INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357

Published online 21 May 2017 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/er.3765

REVIEW PAPER

Review of the phase change material (PCM) usage for

solar domestic water heating systems (SDWHS)
Mohamed Hany Abokersh1,*,† , Mohamed Osman1, Omnia El-Baz2, Mohamed El-Morsi1 and
Osama Sharaf3
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11566, Egypt
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt

SUMMARY
The shortage in energy resources combined with the climb in greenhouse emissions is the main incentive beyond the
deployment of solar energy resource in various applications. One of the most successful applications is the utilization of
solar energy in the domestic water heating systems (DWHS) because 70% of the consumed energy in the residential
segment is utilized for space heating and appliances in cold climates [1]. However, the full deployment of solar energy
in domestic water heating is only possible when an energy storage system with acceptable price is available. Recently a
new tendency for deploying phase change materials (PCMs) as an energy storage system is introduced in several solar
DWHS. These systems are known as integrated PCM in solar DWHS and offer several advantages including high storage
capacity, low storage volume, and isothermal operation during the charging and discharging phases. The present study
reviews various techniques utilized for integrating the PCM in solar water heating systems and the utilized methods for
enhancing the heat transfer characteristics of the PCM through the usage of extended surfaces and high conductive
additives. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
KEY WORDS
thermal energy storage; domestic solar water heating systems; phase change material; heat transfer enhancement

Correspondence
*Mohamed Hany Abokersh, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in
Cairo, Parcel 8, 74 S El-Teseen St, NEW CARO, Cairo, 11835, Egypt.
†
E-mail: m.hany@aucegypt.edu

Received 5 February 2017; Revised 1 April 2017; Accepted 3 April 2017

1. INTRODUCTION installed capacity to 435 GWthermal. However, renewable

According to the Renewables 2016 Global Status Report [1],
the global energy consumption and the CO2 emissions
increased by 54% and 52%, respectively, over the period
from 1995 to 2015. Furthermore, about 70% of the
consumed energy in the residential segment is utilized for
space heating and appliances in cold climates, and for water
heating and cooking in moderate and warm climates [2]. In
cold climates, 15% of the consumed energy in the residential
segment is utilized for water heating, 45% for space heating,
and 25% for appliances and other equipment [2]. Most of
these applications require low temperature heat, lower than
100°C, which could be provided by using the available
renewable energy technologies such as solar water heaters
(SWHs) and biomass. Therefore, significant attention
toward the installation of solar domestic water heating
system (SDWHS) was noticed in the last decade. More than
38 GWthermal was added within 2015 to raise the total
energy applications, including SDWHS, are facing a great
challenge to adapt with the unpredictability and fluctuation
of the available renewable energy resources, which cause
the supply–demand gap problem. Thermal energy storage
(TES) is a very promising solution to this issue. TES systems
are used to fully utilize the solar energy and covers off-peak
periods. There are several types of TES systems such as the
sensible TES through a temperature gradient, latent TES
based on phase change materials (PCMs), and chemical
TES through a chemical reaction [3]. Recently, considerable
attention toward the usage of latent TES is given owing to
several advantages, which include (i) high storage capacity,
(ii) low storage volume, and (iii) isothermal operation during
the charging and discharging phases [4,5]. Several materials
are investigated as a candidate of latent TES, but only a few
are considered suitable to use in TES applications. Kapsalis
and Karamanis [6] induced a set of criteria to evaluate the
ability of substances to be used as PCM, as shown in Table I.

Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 329

Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Table I. The PCM selection criteria [6].
Properties Selection criteria
Thermal properties Suitable operation temperature range
High latent heat per unit mass
High specific heat
High thermal conductivity
Physical properties High density
Low-density variation during
phase change
Low or non-super cooling
during freezing
Chemical properties Chemically stable
Non-toxic
Non-flammable
Economic factors Available in large quantities
Inexpensive
PCM, phase change material.
Many researchers tested and eliminated numerous
candidates of PCM according to these criteria. Zalba et al.
[7] reviewed the utilization of different PCM in TES
applications, listed the properties of over 150 candidate
substances, and categorized them into the organic and
inorganic materials, whereas Cabeza et al. [8] combined
the categorization of PCM according to the material base
with the melting temperature criteria as shown in Figure 1.
To assist researchers in selecting the suitable material for a
certain application, the Cambridge Engineering Selector
(CES) software was developed, and Barreneche et al. [10]
added the thermal and chemical properties of more than
300 PCM with melting temperature between 50°C and
150°C to the CES software database.
Owing to the high potential of PCM in TES applications,
several studies were conducted to investigate its
performance in different applications such as (i) SDWHS,
(ii) solar air heating systems, (iii) cold storage, and (iv)
thermal power plant. Regin et al. [11] classified PCM
according to application type into two major groups: (i)
TES applications and (ii) thermal insulation applications.
It was found that for energy storage applications, PCM
should have high thermal conductivity with satisfactory
melting temperature defined by the application, as shown in
Figure 2. Otherwise, it is preferred to use low thermal
conductivity materials for thermal insulation applications.
The current study focuses on reviewing the
implemented work in utilizing PCM as a TES in various
types of SDWHS. The study reviews various techniques
for integrating PCM in SDWH such as (i) direct integration
in solar collectors, (ii) integration with a water-filled TES
tank and (iii) introducing the PCM as a latent energy
storage tank. In addition, several techniques for enhancing
the heat transfer characteristics of the PCM are reported.
These techniques include using extended surface and fins
with various configurations and adding a high conductive
additive.

2. PCM IN SOLAR COLLECTOR

Figure 1. The classification of phase change materials according
to melting temperature [9]. [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
The SDWHS mainly consist of two main components: a
solar collector and TES tank. SDWHS can be classified
according to the pump usage within the system as an active
or passive system, as shown in Figure 3. Also, SDWHS
can be classified based on the collector design whether it
is flat, evacuated, or concentrating. Most of the SDWHSs
require a water storage tank to maintain a continuous
supply of hot water during nighttime and on cloudy days.
However, as the water storage tank is the most expensive
component in SDWHS, many studies were conducted to

Figure 2. The phase change material (PCM) classification according to application [11]. [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]

330 Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
Figure 3. Solar domestic water heating (SDWH) system classification. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
propose new techniques to eliminate the TES tank by
implementing a PCM in the collector to form a compound
solar system, and consequently reduce the system
operating cost and enhance its heating performance. The
following sections introduce the various techniques used
to integrate PCM to different solar collector configurations.
Also, Table II summarizes the reviewed research
conducted on integrating PCM in solar collectors.
2.1. Flat-plate solar collector
The conventional flat-plate solar collector consists of a
metal box covered with a glass or plastic sheet on its top.
Inside the metal box, an absorber plate with a dark color
is inserted and insulated from its bottom and sides with a
low thermal conductivity insulation material to minimize
the heat loss to the environment. Besides the weather
conditions, several parameters affect the collector
performance. These parameters include the collector tilt
angle and the charging/discharging temperatures.
Therefore, many studies were carried out to investigate
the effect of these parameters when integrating the PCM
in a flat-plate collector.
2.1.1. Effect of integrating PCM in the flat-plate
collector
Kürklü et al. [12] proposed a new technique to enhance
the thermal performance of a flat-plate solar collector by
installing two storage parts within the collector’s frame,
as shown in Figure 4. The two storage parts were made
of galvanized steel sheet and filled by paraffin wax and
water in the upper and lower parts, respectively. The
experiments were conducted in December in Turkey. It
was found that the proposed design significantly improved
the collector heat transfer characteristics in terms of
absorptivity and heat transfer coefficient. The proposed
system also reduced the cost by almost 41.6% compared
with the conventional solar collector. Besides investigating
the feasibility of integrating PCM in solar collector, many
researchers tried to optimize the performance of the PCM
integrated solar collectors through changing the PCM
properties such as the melting temperature and thickness
or investigate the optimal collector design parameters.
Rabin et al. [13] developed mathematical and experimental
models for the charging process of a solar collector storage
system integrated with salt hydrate as a PCM. The authors
performed their experimental trials under the winter
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al.
weather of Israel. The stored heat was discharged to cold
water flowing in a finned heat exchanger (HX) located
inside a layer of stationary heat transfer fluid (HTF), as
shown in Figure 5. In the mathematical model, the authors
used the enthalpy-based finite difference method and
ignored the effect of convection and assumed a
one-dimensional transient heat conduction in the PCM
and stationary heat transfer layer. The proposed model
showed high accurate validation with the experimental
PCM temperature measurements. However, the neglect of
the convection heat transfer in the stationary heat transfer
layer reduced the accuracy of their mathematical
predictions. The authors also made a parametric study on
the effect of the PCM melting temperature in the range of
15–30°C and the PCM thickness in the range of 20 to
100 mm on the efficiency of the proposed compound
collector. The results showed that the melting temperature
has a minor effect on the solar absorption efficiency
because the efficiency ranged only from 65% to 70% while
the melting/solidification rate was highly affected by the
PCM melting temperature. Regarding the PCM layer
thickness, it was found that for a PCM with melting
temperature of 20°C, it has an optimal thickness between
30 and 65 mm. Naghavi et al. [14] aimed at analytically
controlling the overheating issue of the supplied water
during the day to extend the operation time of the SWH.
The model consisted of a heat pipe flat-plate collector
system with the addition of paraffin wax (melting
temperature 64°C) to store the energy, as shown in
Figure 6. The system was studied using 20, 40, 60, and
80 heat pipes with a slab thickness of 50 mm and water
mass flow rate of 0.05 kg/s. The results showed that the
absorbed solar radiation was approximately 60% of the
recorded solar radiation. Moreover, the temperature of
the supplied water was raised by increasing the number
of heat pipes. Maximum water temperatures of 80°C and
145°C were reached for using 20 and 80 heat pipes,
respectively. Therefore, increasing the heat pipe number
above 40 can significantly improve the performance.
Regarding the PCM temperature, it was found that
increasing the heat pipes from 20 to 80 increased the
PCM temperature from 48°C to 53.5°C.
2.1.2. Effect of operation conditions
The performance of solar collectors is highly affected
by several operational parameters such as weather
conditions, tilt angle, and charging/discharging
331
 332
Table II. Summary for work implemented on behalf of integrating the PCM in solar collector.

