing the surface from attaining high temperatures. In
the case of P 116 wax, because of its low effective thermal conductivity, the
surface temperature becomes as high as 100 °C thereby causing a large
rate of heat loss from the surface by radiation. The storage is thus low,
which is reflected in the low effective specific heat.
48:
12(m) r~w(kgh-I ) ~¢--~\
I 0.02 20
110.08 20 // /"~"~'
4C

uI

E 32

7
~5 24 Ambient temperature - ~
0

- - No 2 SO4
..... No 2 HP04
-o--o- p 116 Wox

'6f
12
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Time(h)
Fig. 4. T h e outlet w a t e r t e m p e r a t u r e for some values of Iz (13 = 0.10 m, rn, = 60 kg h - 1).
208 Ashok Kumar Bhargava

40
12fro)

32

fi

24

16 PI16 W0x

12 i , a I , J , I , i J I l J l I J J J I r i i
0 4 8 12 16 20 2/.
Time (h)
Fig. 5. The outlet water temperature for some values of l2 (/3 = 0 . 1 0 m ,
rnw = 60 kg h - 1).

The outlet water temperature for all three of the phase-changing

materials is shown in Figs4 and 5 for 13 = 0.10m and some values of l 2
and rnw. For water pipes near the surface, the outlet water temperature is
greater than the inlet water temperature throughout the day. The
maximum and minimum temperatures decrease a s l 2 increases and thus
the curve becomes flat (Fig. 5): Tou, becomes less than Ti, for some hours
TABLE 4
The Efficiency of the Water Heater (based on a phase-
changing material) for some Values o f 12 and rhw

~rhw(kg/h) 20 40 60
l2 ( m ) ~

0.02 54 60 63
N a 2 S O 4. 1 0 H 2 0 0.05 43 47 49
0.08 35 38 39
0.02 55 58 58
Na2 H P O 4 . 1 2 H 2 0 0.05 53 57 58
0.08 52 57 59
0.02 37 40 41
Pll6Wax 0.05 21 22 23
0.08 15 16 16
 A solar water heater based on phase-changing material 209

of the day. During this period, most of the solar energy is used in melting
the PCM slab and very little energy percolates downward. In the
evenings, this stored energy starts reaching the heat retrieval plane thus
raising Tou,. The difference Tou, - Ti, during the evening hours depends
on the thermal conductivities of the PCM solid-liquid phases.
In Table 4 the efficiency for 13 = 0.10 m and some values of l 2 and 1/7w
are shown. We also made predictions for 13 = 0.15m; the conclusions
remain significantly unchanged.

CONCLUSIONS

A water heater based on materials which change their phase can provide
hot water throughout the day if the water pipes are placed near the
surface. The difference between outlet and inlet water temperature during
evening and night hours increases (i) as the thermal conductivity of the
solid-liquid phase of the PCM increases, and (ii) as the depth of the
water pipes below the surface increases.
The efficiency depends on the thermal conductivities of the liquid and
solid phases of the PCM: the larger the conductivities the more efficient
will be the system.

REFERENCES

1. D.J. Morrison and S. I. Abdel-Khalik, Effects of phase change energy storage

on the performance of air based and liquid based solar heating systems, Solar
Energy, 20, (1978), pp. 57-67.
2. J.J. Jurinak and S. I. Abdel-Khalik, Properties optimization for phase change
energy storage in air based solar heating systems, Solar Energy, 21, (1978),
pp. 377-83.
3. J. J. Jurinak and S. I. Abdel-Khalik, Sizing phase change energy storage units
for air based solar heating systems, Solar Energy, 22, (1979), pp. 355-9.
4. A. K. Bhargaya, J. Prakash and S. P. Sabberwal, Performance of an
inexpensive rural solar collector, International Journal o f Energy Research.
Accepted for publication.