Open Access
ARTICLE
Experimental Investigation on Prototype Latent Heat Thermal Battery Charging and Discharging Function Integrated with Solar Collector
Farhood Sarrafzadeh Javadi1, Hendrik Simon Cornelis Metselaar1,2,*, Poo Balan Ganesan1
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
2
Center of Advanced Materials, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia
* Corresponding Author: Hendrik Simon Cornelis Metselaar. Email:
Energy Engineering 2022, 119(4), 1587-1610. https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2022.020304
Received 16 November 2021; Accepted 29 November 2021; Issue published 23 May 2022
Abstract
This paper reports the performance investigation of a newly developed Latent Heat Thermal Battery (LHTB)
integrated with a solar collector as the main source of heat. The LHTB is a new solution in the field of thermal
storage and developed based on the battery concept in terms of recharge ability, portability and usability as a
standalone device. It is fabricated based on the thermal battery storage concept and consists of a plate-fin and tube
heat exchanger located inside the battery casing and paraffin wax which is used as a latent heat storage material.
Solar thermal energy is absorbed by solar collector and transferred to the LHTB using water as Heat Transfer Fluid
(HTF). Charging experiments have been conducted with a HTF at three different temperatures of 68°C, 88°C and
108°C and three different flow rates of 30, 60 and 120 l/h. It is followed by discharging experiments on fully charged
LHTB at three different temperatures of 68°C, 88°C and 108°C using HTF at three different flow rates of 30, 60
and 120 l/h. It is found that both higher HTF inlet temperature and flow rate have a positive impact on stored
thermal energy. However, charging efficiency was decreased by increasing the HTF flow rate. The highest charging
efficiency of 29% was achieved using HTF of 108°C at a flow rate of 30 l/h. Most of paraffin melted in this case,
while part of the paraffin remained solid in other experiments. On the other hand, the results from discharging
experiments revealed that both recovered thermal energy and recovery efficiency increased by either increasing
the LHTB temperature or HTF flow rate. Highest recovered thermal energy of 5,825 KJ at 35% recovery efficiency
achieved at LHTB of 108°C using 120 l/h of HTF.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Javadi, F. S., Simon, H., Ganesan, P. B. (2022). Experimental Investigation on Prototype Latent Heat Thermal Battery Charging and Discharging Function Integrated with Solar Collector.
Energy Engineering, 119(4), 1587–1610.