PCM

Collector Nature Melting Testing Testing

Reference type of work Material point (°C) method variables Results
Abokersh M. H. et al.

Kürklü et al. [12] Flat-plate solar EXP Paraffin wax 45–50 Charging and — Water temperature exceeded 55°C during
collector overnight a typical day
heat loss Water temperature kept above 30°C during
the whole night
Rabin et al. [13] Flat-plate solar NUM and EXP Salt hydrate 27–29 Charging Composition percentage Maximum PCM thickness that can be
collector melted during winter was 64–69 mm
PCM thickness layer Efficiency ranged between 65% and 70%
Naghavi et al. [14] Heat pipe ANA Paraffin wax 40 Charging Heat pipe number Increasing the number of heat pipes above
Flat-plate (20, 40, 60 and 80) 40 significantly improved the performance
solar collector
Khalifa et al. [14,15] Flat-plate solar EXP Paraffin wax 46.7 Charging Various weather conditions Efficiency ranged between 45% and 54%
collector with dependence on climate conditions
Mettawee and Flat-plate solar EXP Paraffin wax 53.5 Charging and Tilt angle 10°, 20°, The energy gained increased with the
Assassa [16] collector discharging and 30° increase in the discharge flow rate
Lin et al. [17] Flat-plate solar EXP Paraffin wax 60.45 Charging and Discharge flow The hot water production extended to an
collector discharging rate 8.3–21.7 kg/h extra 3 h
Saw and Flat-plate solar EXP — — Charging and Tilt angle The optimum tilt angle was 0°
Al-Kayiem [18] collector discharging (0°, 10°, and 20°)
Discharge flow rate 4, 8, The maximum hot water temperature
and 10 kg/min of 65°C was achieved at 4 kg/min
El-Bassuoni Flat-plate solar EXP USAT 30 Charging and Discharge flow The discharge flow rate and discharge
et al. [19] collector discharging rate 0.3–0.86 kg/min time were inversely proportional
USATL 44.5 Higher efficiency for USATL than to USAT
Lee et al. [20] Two-phase EXP Tricosane 45–47 Charging and Charging 1300 W Tricosane qualified as the best PCM
thermosyphon discharging for 8 h because it had a high latent heat with
solar collector Water 100 Discharging 3 l/min optimum heat storage efficiency of 73%
Sodium acetate 57–58 for hours and heat discharge efficiency of 81%
Eames and Flat-plate solar NUM Water 100 Charging Various concentrations The fluid temperature in the PCM slurry
Griffiths [21] collector and overnight of PCM 10%, 15%, store increased faster than that in the
heat loss and 30% water-filled store
PCM slurry 60 Water was more effective in energy storage
owing to high loss associated with
PCM slurry

(Continues)
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems Abokersh M. H. et al.

The maximum overall efficiency was observed

when the evacuated tube was partially filled

system temperature had a great influence

operation conditions owing to the stored

The proposed system was able to provide
large energy with independency on the
The solar radiation profile and the initial

on the system performance

Results

energy in the PCM

with water
Various water percentages
25.28% and 100%
variables
Testing

rate 50–80 l/h

Figure 4. The schematic view of the proposed solar collector

Discharge flow
—

[12]. PCM, phase change material.

temperatures. Khalifa et al. [15,16] designed and built an

integrated solar collector, with a back container including
a PCM as a TES medium, to experimentally investigate
discharging

discharging
Charging and

Charging and

its performance compared with that of conventional SWH

Table II. (Continued)

method
Testing

system. The experiments were conducted in winter in

Charging

Iraq. Six copper tubes with diameter 80 mm were

connected in series through tubes with outer diameter and
thickness of 15 and 1 mm, respectively. In addition,
42.4 kg of paraffin wax with a melting temperature of
point (°C)
Melting

81.8

46.7°C was poured into the back layer of the solar collector
49

64

to absorb the wasted heat. The experiments were

EXP, experimental; NUM, numerical; ANA, analytical; PCM, phase change material.

conducted outdoor in a clear day in January and February

PCM

and a semi-cloudy day in March, in Baghdad, Iraq. The

Ba(OH)28H2O
and water

results showed that the instantaneous efficiency of the solar

Paraffin wax

Paraffin wax
Material

collector ranged between 45% and 54% depending on the

weather conditions. Moreover, the authors found that the
change of PCM and plate temperatures during the day
was almost the same in January and February. On the other
hand, in March, the PCM stored more heat, and its
of work

temperature was higher than the plate mean temperature

Nature

starting from midday to sunset. As a conclusion, it was

ANA

found that employing the paraffin wax as a heat storage

EXP

EXP

material in solar collector was a promising technique for

enhancing the thermal performance of the compact SWH
solar collector

solar collector

solar collector
Evacuated tube

Evacuated tube

Evacuated tube

systems with dependence on the climate conditions.

Collector

In addition, aiming at investigating the effect of heat

type

charge and discharge rates, Mettawee and Assassa [17]

designed and built a compact solar collector consisting of
an absorber container 1.3 m long and tilted 45°. The
container was filled with paraffin wax with melting
temperature of 53.5°C and a copper pipe with 0.012-m
Riffat et al. [22]

diameter and 1.35-m length was immersed into it, as

shown in Figure 7. The charging results showed that the
et al. [24]
Reference

temperature of the PCM increased at a low temperature

Xue [23]

Naghavi

gradient owing to the low thermal conductivity of the solid

PCM. Once the PCM melted, the temperature difference

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 333
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Figure 5. Schematic drawing of integrated solar collector storage system using phase change material (PCM) [13].

Figure 6. Schematic design of heat pipe flat-plate collector integrated with phase change material (PCM) [14]. [Colour figure can be
viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

between layers decreased because of the natural convection

Figure 7. Schematic drawing of solar collector (1) case, (2)
insulation, (3) wax container, (4) absorber plate, (5) glass plate,
and (6) water pipe [17]. [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
effect, whereas the discharging results showed that the
discharge mass flow rate and the natural heat transfer
coefficient had a great influence on the solar collector
performance. Furthermore, many studies were conducted
to investigate the effect of the tilt angle on the efficiency
of the compound solar collector. Lin et al. [25] proposed
a comparative experimental study, under a typical sunny
day in Malaysia, to investigate the possibility of enhancing
the performance of a flat-plate solar collector by
integrating paraffin wax with a melting temperature of
60.45°C directly in contact with the collector’s absorber
plate. The proposed system was studied and compared
with the conventional collector at three different
inclination angles including 10°, 20°, and 30° and constant
water mass flow rate of 0.5 kg/min. The results showed
that the integration of PCM increased the thermal
absorption to 71.15% and reduced the thermal heat losses
to be lower than 4.34 W/m2 K. Moreover, the proposed
collector achieved an efficiency of 52% at an inclination
angle of 10°, which was better by 23% over the
conventional collector. As a conclusion, the optimum
operation condition was achieved at 10° inclination while

