Solar Chimney Operation Variant

This paper presents a solar chimney that acts as a heat accumulator. It is based on its alternating charging (melting of the phase change material—PCM) and discharging (solidification), which helps to save energy and ensures stable operation of the solar chimney. In this paper, special attention has been paid to the heat dissipation process (solidification of the PCM). The theoretical model of solidification has been solved in an original way. This paper presents a new simple theoretical model for the solidification of the PCM on a flat plate and presents the results of numerical tests. The theoretical model presents a method for determining the heat transfer coefficient at the solidification front of the PCM. In addition, the heat transfer coefficient from the flowing air to the outer surface of the solidifying front plate was determined experimentally in an original way. The heat transfer coefficient values resulting from the experiments may be employed in order to calculate the heat transfer coefficient for air flowing through the slot of the collector in the solar chimney. The calculated value of the heat transfer coefficient was 18.55 W/m²K.