Solar collector-air heater with heat accumulator

The use of heat accumulators charged by solar energy allows to significantly improve the operation of solar air heaters, which is explained by the ability of such systems to function effectively without a fuel backup even in the complete absence of direct solar radiation. The main disadvantage of existing designs of solar air heaters with heat accumulators is the incomplete use of the surface of the container with heat-accumulating material in the charge and discharge cycles. A new design solution for a solar collector-air heater is proposed, which ensures the use of the entire external surface of the tubular containers with heat-accumulating material in the process of heat exchange during the operation of the installation. The laboratory and full-scale tests of an experimental sample of such an installation have obtained data on the heat of fusion of the heat-accumulating composition and the productivity of heated air in different periods of the year. The implementation of such a plant in the climatic conditions of Makhachkala allows for the production of heated air in a volume of up to 734 m³/day from each square meter of absorber and up to 21 m³/day from 1 kg of the adopted heat-accumulating composition.