334 Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
integrating paraffin wax as a PCM. Saw and Al-Kayiem
[18] presented an experimental investigation on the
thermal performance of integrating a flat-plate collector
with PCM. The experiment ran for a full day, in
Malaysia during the spring season, under various water
mass flow rates including 4, 8, and 10 kg/min, and various
tilt angles including 0°, 10°, and 20°. The results showed
that 0° inclination had the ability to absorb the highest
amount of solar radiation compared with the other tilt
angles. Regarding the mass flow rate, the results showed
that a maximum hot water temperature of 65°C was
achieved at 4 kg/min. In conclusion, their results showed
that the mass flow rate and tilt angle had a significant effect
on the thermal performance of an integrated flat-plate solar
collector.
2.1.3. Effect of PCM type
El-Bassuoni et al. [19] presented an experimental
comparison between mixtures of urea–sodium acetate
trihydrate (USAT), with a melting temperature around
30°C, and urea–sodium acetate trihydrate–lead acetate
trihydrate (USATL), with a melting temperature around
44.5°C, in a flat-plate solar collector. The experiments
were conducted in September in El-Minia, Egypt. During
the cooling phase of the USAT, the results showed an
inverse proportionality between the discharge flow rate
and the discharge time. Furthermore, the results showed
an insignificant influence of the discharge flow rate on
the total extracted energy from the charged USAT. On
the other hand, the cooling phase results of the USATL
showed a significant influence of the discharge flow rate
on the extracted energy. As a conclusion, the overall
efficiency of the solar system using USATL was higher
that the solar system using USAT. Lee et al. [20]
experimentally investigated the usage of tricosane (paraffin
wax 116), water, and sodium acetate as energy storage
materials (ESMs) in two-phase thermosyphon SWH. The
charging process was implemented through utilizing a
1300-W electric heater for 8 h whereas the stored heat
discharged under water volume flow rate of 3 l/min for
8 h. The results showed that the sodium acetate could store
more energy than other ESMs. Nevertheless, it was
maintained as a supercooled liquid without solidification
at its phase change temperature of 58°C. Moreover, the
tricosane released latent heat during the phase change
period, while water and sodium acetate remained in the
liquid state and released sensible heat. As a conclusion,
the tricosane was qualified as the best ESM for thermal
storage because it has a reasonably high latent heat with
optimum heat storage efficiency of 73% and heat discharge
efficiency of 81%. Eames and Griffiths [21] developed a
transient finite volume model to investigate the thermal
behavior of a rectangular solar collector filled with water
and different concentrations of the PCM slurry. The PCM
slurry had a melting temperature of 60°C. The developed
model was used to calculate the temperature profile, and
the augmented energy during the heating and cooling
phases. The heating phase results showed that the fluid
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al.
temperature in the PCM slurry store increased at a faster
rate than water, owing to the higher specific heat of water.
On the other hand, during the 5 h of cooling, the fluid
temperature in the PCM slurry store decreased rapidly until
the phase temperature of 60°C is reached, after which the
temperatures decreased at a much slower rate as phase
change occurred. Contrary to this, the water-filled store
temperature decreased at a nearly constant rate.
Furthermore, the energy augmentation simulation showed
that the water was more effective in storing energy for a
long period. This was due to the lower convective heat loss
coefficients in the PCM and its higher temperatures, which
increased the heat loss from the PCM slurry. As a
conclusion, the authors found that integrating the PCM
slurry in the solar collector leads to a marginal reduction
in the collector efficiency. However, more energy stored
for a longer period at a higher temperature, owing to the
phase change in PCM slurry, could enhance the solar
fraction.
2.2. Evacuated tube solar collector
The Sydney-type evacuated tube solar collector consists of
two concentric fused glass tubes with a selective coating
on the outer surface of the inner tube, and the air between
these two glass tubes is evacuated to decrease heat loss.
There are three types of evacuated tube solar collector; heat
pipe, U-pipe, and all-glass.
Riffat et al. [22] conducted indoor experiments to study
the performance of an evacuated tube solar collector
partially filled (22.43% and 56.70% volume) with paraffin
wax as a PCM. The paraffin wax has a melting temperature
of 49°C. Also, in other runs, the collector was partially
(25.28% volume) and fully filled with water as a sensible
ESM. The evacuated tube consisted of two glass layers
and an aluminum absorber to transfer the absorbed solar
radiation to the heat pipe, as shown in Figure 8. The results
showed that, during the charging phase, the temperature of
the tube filled with paraffin wax continued to increase
above the wax melting temperature, and no steady
condition was be observed. This was attributed to the low
thermal conductivity of paraffin wax, which hindered the
heat transfer from the core of the paraffin wax to its
surface. On the other hand, as the natural convection was
the main heat transfer mode in water, a high heat transfer
rate was observed between the water and heat pipe. In
Figure 8. Cross section for phase change material integrated
into evacuated tube solar collector [22,26].
335
Abokersh M. H. et al.
conclusion, it was found that the highest average thermal
efficiency of the system was obtained when the tubes were
empty (57%). The case where the tubes were partially
filled with water comes next with an efficiency of 54%.
The lowest efficiency 41% occurred when the tube was
fully filled with water or partially filled with paraffin
56.70% volume. Xue [23] investigated experimentally,
on a sunny day in China, the characteristics of integrating
Ba(OH)2 8H2O with a melting temperature of 81.8°C in
an evacuated tube solar collector, as shown in Figure 9.
The test was implemented for simple charging operation
and simultaneous operation. The results showed that
integrating the PCM in the evacuated tube solar collector
improved the performance of the system when compared
with that in all-glass evacuated tube SDWHS. Naghavi
et al. [24] proposed a theoretical model based on a one-
phase Stefan problem to investigate the thermal
performance of integrating PCM to the manifold of an
evacuated tube heat pipe solar collector system, shown in
Figure 10. By comparing the results with the baseline system
(evacuated tube heat pipe solar collector), it was revealed that
the usable hot water volume and thermal efficiency of the
baseline system significantly decrease with the increment in
the water volume flow rate from 50 to 80 l/h. On the other
hand, the usable volume and the thermal efficiency almost
remain the same in the innovative system. This shows the
ability of proposed system to provide abundant energy with
independence on the operation conditions owing to the
stored energy in the PCM.
3. PCM IN WATER TES TANK
The conventional solar water heating system usually
includes a water storage tank to store the thermal energy
in the form of sensible heat. However, sensible heat
storage (SHS) systems require a large volume and
expensive insulation to be considered as a feasible storing
Figure 9. Cross section for Ba(OH)28H2O integrated into
evacuated tube solar collector [23].
336
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
Figure 10. Schematic drawing for the evacuated tube heat pipe
solar collector–phase change material (PCM) system [24]. HP,
Heat pipe condenser section; HWSHE, Hot water supply heat
exchanger; LHTES, Latent heat thermal energy storage.
[Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
technique. On the other hand, the latent heat storage
(LHS) methods require difficult and costly modifications
to the system. Therefore, researchers studied the
combination of sensible heat storage and LHS techniques
to benefit from the advantages of both storage types. This
combination could be achieved by introducing PCM
capsules inside the water TES tank.
The encapsulated PCM (EPCM) attracted the researchers’
attention as a potential technique to increase the feasibility of
using PCM through enhancing its thermal performance and
overcoming some of its drawbacks. The main reason for
using the encapsulation is to overcome the PCM’s low
thermal conductivity by increasing the heat transfer area
between the PCM and the surrounding medium. Besides this
major advantage [27], several benefits can be gained by
using the encapsulation techniques:
1. Isolate PCM from the HTF to prevent the chemical and
physical mixing of both materials.
2. Improve the PCM thermal and mechanical stability
through overcoming the subcooling and phase
segregation issues.
3. Tackle the problem of compatibility of some hazardous
PCMs that are harmful to be used directly with the HTF.
The PCM encapsulation could be classified according
to the capsule’s size into macroencapsulation (>1 mm),
microencapsulation (0.1 μm to 1 mm), and
nanoencapsulation (<100 nm) [28]. However, the
macroencapsulation is the widely used technique owing
to its simple design and its reliability to be used in various
applications [29]. Besides the size criteria, the
encapsulation techniques could be classified according to
the shape of capsules such as cylindrical, spherical, and
tubular. In the following section, different types of the
encapsulation such as cylindrical and spherical made from
various materials like aluminum, steel, and copper will be
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
discussed. A summary of the reviewed papers on
integrating PCM in water TES tank is shown in Table III.
3.1. Cylindrical EPCM in Water TES Tank
The cylindrical encapsulation is considered as a potential
encapsulating technique because the cylindrical shape is
easy to manufacture and install into the TES tank. Many
studies were carried out to evaluate enhancing the thermal
performance of the water TES tank where the heat is
supplied by using a solar collector or an electric heater.
3.1.1. Supplying thermal energy by a solar
collector
Vikram et al. [30] presented an experimental evaluation
of adding cylindrical encapsulated paraffin wax as a
thermal storage material in the water storage tank. The
experiments were performed on sunny days in India. The
authors used a flat-plate solar collector with a surface area
of 2 m2 to supply hot water to a 47-l cylindrical tank. Four
layers of aluminum cylindrical encapsulated paraffin wax
with a melting temperature around 60°C were placed
inside the tank to store the latent heat. The charging results
indicated that for a volume flow rate below 2 l/min, the
upper layer of the PCM was totally charged during the first
70% of the charging process. The system efficiency
remained nearly constant during the phase change period
and decreased during the sensible heating phase. The
discharging results showed the PCM heat storage effect
lasted for 100 min. It was concluded that the paraffin
wax offered a great enhancement in the thermal storage
of SWH through a uniform rate of charging and
discharging for a long period.
Canbazoğlu et al. [31] evaluated experimentally the
efficiency of using water storage tank combined with
PCM cylindrical capsules to enhance the performance of
the natural recirculation solar water heating system. The
experimental trials were performed in November in
Turkey. The proposed system consisted of a 190-l water
TES tank, which was filled with three rows of sodium
thiosulfate pentahydrate cylindrical modules with a
melting temperature of 48.5°C and a total volume of
82.2 l, as shown in Figure 11. The results showed that
the average water temperature in the midpoint of the
combined TES tank after the sunset had a constant value
of 45°C throughout 10 h until the next day. Also, the
temperature difference between the midpoint of the
combined TES tank and the collector outlet was higher
than that of the sensible-only TES tank. However, the
researchers observed that the hydrated salts must be
encapsulated by expensive techniques to overcome its
instability after 25–30 melting–solidification cycles. Al-
Hinti et al. [32] presented an experimental investigation
for utilizing paraffin wax with a melting temperature of
54°C in a conventional active solar water heating system.
The experiments were performed under real weather
conditions in Jordan during the month of April. The test
rig consisted of a flat-plate solar collector with a total
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al.
surface area of 6 m2 and a tilt angle of 30°. The solar
collector was connected to a 107.4-l water TES tank.
Thirty-eight aluminum containers with a total volume of
49.9 l were filled into the water TES tank. The proposed
system was investigated under real climate conditions with
and without water discharge. It was found that the water
did not drop below 45°C throughout 24 h of testing.
Furthermore, the moderate hot water consumption did not
significantly affect the system performance. Kanimozhi
and Ramesh Bapu [33] used an evacuated tube solar
collector to supply hot water at 76°C to a well-insulated
45-l TES tank. The experiments were performed on a
typical day in India. The storage tank contained 50 copper
tubes filled with 5-kg paraffin wax (melting temperature
62°C). The characteristics of the TES tank were
investigated experimentally to show that the temperature
increased faster at the axial position owing to the direction
of the fluid and natural convection effects. Furthermore,
Padmaraju et al. [34] conducted several outdoors
experiments, on a typical day in India, to investigate the
effect of HTF mass flow rate on the thermal performance
of a 48-l water TES tank with aluminum cylindrical
capsules that contain paraffin wax (melting temperature
60°C). Three different charging HTF volume flow rates
of 2, 4, and 6 l/min were investigated, and the findings
showed that the increase in the flow rate and in the inlet
temperature caused the stored energy to increase and the
charging time to decrease.
In addition to the experimental studies, researchers
utilized different numerical and analytical approaches to
investigate the thermal performance of the PCM
cylindrical encapsulation and its heat transfer mechanism
when combined in water TES tanks. The heat transfer
mechanism in the water–PCM combined TES tank
includes (i) transient natural or forced convection between
the water and the walls of capsules, (ii) heat conduction
between the wall and solid PCM, and (iii) heat convection
between capsule wall and liquid PCM. However, it is
difficult to establish a reliable analytical model for these
complicated heat transfer mechanisms because of the
moving solid–liquid boundary and the nonlinear heat
transfer between different phases interaction. Therefore,
commonly, the researchers performed numerical and
computational investigations to study the PCM thermal
performance.
Kousksou et al. [35] attempted numerically to clarify
the confusion about adding PCM material to a TES tank
to enhance the SDWH system performance through using
(NaOAc·3H2O-graphite) with a melting temperature
around 60°C. The numerical model described a TES tank
holding PCM in a cylindrical shape, solar collector, pump,
controller, and auxiliary heater. This model was simulated
for an entire year to determine the collector outlet
temperature and the efficiency through FORTRAN
software. Their annual simulation results indicated that
the heat losses from the TES tank with PCM were lower
than those without PCM. As a proposed improvement
suggestion, another PCM with a melting temperature
337
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Table III. Summary for work implemented on behalf of integrating the PCM in water storage tank.

