Performance and Assessment of Porous Materials on Increasing the Supply Time of Hot Water for the Solar Collector

Abstract

This paper deals with the methods of thermal energy storage and its applications in the region of systems of solar water heating along with system of solar air heating and the substances used to preserve that thermal energy professionally. The work aim is to enhance the supply a hot water time from storage tank as long period as possible by filling the tank with a suitable porous media, and the best filling level of the packed bed material. Glass spheres with a diameter of 10 mm were used as a porous medium, where the porosity was (0.46) and the permeability was (2.225 ×10^-5) and thermal conductivity (0.197 W/ m.K), and the work was done without the use of porous media and by using different levels (150, 300, and 450) mm of porous media with a flow rate 2 L/min. The results showed that the time required for the temperature to decrease in the porous media tank from 318 K to 294 K increases with the increase in the level of the porous media in the tank. This means that the time of supplying hot water increases with the increase in the height level of the porous media.