TY  - EJOU
AU  - Abdulmalek, Shaymaa Husham 
AU  - Gitan, Ali Ahmed 
AU  - Farhan, Israa Sami 
AU  - Khalaf, Oras Fadhil 
AU  - Albayati, Sayf Waleed 

TI  - Environmental Sustainability through Waste-to-Wealth Automotive Oil Usage in a Thermal Storage System Integrated with Circulating-Air Solar Air Heater
T2  - Energy Engineering

PY  - 2026
VL  - 123
IS  - 3
SN  - 1546-0118

AB  - The utilisation of waste in green sustainable technology can provide a clean environment and support energy demand. This work aims to design and analyse the performance of a developed indirect flat-plate Solar Air Heater (SAH) integrated with an internal thermal storage unit using Waste Automotive Oil (WAO). The SAH was designed based on the circulation of confined air around the internal thermal storage unit due to the updraft effects of hot air. Two SAHs were tested to compare the performance of WAO and water, with the results being compared to previous work that utilised phase change material. Results showed that WAO responds faster in the early stage, while water has slightly higher daytime efficiency, with a maximum temperature of 60°C, while WAO reached a maximum temperature of 76°C. During the discharge cycle, WAO achieved an efficiency of 65.7%, while the water’s efficiency 73.2% within the same period. The highest outlet air temperatures recorded were 43°C for WAO and 33.8°C for water. These findings support that water is suitable for applications requiring rapid thermal charging, while WAO offers extended thermal stability. The study highlights the feasibility of using low-cost materials, such as WAO and water, to enhance the performance of solar energy systems, thereby making them more viable for industrial applications like drying and heating.
KW  - Solar air heater; phase change materials (PCM); thermal performance; thermal storage; waste oil

DO  - 10.32604/ee.2026.074018