PCM Capsules

Nature Melting
Paper author of work Heating source Material point (°C) Weight Shape Material Setup

Vikram et al. EXP Flat-plate solar Paraffin wax 60 75 g/capsule Cylindrical Aluminum 4 layers
[30] collector
Canbazoğlu EXP Flat-plate solar Sodium 48.5 0.73 kg/capsule Cylindrical — 3 rows
et al. [31] collector thiosulfate
pentahydrate
Al-Hinti et al. EXP Flat-plate solar Paraffin wax 54 — Cylindrical Aluminum 38 capsules
[32] collector
and 2-kW
electric heater
Kanimozhi [33] EXP Evacuated tube Paraffin wax 62 100 g each Cylindrical Copper 50 tube
solar collector tube
Padmaraju et al. EXP Flat-plate solar Paraffin wax 62 — Cylindrical Aluminum —
[34] collector
Kousksou et al. NUM Solar NaOAc·3H2O- 57.3 — Cylindrical — —
[35] collector graphite
Esen and NUM — Paraffin, CCHH, 29–46.7 — Cylindrical — —
Ayhan [36] SSDH
Cabeza et al. EXP Flat-plate solar Composition of 58 — Cylindrical Aluminum 2, 4, and
[37] collector sodium acetate 6 PCM
and graphite modules
Mazman et al. EXP Electric heater PS 49 — Cylindrical — 3 modules
[38] PP 50
SM 62
Ibanez et al. EXP and 2 solar collectors Sodium acetate 58 2.1 kg Cylindrical Aluminum 2 modules
[39] NUM and an electric trihydrate.
heater outside
the tanks
Khot [40] EXP Electric heater PCM HS-58 56.9 184 g Spherical HDPE 12 spherical
each capsules
capsule
Nallusamy EXP Flat-plate solar Paraffin wax 60 — Spherical — —
et al. [41] collector
Fazilati and EXP Electric heater Paraffin wax 55 — Spherical - 180
Almrjabi [42] spherical
capsules
EXP, experimental; NUM, numerical; PCM, phase change material; TES, thermal energy storage; SWH, solar water heater; HTF, heat
transfer fluid.

around 50°C was used instead of NaOAc·3H2O-graphite.
This reduced the annual electrical energy back up to 14%
by decreasing the heat transfer from the storage tank to
the surrounding during the reheating phase. The authors
concluded that adding the PCM, within the investigated
melting temperature range, did not add a significant benefit
in the energy provided to the end user when compared with
the TES tank without PCM. Based on the enthalpy method,
Esen and Ayhan [36] investigated numerically the effect of
several parameters on the performance of a water TES tank
filled with PCM cylinders. The authors studied different
parameters such as (i) PCM material type (paraffin wax,
Cacl2.6H2O (CCHH), Na2So4.10H2O (SSDH)), (ii) inlet
charging temperature, (iii) HTF flow rate, and (iv) the
PCM cylinder radius. The results showed that the PCM
cylinder dimensions, charging flow rate, and the inlet
charging temperature must be selected carefully to
optimize the performance of the water TES tank with
cylindrical PCM capsules.
3.1.2. Supplying thermal energy by an electric heater
Mazman et al. [38] experimentally investigated the
effect of using cylindrical PCM modules in a stratified
SDWH tank. Three PCM mixtures of paraffin with stearic
acid (PS), paraffin with palmitic acid (PP), and stearic with
myristic acid (SM) were prepared with a weight ratio of
80:20. The prepared mixtures had melting temperatures
of about 49°C, 50°C, and 62°C, respectively. Three PCM
modules with a capacity of 7.65 l each were added to the
upper part of a 150-l water TES tank. The effect of

338 Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems Abokersh M. H. et al.

Table III. Continued

PCM/storage
tank volume Testing Testing
Paper author ratio method variables Results
Vikram et al. — Charge and — Paraffin wax was a promising technique in
[30] discharge enhancing the storage capacity of water
TES tanks
Canbazoğlu et al. 43% Charging — The proposed system enhanced the thermal
[31] storage of conventional SWH system by 28%
Al-Hinti et al. 46% Charging — The water in storage tank did not drop below 45°C
[32] throughout 24 h of testing for the SWH system
Kanimozhi [33] — Charging — The temperature increased at higher axial position
faster
Padmaraju — Charging Flow rate 2, 4, The mass flow rate and the inlet temperature had
et al. [34] and 6 l/min great influence in the charging experiment

Kousksou — Charge and — Using PCM in the storage tank did not yield a
et al. [35] discharge significant benefit in energy provided to end user
Esen and Ayhan — Charging PCM material type The PCM cylinder dimensions, charging flow rate,
[36] HTF flow rate and the inlet charging temperature had a great
PCM cylinder radius influence on the performance of the
Inlet charging temperature proposed system
Cabeza et al. [37] 2.05%, Charging, No. of PCM modules 2, 4, and 6 PCM modules increased the energy
4.1%, and discharging, density of the storage tank by 40%, 57.2%,
6.16% and and 66.7%
overnight
heat loss
Mazman et al. 3% Charge and PCM material type SM temperature dropped from 62°C to 45°C
[38] discharge in 22.5 h
PS temperature dropped from 49°C to 45°C
in 36 h
PP temperature dropped from 50°C to 45°C
in 33.5 h
Ibanez et al. [39] 2.05% Charge and — The PCM increased the solar fraction by around
discharge 4–8% compared with the solar system
without PCM
Khot [40] 26% Charging Storage tanks capacities A tank with 26% PCM of its volume stored
100-, 105-, 125-, and 150-l 1976 kJ, but a tank without PCM stored 1621 kJ
PCM storage capacities The PCM offered a decrease in the storage
41%, 42%, 40%, and tank volume
43%
Nallusamy et al. — Charge and Flow rate from 2 to 6 l/min The mass flow rate had a significant effect
[41] discharge on the heat extraction rate
Fazilati and — Charging HTF inlet temperature at 80°C improved the energy density by 38%
Almrjabi [42] 40°C, 60°C, and 80°C 80°C improved the exergy efficiency by 28%
Flow rate 0.2, 0.3, and Great advantage of using PCM in SWH
0.4 l/min

different PCM modules was investigated through cooling
and reheating tests. The results of the cooling test showed
that the SM temperature dropped from its melting
temperature to 45°C in 22.5 h whereas the PS and PP
temperatures dropped in 36 and 33.5 h, respectively. In
the charging test, the PP gave the highest extraction profile
than the other PCM. However, the recovery efficiency was
74% and 63% for the PS and the PP, respectively.
Therefore, it was concluded that integrating PS into
SDWH tank gave the best thermal performance among
the other tested PCM modules. Ibanez et al. [39] developed
a TRANSYS model for cylindrical PCM modules in water
TES tanks. In this model, a set of parameters including the
number of PCM cylindrical modules, the modules
dimension, and the initial temperature of the PCM was
defined by the user in the developed component. Their
numerical model was validated experimentally using a
146-l storage tank with an electric heater and two

