An experimental investigation of performance of a double pass solar air heater with thermal storage medium

Abstract

The performance of a double pass solar air heater was experimentally investigated using four different configurations. First configuration contained only absorber plate whereas copper tubes filled with thermal storage medium (paraffin wax) were added on the absorber plate in the second configuration. Aluminum and steel rods as thermal enhancer were inserted in the middle of paraffin wax of each tube for configurations three and four, respectively. Second configuration provided useful heat for about 1.5 hours after the sunset compared to first configuration. Configurations three and four provided useful heat for about 2 hours after the sunset. The maximum efficiency of about 96% was achieved using configuration three (i. e. using aluminum rods in the middle of copper tubes filled with paraffin wax).