Novel Tube-In-Tube Integrated Solar Water Heater System Thermal Performance Analysis

The research work done is related to solar thermal energy storage using Integrated Tube-in-Tube Solar Water Heater (ITTSWH) encapsulated with PCM. Normally conventional solar water heater has 13 ± 3% heat loss during night time. In this connection, ITTSWH system has been designed and fabricated for conducting various experiments. Initially tube-intube glazing heat transfer analysis is done for different mediums like air, inert gas and vacuum condition. From this study, large quantity of solar thermal energy is absorbed during clear day time. The PCM material gets charged when there is available of solar radiation and discharges whenever the source is not there. And, the ITTSWH system thermal performance is analyzed by varying the mass flow rate of the water. This type of integrated thermal energy storage system has a good potential of acting as a thermal storage device and can be used in water heating application in absence of solar energy