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 339
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
Figure 11. Cross section for the water storage tank combined
with phase change material (PCM) cylindrical capsules [31].
[Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
cylindrical PCM modules with a volume of 1.5 l each. The
results of the simulation over a year revealed that the PCM
increased the solar fraction by around 4% to 8% when
compared with a solar system without PCM.
3.1.3. Heating supply through mixed type heater
Cabeza et al. [37] investigated experimentally, in Spain
during the month of August, the performance of graphite
compound cylindrical modules in enhancing the storage
capacity of water TES tanks. The introduced PCM
modules that had a composition of 90% sodium acetate
and 10% of graphite and a melting temperature of 58°C
were filled in 1.5-l aluminum bottles. The prepared PCM
modules were inserted in the upper part of a 145-l water
TES tank, whereas the water was heated using a combined
system of a solar collector and an electric heater to supply
water in a temperature range of 60–80°C. Several
experiments were implemented with a various number of
PCM modules. The experiments included cooling-down
test, reheating test, and solar operation test. In the
cooling-down test, the two, four, and six PCM modules
increased the energy density of the proposed TES tank
when compared with an ordinary one by 40%, 57.2%,
and 66.7%, respectively. In the reheating test, the two
and six PCM modules, the hot water lasted in the tank
for an extra 30 and 45 min, respectively. In the solar
operation test, with 5-min extraction during the morning,
the results showed a sudden decrease in the upper layer
temperature of the tank with insignificant improvement
owing to increasing the number of PCM modules. As a
conclusion, the authors found that the utilization of PCM
modules in the water storage tank was a promising
technique in harvesting hot water for an extra period
without an exterior energy supply.
340
3.2. Spherical EPCM in water storage tank
Khot [40] developed a laboratory model to investigate the
thermal performance of a solar water heating system.
Paraffin wax, HS-58, with a melting temperature of
56.9°C was filled in 12 spherical capsules with a diameter
of 75 mm each and packed into a 10-l SWH storage tank.
To simulate the solar radiation, the researchers turned on
an electric heater for 55 min to supply 2652 kJ, and then
it was turned off. The storage tank was left to dissipate
the stored energy to the surroundings in 80 min. The
results revealed that a 10-l water storage tank with 26%
of its volume occupied by PCM could improve the thermal
storage capacity of the water storage tank by 22%. For
further investigation, the experiment was repeated with
different storage tanks capacities including 100, 105, 125,
and 150 l and with different PCM storage capacities
including 40%, 41%, 42%, and 43% of the total tank
volume. The results showed a great improvement in the
thermal storage capacity by 44%, 45%, 43%, and 46%,
respectively. As a conclusion, the authors found that the
usage of PCM enables extra energy storage during the
daylight and maintains the supplement of hot water at an
almost constant temperature. Furthermore, the PCM
offered a decrease in the storage tank volume owing to
its high thermal storage capacity. Nallusamy et al. [41]
studied experimentally the thermal behavior of a
cylindrical tank filled with spherical capsules containing
PCM, paraffin wax with a melting temperature of 60°C.
A constant inlet temperature of 66°C with different HTF
volume flow rates, 2–6 l/min, showed that the flow rate
had a significant effect on the rate of extracting heat from
the collector. On the other hand, changing the HTF flow
marginally affects the charging of the PCM.
In addition to the first law of thermodynamics
efficiency, the performance of the combined latent and
sensible storage system could be evaluated by the exergy
and energy density terms. Fazilati and Alemrajabi [42]
evaluated experimentally the effect of using PCM in the
form of spherical capsules in a TES tank. Paraffin wax,
with a melting temperature of 55°C, was filled in 180
spherical capsules with a diameter of 38 mm each and
packed into a 9.5-l SWH TES tank. In the charging
process, the solar radiation was modeled by circulating
hot water at 40°C, 60°C, and 80°C in the HX with volume
flow rates of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 l/min, while in the
discharging process, the hot water from the TES tank was
discharged at a constant volume flow rate of 0.2 l/min until
the temperature of the discharged water reached the inlet
water temperature. The results showed that the PCM at
80°C could extend the time of the solar heater to supply
hot water up to 25% above the solar heater without PCM,
while in terms of the energy density and the exergy
efficiency, the PCM at 80°C could improve them by about
39%, and 28%, above the ordinary solar heater,
respectively. When the PCM was heated up to 40°C, the
PCM did not have a significant effect because the PCM
did not reach its melting point. As a conclusion, the results
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
revealed a great advantage of using the PCM in SWH
when the PCM achieved its liquid phase.
4. PCM IN HX (LATENT TES TANK)
Haillot et al. [43] indicated that the integration of PCM into
the solar collector had some drawbacks such as a large
amount of heat losses during the night and the heat transfer
from the PCM to the absorber, which reduced the system’s
efficiency in winter. Their conclusions were derived from
experiments that were performed over a year in France.
To overcome these obstacles, the researchers proposed a
new technology to integrate the PCM into the HX unit that
acts as a main part in the HTF loop. The proposed HX has
several designs and configurations. However, there are
some common types such as shell and tube, double-pipe,
and triplex HX. A summary of the reviewed papers on
integrating PCM in the latent TES tank is shown Table IV.
4.1. Shell and tube HX
Akgun and Aydin [44] experimentally investigated the
performance of a shell and tube HX filled with paraffin
wax with a melting temperature of 44.23°C. The water
flowed inside the tubes within a temperature range between
20°C and 75°C during the charging and discharging
phases. The mass flow rate varied in the range between 4
and 8 l/min. The results of the experiments showed that
the mass flow rate has a small effect on the melting time.
Therefore, the authors recommended using smaller flow
rates for lower energy consumption. Mahfuz et al. [46]
investigated experimentally the energy and exergy
efficiencies of a shell and tube HX filled with paraffin
wax, with a melting temperature 56–65°C, under different
water flow rates. The paraffin wax was heated, until its
temperature reached 85°C, using a HTF that entered the
HX at 90°C. The results revealed that increasing the
discharge mass flow rate of the HTF from 0.033 to
0.167 kg/min had an influential effect on increasing the
energy efficiency by about 13.4%, while the exergy
efficiency decreased by about 3.5%. Avci and Yazici [47]
investigated experimentally the storage behavior during
the charging and discharging phases for a shell and tube
HX filled with paraffin wax with a melting temperature
of 58.06°C. Water, as a HTF, flowed at a rate of
280 kg/h at different temperatures of 75°C, 80°C, and
85°C, during the discharging tests, and 20°C, 25°C, and
30°C, for the discharge tests. During the charging phase,
the conduction heat transfer mode dominated for the first
30 min of the experiment. However, natural convection
was effective in the upper part after the first 30 min. Also,
it was found that increasing the HTF inlet temperature
accelerated the melting process. During the discharging
phase, decreasing the HTF inlet temperature accelerated
the solidification process. Hosseini et al. [48]
experimentally investigated the heat transfer characteristics
of RT50 paraffin wax in a shell and tube HX. The proposed
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al.
PCM has a melting temperature of 54.15°C and a latent heat
of 164.35 kJ/kg. The charging process was assessed under
three different inlet temperatures of 70°C, 75°C, and 80°C
with a volume flow rate of 1 l/min. The discharging process
was conducted under the same flow rate, but with an inlet
temperature of 25°C. The authors found that the inlet
temperature during charging and discharging phases had a
great influence in enhancing the thermal performance of
the proposed system through decreasing the melting
duration and increasing the theoretical efficiency. Joseph
et al. [49] investigated experimentally the performance of
PCM in a solar energy storage system under real-time
testing. The experiment was conducted through using a
flat-plate solar collector with an area of 2.78 m2. The
collector was connected to a shell and tube HX. The volume
of the shell side was 60 l and was filled with dodecanoic
acid with a melting temperature of 42.5°C. The
performance of the HX was compared with that of a 60-l
TES storage tank, filled with water. The proposed systems
operated in Canada during November, March, and July to
observe the systems’ thermal performance under various
climates. During the charging phase, the top portion of
PCM tank was always above 43°C as natural convection
was the main heat transfer mode. During the discharging
phase, conduction was the dominating mode. In the water
storage tank, the natural convection was the main
dominating mode throughout the charging and discharging
phases. Moreover, owing to the simple design of the
charging/discharging coils, the results revealed that the
PCM was able to store 6.1 MJ, which is only 40% of the
theoretical storage capacity of the PCM. On the other hand,
the water TES tank was able to store 9.7 MJ, which is near
to the theoretical water storage capacity. Therefore, a
modification in the design of the charging and discharging
coils through using fins or increasing the number of coils
is required to enhance the feasibility of the proposed
storage system.
Besides the experimental investigations, several studies
utilized numerical modeling techniques to simulate PCM
in shell and tube HX. Hosseini et al. [50] investigated
numerically and experimentally the effect of charging
temperature and buoyancy effect during the melting phase
of RT50 paraffin wax inside a horizontal shell and tube
HX. The proposed PCM had a melting temperature of
51°C and a latent heat of 168 kJ/kg. A numerical model
was developed using the enthalpy-porosity method to
simulate the performance of PCM during the charging
phase. The flow was assumed laminar, transient, and
incompressible. The numerical results for the average
temperature profile agreed well with the experimental
results during the charging phase. The numerical results
showed that increasing the inlet temperature from 70°C
to 75°C decreased the total melting time by 19%.
However, increasing the inlet temperature from 75°C to
80°C decreased the total melting time by to 37%. Also,
the numerical results depicted several recirculation regions
due to buoyancy effect. These regions merge together to
create a main recirculation region where natural convection
341
 Table IV. Summary for work implemented on behalf of integrating the PCM in latent storage tank.

342
Heat exchanger PCM

Nature Melting Weight Testing Testing

Reference of work Type Configuration Type point (°C) (kg) method variables Results
Abokersh M. H. et al.

