A packed bed solar air heating systems: Performance analysis

Packed bed units generally, represent the most suitable storage units for air heating solar systems. In these systems the storage unit receives the heat from the collector during the collection period and discharges the heat to the building at the retrieval process. A method for sizing of packed-bed storage in an air heating system is represented. The complete simple solar heating system is simulated numerically during both the heating and retrieval processes. The simulation, which utilizes the hourly meteorological data, takes into account consideration of the principle parameters such as pressure drop across the bed, particle diameter, and mean void age. The results are compared with the reported data from a real size of storage and also with the criteria of f-chart recommendation.