Design and Development of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Tank

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is one of the techniques that can be used to store the solar energy for a longer period of time. Aim of this project is to design and develop a thermal energy storage system that is used with a substance called phase change material (PCM) as a storage media. Part of this project objective, a Parabolic Tough Collector (PTC) is integrated with the TES tank and it acts as a source of solar energy. The TES tank is designed with a copper coil as a heat exchanger in a cylindrical Perspex container. In the container, the PCM is filled in and around the copper coil. The hot/cold water is flowing through the coil as the heat transfer to the PCM is occurring due to the temperature differences. Moreover, the testing of the TES tank is conducted at outdoor environment to observe the phase change and then analyze the parameters involved. The testing is conducted at two different flow rates i.e. at 60 liters/h and 20 liters/h. As a conclusion, water flow rate of 60 lit/h shows a better time of charging and discharging of PCM in comparison to flow rate of 20 lit/h. The TES tank is able to charge the PCM till it completely solidifies within 75 minutes and discharged it (liquid to solid) within 50 minutes with an average heat flux of 559.9 w/m2.