Enhancement of Thermal Energy Storage Using Phase-Change Material under Jordanian Climate

AbstractIn this paper, the effect of using a phase-change material (PCM) on the storage capacity of a conventional solar storage system was carried out. This was obtained by using encapsulated spheres that contain paraffin wax as PCM; this enables the control of the quantity of the PCM. The quantity of the solar energy stored was indicated by the rise in both inlet and outlet water temperatures of the collectors used in the system. Hourly storage temperatures were recorded during the charging of the system. The maximum increase in water temperature was recorded when the volume flow rate of the water was found to be 4 L/min; this value was used throughout the work to study the enhancement of thermal energy storage using PCM. It was found that the amount of energy stored increases with the quantity of phase-change material, with a percent increase in the inlet and outlet water temperatures of 8 and 9%, respectively.