Development of thermal storage tank with phase change material

• Main Author: Wong, Yoon Sheng.
• Other Authors: Tan Fock Lai
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Alternative, renewable energy sources; DRNTU::Engineering::Manufacturing::Product engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/16107
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The assigned project was to design and develop a thermal storage tank with phase change material. The purposes of the storage tank were to stored thermal energy gathered from solar collectors and use this energy to heat water for domestic use. The development of the storage tank began with a literature review on Phase Change Materials and Thermal Storage Systems which then led to the conceptual and innovation of design concepts and contrivance of the specific design of the storage tank. The final design of the storage tank was an aluminium cylindrical storage tank 0.5m high, 0.14m in diameter and 6.8 litres in volume with a coil heat exchanger used for heat transfers between the PCM and the heat transfer fluid. The final design of the storage tank was fabricated and experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the storage tank based on different flow rates and flow direction parameters. Results gathered from the experiments concluded that the Thermal Storage Tank was able to effectively heat water for at least 40 minutes and raised the temperature 2 -3˚C higher compared to using sensible heat storage medium (water). The heat energy released from the storage tank was calculated and it indicated the total heat release from the storage tank with PCM was 7000 joules (50%) higher compared to the storage tank using a sensible heat storage medium (water).