Increasing the Thermal Efficiency of Solar Flat Plate Collector Using Phase Change Materials

In this study the effect of using phase change materials (PCM) at different positions inside a flat plate collector (FPC) which connected to a cabinet dryer was investigated. The experiments were performed at four positions of PCM tube considering a, b, c, d and without PCM. For all the experiments the value of the PCM and the air flow rate were 4.3 kg and 0.018 kg/s respectively. By increasing the solar radiation the stored energy inside the PCM increased and the levels of stored energy at the end of the collector was higher that inlet vent. The results showed that using PCM increased the outlet energy related to the system without PCM. It was about 16.29, 17.1, 17.18 and 18.12 MJ for a, b, c and d respectively. The outlet energy for the collector without PCM was estimated about 12.33 MJ. Also the results showed that the thermal efficiency of the collector with PCM through the plate varies from 51.32% to 55.91% whereas it was 49.33% for the system without PCM. There is a good agreement between the experimental and simulated data reported from CFD analysis of the collector.