Experimental investigation of a latent heat thermal energy storage unit encapsulated with molten salt/metal foam composite seeded with nanoparticles

Molten salt has been widely used in latent heat thermal energy storage(LHTES)system,which can be incorporated into hybrid photovoltaic/thermal solar system to accommodate the built environment.Solar salt(60 wt.%NaNO 3 and 40 wt.%KNO 3)was employed as the phase change materials(PCMs)in this study,and both aluminum oxide(Al_(2)O_(3))nanopowder and metal foam were used to improve the properties of pure solar salt.The synthesis of the salt/metal foam composites seeded with Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder were performed with the two-step and impregnation methods,and the composite PCMs were characterized morphologically and thermally.Then pure solar salt,the salt/2 wt.%Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder and salt/copper foam composite seeded with 2 wt.%Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder were encapsulated in a pilot test rig,respectively,where a heater of 380.0 W was located in the center of the LHTES unit.The charging and discharging processes of the LHTES unit were conducted extensively,whereas the heating temperatures were controlled at 240℃,260℃and 280℃respectively.Temperature evolutions at radial,angular and axial positions were recorded,and the time-durations and volumetric mean powers during the charging and discharging processes were obtained and calculated subsequently.The results show that physical bonding between Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder and nitrate molecule has been formed from the morphological pictures together with XRD and FTIR curves.Slight changes are found between the melting/freezing phase change temperatures of the salt/metal foam composites seeded with Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder and those of pure solar salt,and the specific heats of the salt/Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder composite slightly increase with the addition of Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder.The time-duration of the charging process for the salt/copper foam composite seeded with Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder at the heating temperature of 240℃can be reduced by about 74.0%,compared to that of pure solar salt,indicating that the heat transfer characteristics of the LHTES unit encapsulated with the salt/copper foam composite seeded with Al_(2)O_(3)nanopowder can be enhanced significantly.Consequently,the mean volumetric powers of the charging process were distinctly enhanced,e.g.,the volumetric mean power of heat storage can reach 110.76 kW/m 3,compared to 31.94 kW/m 3 of pure solar salt.However,the additive has little effect on the volumetric mean power of heat retrieval because of the domination of natural air cooling.

Experimental Analysis of a Solar Energy Storage Heat Pump System

This paper introduces a novel solar-assisted heat pump system with phase change energy storage and describes the methodology used to analyze the performance of the proposed system.A mathematical model was established for the key parts of the system including solar evaporator,condenser,phase change energy storage tank,and compressor.In parallel to the modelling work,an experimental set-up of the proposed solar energy storage heat pump system was developed.The experimental data showed that the designed system is capable of meeting cold day heating demands in rural areas of Yanbian city located in Jilin province of China.In day-time operation,the solar heat pump system stores excess energy in the energy storage tank for heating purposes.A desired indoor temperature was achieved;the average coefficient of performance of solar heat pump was identified as 4.5,and the system showed a stable performance throughout the day.In night-time operation,the energy stored in the storage tank was released through a liquid-solid change of phase in the employed phase-change material.In this way,the provision of continuous heat for ten hours was ensured within the building,and the desired indoor air conditions were achieved.

Design and analysis of a novel dual source vapor injection heat pump using exhaust and ambient air

A novel dual source vapor injection heat pump(DSVIHP)using exhaust and ambient air is proposed.The air exhausted from the building first releases energy to the medium-pressure evaporator and is then mixed with the ambient air to heat the low-pressure evaporator.A vapor injection(VI)compressor of two inlets is connected with the low and medium pressure evaporators.It’s first time that a VI compressor is employed to recover the ventilation heat.The system can minimize the ventilation heat loss and provide a unique defrosting approach by using the exhaust waste heat.Fundamentals of the proposed DSVIHP are illustrated.Mathematical models are built.Both energetic and exergetic analyses are carried out under variable conditions.The results indicate that the DSVIHP has superior thermodynamic performance.The superiority is more appreciable at a lower ambient temperature.It has a higher COP than the conventional vapor injection heat pump and air source heat pump by 11.3%and 23.2%respectively at an ambient temperature of-10°C and condensation temperature of 45°C.The waste heat recovery ratio from the exhaust air is more than 100%.The novel DSVIHP has great potential in the cold climate area application.