Akgun and EXP Shell and tube Vertical Paraffin 44.2 — Charge and Charging temperature 75°C The mass flow rate had a small
Aydin [44] discharge Discharging temperature 20°C influence on the melting time
HTF flow rates 4–8 l/min
Murray EXP and Vertical shell Vertical Lauric acid 45.7 — Charge and Charging temperature Natural convection had a great
et al. [45] NUM and tube discharge 55°C under velocity of 1.5 m/s influence in speeding up the heat
transfer in the melting phase
Discharging temperature Conduction was the main heat
15°C under velocity of 3.5 m/s transfer mechanism in the
solidification phase
Saidur et al. EXP Shell and tube Vertical Paraffin 56 — Charge and Discharging temperature 25°C Discharging flow rate significantly
[46] discharge Charging temperature affected the performance of
from 81°C to 87°C. proposed thermal storage tank
HTF flow rates 0.033,
0.067, 0.100, 0.133,
and 0.167 l/min
Avci and EXP Shell and tube Horizontal Paraffin 58.06 — Charge and Charging temperature 85°C Increasing the inlet temperature of
Yazic [47] discharge HTF decreased the melting time
Discharging temperature 20°C Decreasing the heat transfer inlet
HTF flow rate 4.67 l/min temperature speeded up the solidification
process
Hosseini EXP and Shell and tube Horizontal Paraffin RT50 54.2 — Charge and Charging temperature Increasing the inlet temperature
et al. [48] NUM discharge 80°C, 75°C, and 70°C from 70°C to 80°C decreased
the total melting time by 37%
Discharging temperature 25°C The inlet temperature during charging
HTF flow rate 1 l/min and discharging phases had a great
influence on enhancing the thermal
performance of the system
Joseph et al. NUM Shell and tube Vertical Dodecanoic 42.5 — Charge and Charging temperature PCM was able to store about 6.1 MJ,
[49] acid discharge 80°C, 70°C, and 65°C which was only 40% of the
theoretical storage capacity of
the PCM
Discharging temperature 20°C PCM was a promising technique in
HTF flow rate 0.67 l/min reducing the volume of storage tank

(Continues)
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
 Table IV. (Continued)

Heat exchanger PCM

DOI: 10.1002/er
Nature Melting Weight Testing Testing
Reference of work Type Configuration Type point (°C) (kg) method variables Results

Hosseini EXP and Shell and tube Horizontal Paraffin RT50 51 — Charge and Charging temperature Increasing the inlet temperature from
et al. [50] NUM discharge 80°C, 75°C, and 70°C 70°C to 80°C decreased the total
melting time from 19% to 37%
Discharging temperature 25°C The numerical results showed
HTF flow rate 1 l/min that several recirculation regions
appeared in advance with time
owing to buoyancy effect
Tay et al. NUM Shell and tube Vertical Water 0 27.6 Charging Charging temperature 20°C CFD model was valid because natural
[51] Discharging temperature convection was insignificant
32°C to 35°C
Fath [52] EXP Double tube Horizontal Paraffin wax 50 — Charge and Charging temperature 81–61°C Increasing the inlet temperature
discharge HTF flow rate 0.78–2 l/min caused higher heat transfer

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
rates and accumulative energy
Murray and EXP Double tube Vertical Lauric acid 42.5 17.18 Charge, Charging temperature 58°C Increasing the mass flow rate
Groulx discharge, and Discharging temperature 10°C decreased the melting time
[53] simultaneous Charging HTF flow rate Varying the discharge flow rate
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

operation 0.55, 2.5 and 5 l/min did not affect the solidification time.
Discharging HTF flow
rate 2–8 l/min
Liu and EXP Double tube Horizontal Lauric acid 42.5 17.18 Charging and Charging temperature 60°C Using higher flow rates had a
Groulx discharging Discharging temperature 10°C significant effect on reducing
[54] Charging HTF flow rate the melting time but had
1, 3.5, and 5.5 l/min limitation during solidification
Discharging HTF flow rate
1–13 l/min
Medrano EXP Simple double — Paraffin RT35 35 1.5 Charge and — Double tube HX with PCM
et al. [55] tube HX discharge embedded in graphite was
Simple double — 1.8 — the one with higher average
tube with PCM power per unit area and per
Double tube HX — 1.8 — average temperature gradient
with radial fins difference, in the range of
2
700–800 W/m K
Compact tube — 4.3 The heat transfer was enhanced
fin HX when the turbulent regime
Plate HX — 15 was achieved in water
Abokersh M. H. et al.

343
(Continues)
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

becomes the main heat transfer mechanism. Murray et al.

[45] presented a numerical and experimental study for the
solidification and melting behaviors of lauric acid with a

32 kg/min, and the melting rate

melting temperature of 42.5°C. The experimented system

The melting rate increased when

flow rate increased from 8 to
consisted of a 6-in. plastic container with a 3/8-in. finned

decreased when the flow

Results copper pipe to charge and discharge the PCM. During the

increased to 40 kg/min
charging phase, hot water with a temperature of 55°C
was pumped through the finned pipe with a velocity of
1.5 m/s. During the discharging phase, cold water with a
temperature of 15°C and velocity of 3.5 m/s was used to
solidify and recover the energy stored in the PCM. In the
numerical model, Groulx and Ogoh’s model [57] was used
to simulate the melting and solidification processes. The
proposed scheme neglected the effect of natural convection
in the PCM and considered radiation and natural
convection losses from the outside wall. After 11.5 h of
Charging temperature 95°C,

charging, the numerical results showed that the solid

Discharging temperature

Charging HTF flow rate

10°C - HTF flow rate

PCM was present around the container wall and at the

8, 32, and 40 l/min
variables
Testing

corners. On the other hand, experimentally, the solid

94°C, and 90°C
60–180 l/min

PCM was only present at the bottom corner. This

difference might be due to the neglect of natural
convection during the melting phase. After 10 h of
discharging, the results of the numerical model for the
solidification process were similar to the experimental
results. Tay et al. [51] developed a three-dimensional
EXP, experimental; NUM, numerical; PCM, phase change material; HX, heat exchanger; HTF, heat transfer fluid.

CFD model to simulate the thermal behavior of a latent

Charging
Table IV. (Continued)

method
Testing

heat TES tank. The model was validated experimentally

using 540-l cylindrical tank with four coiled tubes inside
it. The tubes were filled with aqueous based fluid as a
HTF. The tank was filled with 27.5 kg of water utilized
Melting Weight

as a PCM. Since the natural convection was ignored in

(kg)

the CFD model, the freezing and melting phases started

instantaneously at the top and bottom of the storage tank.
point (°C)

Therefore, the freezing and melting processes predicted

82

by the CFD model behaved differently from the

PCM

experiments. This was manifested by the results of the

temperature profile inside the storage tank. In terms of
Paraffin RT82

the inlet, outlet HTF temperatures and the average

Type

effectiveness, there was a good agreement between the

CFD model and the experimental results. As a conclusion,
the authors found that the CFD model was valid since the
Configuration

natural convection consideration was insignificant in the

proposed model as it did not affect the predicted
—
Heat exchanger

effectiveness or the inlet and outlet HTF temperatures.

4.2. Double-pipe HX
Type

Triple tube

Fath [52] investigated analytically the transient behavior of

a double-pipe HX, during the charging phase. The annulus
of the HX was filled with paraffin wax, with a melting
temperature of 50°C, as PCM. Water, as HTF, flowed
of work
Nature

through the inner pipe. The analytical model was used to

EXP

estimate the heat transfer rate and the accumulated energy.

The author found that increasing the water inlet
et al. [56]

temperature increased the heat transfer rates and increased

Reference

the accumulated energy. Moreover, as the water mass flow

Abduljalil

rate increased the accumulative stored energy increased.

