Design and Testing of a Latent Heat Storage for Solar Cooling Applications
Abstract
The present paper reports the design, realization and testing of a lab-scale latent heat storage, specifically realized for solar cooling applications. The latent heat storage is based on a fin-and-tubes heat exchanger configuration employing a commercial paraffin as PCM. The paper mainly focuses on the experimental characterization, carried out by means of a test rig, available at the laboratory of the CNR ITAE, able to simulate working boundaries of a solar cooling plant. The experimental outcomes confirmed the increased heat storage density obtained by such a new component, compared to standard sensible heat storage. Nevertheless, still some limitations in the achievable heat transfer rate is highlighted, due to improper realization of the component.
Keywords
Heat storage, Solar cooling, Pcm