Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a PCM-Supported ...
Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a PCM-Supported ...
Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a PCM-Supported ...
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8.4 Conclusions<br />
The results obtained from the parametric study on the HDH system indicates that the<br />
crucial parameters have been rigorously defined for practical purposes under real<br />
weather conditions. The ideal HDH performance is approached for: brine<br />
concentration factor (r c )=2, air to hot water mass flow ratio=1.5, cooling water to air<br />
mass flow ratio=2, thermal storage volume 3-5 m 3 per m 3 <strong>of</strong> daily fresh water<br />
production capacity depending on the local climatic conditions.<br />
The once-through flow arrangement in the external <strong>PCM</strong> thermal buffer with a flat<br />
plat collector has a limited efficiency when combined with the HDH plant in<br />
comparison with water storages with the same volumetric capacity.<br />
For optimal operation <strong>of</strong> the external <strong>PCM</strong> thermal buffer, Stefan number must be<br />
small enough, as this means that there is a great amount <strong>of</strong> latent heat that can be<br />
stored (relative to sensible heat). The physical properties <strong>of</strong> useful phase change<br />
compounds, <strong>and</strong> the usable temperature ranges generally limit Ste to O (10 −2 ).<br />
However, the practical average yearly limit <strong>of</strong> Ste in the present application is O (1),<br />
which means that with this larger value <strong>of</strong> Ste the amount <strong>of</strong> sensible heat is much<br />
higher than the latent heat.<br />
Utilization <strong>of</strong> <strong>PCM</strong> in the thermal storage is recommended only for high energy<br />
density <strong>and</strong> in applications where there is a narrow operational temperature change<br />
around the melting range, as the latent heat becomes much larger than the sensible<br />
heat. It is therefore <strong>of</strong> interest to look in future studies at the techno-economical<br />
aspects for different simulation scenarios <strong>and</strong> coupling setups <strong>of</strong> the external thermal<br />
buffer <strong>and</strong> concentrating solar power collectors with the HDH system.<br />
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