Murray and Groulx [53] conducted an experimental

344 Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
investigation to study the heat transfer characteristics of
lauric acid, as a PCM, during sequential and simultaneous
charging and discharging processes. The setup consisted of
a 0.2-m3 container with two 1.27-cm-diameter copper
pipes. The container was filled with PCM and hot water,
as the hot HTF, flowed through one of the copper tubes.
Cold water, as the cold HTF, flowed through the other
copper tube. The sequential operation highlighted the
influential effect of natural convection during the melting
phase. However, this effect almost vanished during the
solidification phase. In addition, as the mass flow rate of
the hot water increased the melting time decreased.
Whereas the flow rate of the cold water did not affect the
solidification time. The simultaneous operation showed
that the direct heat transfer between the charge and
discharge loops occurred only when the PCM was in the
molten phase. The flow rates of the hot and cold HTF
significantly affected the charging and discharging rates
when the PCM melted. Liu and Groulx [58] presented an
experimental investigation for the heat transfer
characteristics of lauric acid, as a PCM melting at
42.5°C, inside a horizontal double-pipe HX storage system
during the charging and discharging phases. Two different
configurations of copper tube fins; straight fins and rotated
fins 45°, were investigated. In the charging process, three
HTF volume flow rates 1, 3.5, and 5.5 l/min were used
with three hot HTF temperatures 50, 55, and 60°C. The
discharge process was implemented using cold water at
9°C with a discharge volume flow rate that varied from 1
to 13 l/min. The charging results showed that the inlet
HTF temperature had a significant effect on the melting
time. The melting time for the HTF at 50°C was 2.5 times
the melting time for HTF at 60°C. On the other hand, the
discharging results showed that natural convection had a
limited effect during the solidification of the PCM. After
the PCM solidifies the flow rate of the HTF had a limited
effect on the solidification time. As a conclusion, the
authors found that natural convection played a vital role
during the charging process once the liquid phase PCM
was formed around the heat transfer surface. On the other
Figure 12. Cross section of the triplex heat exchanger tube [56].
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al.
hand, conduction heat transfer dominated during the
solidification process. Furthermore, the results showed that
changing the fins geometry did not significantly enhance
the heat transfer characteristics during the charging and
discharging processes. Medrano et al. [55] experimentally
compared the heat transfer characteristics of five different
HX designs during the melting and solidification processes
of RT35 paraffin with a melting temperature of 35°C. The
PCM was integrated in a compact HX, plate and frame
HX, simple double tube HX, double tube HX with graphite
matrix and double tube HX with copper fins, as shown in
Table II. It was concluded that both the double-pipe HX
and the plate HX were not suitable for TES. This is due
to the small heat transfer area of the double-pipe HX and
the small storage capacity of the plate HX. In terms of
power per unit area, the system with the graphite-PCM
compound matrix was found to be the best option since it
had values of 700–800 W/m2 K.
4.3. Triplex tube HX
Basal and Ahmet [54] used the enthalpy method to
numerically evaluate a triple-tube concentric latent heat
TES tank filled with RT52, with melting temperature of
52°C, as a PCM. The results showed a significant effect
for the mass flow rate of the HTF on the Fourier number
at a low flow rates. Al-abidi et al. [56] studied
experimentally the performance of a triple-tube HX, shown
in Figure 12, during the charging and discharging phases
of RT82 paraffin wax with a melting temperature 82°C.
Three scenarios were examined during the charging phase;
in the first scenario, the mass flow rate of the HTF was 4, 8,
and 16 kg/min; in the second one, the HTF inlet
temperature ranged 85–100°C; and in the last scenario,
the HTF inlet temperature varied to simulate the output
of a solar collector. During the discharging phase, the
effect of the HTF mass flow rate on the solidification time
was studied at 4, 8, and 16 kg/min. The results showed that
the charging time decreased by 58% as the HTF mass flow
rate increased from 4 to 16 kg/min. Also, changing the
345
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
HTF inlet temperature showed the highest impact on the
charging time, where it decreased by 86% when the inlet
temperature increased from 85°C to 100°C. In the transient
scenario, the authors concluded that the effect of the HTF
inlet temperature overweighed the effect of the HTF mass
flow rate. In the discharging experiments, the authors
concluded that the solidification time marginally decreased
by increasing the HTF mass flow rate. Therefore, the
authors recommended that the optimum HTF flow rate
should be selected according to the application.
5. HEAT TRANSFER
ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES OF
PCM
The aim of using PCM in solar thermal applications is to
discharge the maximum amount of energy during the
solidification process. However, the growing solidified
PCM layer decreases the thermal conductivity and reduces
the amount of extracted energy. This is because one of the
major drawbacks for PCM is its low thermal conductivity,
which negatively affects the phase-transition time and
suppresses the commercial utilization of latent TES systems
[59,60]. Hence, remarkable efforts are made to enhance the
PCM heat transfer rate during the charging/discharging
process by using extended surfaces, high conductive
additives, and PCM encapsulation techniques and
employing multiple PCM [61,62], as shown in Figure 13.
The main focus of this section will be on the effect of
installing extended surfaces and the addition of high
conductive additives on the PCM to enhance the thermal
conductivity and the phase-transition rate.
5.1. Enhancement through extended
surfaces
The LHS system’s efficiency can be improved by using
different types of extended surfaces, such as fins,
microencapsulation, and multitubes, to extend the heat
transfer surface area and enhance the heat transfer rate.
The commonly used enhancing technique is the use of fins
because of its simplicity, ease of fabrication, and
reasonable cost [61,63]. A summary of the reviewed
Figure 13. Heat transfer enhancement techniques of the phase change material (PCM). [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
346
papers on enhancing the heat transfer characteristics of
PCM using extended surfaces is shown in Table V.
5.1.1. Effect of integrating fins in HX
Rahimi et al. [59] experimentally compared finned and
unfinned tube HX during the melting and solidification
processes of RT35 paraffin. The fins’ enhancing effect
was investigated at different HTF flow rates and inlet
temperatures of 50°C, 60°C, and 70°C. The test results
showed that the finned tube decreased the melting time
by 48–51%, depending on the inlet HTF temperature.
Meanwhile, changing the inlet temperature had the same
influence on both systems, where increasing the inlet
temperature from 50°C to 70°C remarkably decreased the
melting time by 58% in both systems. On the contrary,
the effect of changing the flow rate was more noticeable
in the plain tube than in the finned one. Therefore, the
authors concluded that finned tube systems were more
sensitive to the HTF inlet temperature than the rate of flow.
Also, Choi and Kim [64] had the same conclusion in
another experiment. In their study, they proposed an
experimental comparative study to investigate the heat
transfer characteristics of circular finned and unfinned tube
during solidification of magnesium chloride hexahydrate,
as a PCM. The experimental results showed that the heat
transfer coefficient was highly affected by the HTF
temperature and flow rate. In the finned region, the heat
transfer coefficient increased by 350%. Moreover, as the
fins increased the heat conduction between the PCM and
the tube, the solid phase temperatures were more uniform
and the temperature gradients were higher than those in
the unfinned system. Erek et al. [65] numerically and
experimentally investigated the performance of a shell
and tube LHSS enhanced by using circular fins. The
authors studied different fins’ numbers and diameters.
Moreover, the effect of the dimensionless parameters like
Reynolds number (Re) and Stefan number (St) on the
stored energy was investigated and validated with the
experimental results. Their results showed that the total
energy stored in the PCM increased as the Re of the HTF
increased, by increasing the flow rate of the HTF, as shown
in Figure 14. Meanwhile, the total amount of stored energy
increased as the fin radius increased and the fins pitch
decreased, as shown in Figure 15.
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems Abokersh M. H. et al.

Table V. Summary for work implemented on behalf of enhancing the heat transfer of PCM using fins.

PCM Fins

Melting
Nature temperature Testing
Reference of work Material (°C) Material Configuration method Results

Liu et al. [3] EXP Stearic acid 67.7 Copper Spiral twisted tape Charging The thin and small fins
enhanced the PCM more
than the fins with a larger
thickness and width
Velraj et al. [4] EXP Paraffin-RT60 60 Aluminum Longitudinal Discharging The fins enhancing
technique was more
suitable for domestic
water applications
Liu and Groulx EXP Dodecanoic 44 Copper Angled and straight Charge and The angled fins reduced
[58] acid longitudinal discharge the melting time more
than the straight fins
Rahimi et al. EXP Paraffin -RT35 35 Aluminum Longitudinal Charge and The inlet temperature had a
[59] discharge proportional relation with
the fin effectiveness
Choi et al. [64] EXP Magnesium 116 Stainless Circular Discharging The solid phase
chloride steel temperatures were more
hexahydrate uniform and the
temperature gradients
were higher than those
of the unfinned system
Erek et al. [65] EXP and Pure water Bronze Circular Discharging Increasing the fins radius
NUM and decreasing the fins
pitch increased the total
amount of energy stored
and the storing rate
Castell et al. EXP PCM–graphite 58 Graphite Longitudinal Discharging The solidification time
[66] composite decreased by increasing
the fin length
Jmal and NUM Paraffin-C18 28 Aluminum Horizontal Discharging The horizontal fins
Baccar [67] circular fins decreased the
solidification time and
increased the amount of
extracted energy
Hossiene EXP and Paraffin-RT50 45 Copper Longitudinal Charging Increasing the fins height
et al. [68] NUM decreased the melting
time and increased the
absorbed energy
Kamkari et al. EXP Lauric acid 43.5 Aluminum Horizontal Charging The melting enhancement
[69] ratios and the fin
effectiveness had a
proportional relation with
the number of fins
Kalbasi and EXP and RT27 30 Aluminum Vertical and Charging Increasing the number of
Salimpour NUM horizontal fins decreased the
[70,71] uniformity of the
temperature distribution
and maximized the
required time to reach the
peak temperature
EXP, experimental; NUM, numerical; PCM, phase change material .

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DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Figure 14. Comparison of numerical and experimental results on total stored energy [65]. [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 15. Effect of fin type on total stored energy at Re = 5000 [63]. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Generally, the researchers indicated that the fins’
efficiency is highly affected by several factors such as
(i) the fins configuration of whether longitudinal,
circular, or rectangular, (ii) fins’ number and dimensions,
and (iii) the fins’ orientation of either vertical or
horizontal.
5.1.2. Effect of fins configuration
Agyenim et al. [72] experimentally compared the effect
of circular and longitudinal fins on the PCM temperature
gradient and the heat transfer rate between PCM and tube
wall during melting and solidification of erythritol in a
concentric tube. The results showed that the circular fins
did not enhance the heat transfer rate in the sensible heat
region. On the other hand, the longitudinal fins enhanced
the heat transfer rate beyond the phase-transition region;
hence, the complete melting was only reachable by the
longitudinal fins, and an insignificant subcooling was
noticed during the solidification process. Moreover, the
radial temperature gradient was more uniform in the
longitudinal enhanced system. Therefore, the authors
recommended that the longitudinal fins were more
appropriate to be used in the melting and solidification of
erythritol. The configuration of the longitudinal fins
attracted the attention of many researchers. Liu and Groulx
[58] proposed an experimental study to compare the
efficiency of straight and angled copper longitudinal fins,
as shown in Figure 16. The results showed that during
the melting process, with HTF at 50°C, the angled fins
reduced the melting time more than the straight fins.
However, this difference was not noticeable with the
HTF at 60°C. Also, there was no significant difference
observed during the solidification process. Velraj et al.
[4] experimentally compared the use of aluminum fins,
steel Lessing rings, and water bubbles on enhancing the
heat transfer rate in LHTS system with paraffin RT60 as
a PCM. The results showed that the Lessing rings
increased the paraffin thermal conductivity ten times
from 0.2 to 2 W/m K. Also, the longitudinal fins and
the steel rings decreased the solidification time in
comparison with the plain tube by about 75% and
90%, respectively. Otherwise, the use of the fins and
rings decreased the extracted storable heat, as shown in
Figure 17. As a conclusion, the authors suggested that
the fins were more suitable when the variable conductive
resistance is the dominating resistance, such as in the
DWH applications. On the other hand, the Lessing
techniques were more efficient when the constant
convective resistance is the dominating one, like the air
heating applications.
5.1.3. Effect of fins’ number and dimensions
Castell et al. [66] studied the effect of vertical fins, with
20- and 40-mm length, on the solidification time and the

