Thermal Performance of New Hybrid Solar Energy-phase Change Storage-floor Radiant Heating System

A new solar energy-phase change storage-floor radiant heating system is proposed to provide a comfort indoor environment in winter. In this study the proposed new system is applied in an office building in Urumqi in China. The system consists mainly of three units: evacuate heat pipe solar collectors (as heat collection unit), vertical phase change thermal energy storage device (VPCTESD) and floor radiant heating system. The influence on thermal efficiency of solar collector, inlet and outlet water temperature, connect method during local heating period and thermal performance of this system was developed experimentally. The results reported in this paper adequately support the new system as an alternative to the traditional solar heating system, and it can increase 30% utilization of solar energy than traditional solar heating system. The research result provides a reference for optimization design of this kind of system.