348 Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
Figure 16. Cross section for the heat exchanger with two fins configurations: (a) straight fins and (b) angled fins [58]. [Colour figure can
be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 17. Comparison of total solidification time and total
quantity of heat stored for different enhancement
configurations [4].
heat transfer coefficient of natural convection in a
cylindrical PCM–graphite composite module. It was
observed that the heat transfer rate increased by using
longitudinal fins, where the PCM’s solidification time
decreased by 23.53% and 58.82% by using fins with width
of 20 and 40 mm, respectively. On the other hand, in terms
of the heat transfer coefficient, the authors found that it
decreased by increasing the fins width as it suppressed
the natural convection within the PCM region. In terms
of fins’ design, Liu et al. [73] investigated experimentally
the effect of innovative fins with spiral tape design and
the influence of its width and thickness on the PCM’s
thermal conductivity. It was observed that the spiral fins
enhanced the PCM thermal conductivity by 67%.
Regarding the fin dimensions, it was noticed that small fins
significantly increased the PCM thermal conductivity by
300% in comparison with large fin width. Jmal and Baccar
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al.
[67] numerically investigated the utilization of internal and
external horizontal fins to enhance the solidification of
paraffin C18 within a coaxial tube storage unit. The authors
developed a numerical model to study the effect of fins
number on the amount of heat extracted to the HTF. They
compared between using a tube with three, five, and nine
fins and the unfinned tube in terms of the temperature field
and the velocity within the tube. The results showed that
adding the horizontal fins decreased the solidification time
and increased the amount of extracted energy and the HTF
outlet temperature. However, the authors noticed that
increasing the fins number to nine formed a thick
insulating layer that suppressed the heat extraction and
decreased the fins efficiency. Hossiene et al. [68]
experimentally and numerically evaluated the thermal
performance of longitudinally finned double tube HX filled
with RT50 as a PCM. The main focus of this study was to
study the effect of different fin heights and different Stefan
number on the melting time, and the absorbed thermal
energy. The results showed that as the fins’ height
increased, the required melting time decreased and the
absorbed energy increased. Kamkari and Shokouhmand
[69] experimentally studied the melting of lauric acid, as
a PCM, in a vertical rectangular enclosure with and
without horizontal fins. The authors studied the effect of
increasing the number of fins on the fin effectiveness and
the melting enhancement ratio. The results showed that
the fin effectiveness and the melting enhancement ratio
had a proportional relation with the number of fins. Kalbasi
and Salimpour [70] proposed a two-dimensional model to
investigate the employment of vertical and horizontal fins
inside an aluminum heat sink filled with RT27 as a PCM.
The authors validated the numerical model with the
experimental data obtained from Kalbasi and Salimpour
[71] and Hosseinizadeh et al. [74]. The numerical results
showed that increasing the number of fins decreased the
uniformity of the temperature distribution and maximized
the required time to reach the peak temperature.
349
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
5.2. High conductive additives
The PCM thermal conductivity could be enhanced by
embedding high conductive material into the PCM. These
additives could be in foam shape as shown in Figure 18
or as a particle to form a composite with the PCM as
shown in Figure 19.
Zhang et al. [77] reviewed the utilization of different
composite PCMs to enhance the thermal conductivity of
PCM and stated that dispersing nanoparticles into the
PCM only enhances the thermal conductivity within 20–
30%. In addition, the utilization of porous materials
introduces an effective heat transfer network through the
PCM, and it is more efficient.
Figure 18. Ring-shaped copper foam [75]. [Colour figure can be
viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 19. The photographs of (a) pure paraffin as phase
change material (PCM) and (b) paraffin/10 wt.% expanded
graphite composite as form-stable PCM [76].
350
5.2.1. Enhancement using PCM–matrix
The high conductive materials can be used in the form
of matrix or foam and filled with the PCM to enhance the
heat transfer rate within the system. This matrix can be
made of metal foam such as aluminum [78,79], copper
[75,80,81], nickel [82,83], and stainless steel [84] or
natural porous materials such as ceramics [85,86] and
graphite [87,88]. A summary of the reviewed papers on
enhancing the heat transfer characteristics of PCM through
high conductive materials is shown in Table VI.
The combination of PCM and the porous material could
positively affect the maximum storable thermal energy
within the system. Mesalhy et al. [89] investigated
numerically the PCM thermal conductivity enhancement
using different porous materials. The results showed that
the enhancement depended on the matrix properties such
as porosity and thermal conductivity. Therefore, the most
suitable technique was to use a material with high porosity
and high thermal conductivity to maintain the mass
fraction of the PCM. Aiming to compare the PCM–matrix
enhancement technique with the other proposed ones,
Martinelli et al. [75] experimentally compared copper
foam, copper fins, and bare stainless steel tube in a shell
and tube HX filled with paraffin RT35HC as a PCM. The
results showed that the copper fins and the copper foam
were the most effective techniques to enhance the heat
transfer within the HX. The melting time of copper foam
and copper fins systems was ten times shorter than the bare
stainless steel tube melting time. Furthermore, the authors
reviewed the effect of different foam porosity on the
effective thermal conductivity, as shown in Figure 20.
The results showed that the effective thermal conductivity
decreased as the porosity increased. In terms of
performance enhancement, the high porosity foam had
some advantages over the lower ones such as low bulk
density, low specific area, and a decreased loss in the
PCM storage capacity. Fleming et al. [79] investigated,
analytically and experimentally, the utilization of open-cell
aluminum foam to enhance the heat transfer within a shell
and tube thermal storage unit during melting and
solidification phases. Their results showed that the
aluminum foam enhanced the heat transfer coefficient by
20% and 100% for the solidification and melting phases,
respectively.
Among the investigated high conductive materials,
graphite was used owing to its high thermal conductivity
and chemical stability. Moreover, the graphite could
increase the thermal conductivity of paraffin up to
70 W/m K depending on the PCM–graphite mass fraction,
as shown in Figure 21 [90]. Cabeza et al. [87] compared
the heat transfer performance enhancement for water TES
system by using three different methods—stainless steel
tube, copper tube, and PCM–graphite matrix—while using
ice as a PCM. It was observed that the PCM–graphite
matrix had the most enhancing effect on the thermal
performance of the system. Singh et al. [88] investigated
the enhancement of the physical and thermal properties
of MgCl2, as a PCM with a melting temperature of
Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/er
 Table VI. Summary for work implemented on behalf of enhancing the heat transfer of PCM using high conductive additive.

DOI: 10.1002/er
Thermal conductivity
(W/m K)
Composite Nature Porosity PCMmelting Pore density
Reference PCMs of work (%) point (°C) ω (PPI) PCM Matrix Composite Results

Wang et al. [78] Paraffin/aluminum EXP 70–90 46–52 0.29 218 46.12 218 times larger than that of pure paraffin
Fleming et al. [79] Water/aluminum EXP and NUM 40 0.6–2.25 1.8–5.1 20% increase in the overall heat transfer
coefficient
Yang et al. [85] Sodium NUM 90–92 580 20–40 0.514 387.6 As the porosity increased, the melting time
nitrate/copper decreased
Martinelli et al. Paraffin/copper EXP 91 35 5–10 Copper foam was better than copper and
[75] stainless steel fins
Xiao et al. [81] Paraffin/copper, EXP and NUM 88.89–96.95 60–62 25 0.4 Copper 398 Copper (5.4–16.01) 1. Paraffin/copper thermal conductivity
nickel Nickel 91.4 Nickel (1.24–2.33) increased by 13, 31, and 44 times that of

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
pure paraffin
2. Paraffin nickel thermal conductivity
increased by 3, 4, and 5 times that of pure
paraffin
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems

Xiao et al. [82] Paraffin/copper, EXP and NUM 90–94 60–62 5–25 0.305 Copper = 4.9 1. Composite thermal conductivity increased
nickel Nickel = 1.2 by 3–15 times for nickel and copper,
respectively
2. The latent heat of the paraffin/metal foam
composite was reduced by about 22–30%
Oya et al. [83] Erythritol/nickel EXP 85 118 0.733 11.6 1. The melting point was not affected by the
pore size
2. The thermal conductivity increased up to
16 times that of pure erythritol
Cabeza et al. [87] Water/graphite EXP 0.6–2.4 25–470 20–30 The heat flux was increased by 400% for
melting and 300% for solidification
compared with pure ice
Singh et al. [88] Magnesium EXP 55.4, 90.7 714 0.46 96.2 The thermal conductivity of graphite/MgCl2
chloride/ increased by 200 times
graphite
EXP, experimental; NUM, numerical; PCM, phase change material.
Abokersh M. H. et al.

351
Abokersh M. H. et al.
Figure 20. Analytical and empirical models for the evaluation of the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of a high porosity copper
foam with paraffin as impregnation material [75]. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
Figure 21. Effective thermal heat conductivity of phase change
material (PCM)/graphite composite dependent on temperature
for various compositions [90]. [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
600°C, by infiltrating with high conductive graphite
matrix, with a melting temperature of 800°C. The results
showed that the thermal conductivity of graphite/MgCl2
was 200 times higher than that for pure MgCl2.
5.2.2. Dispersion of high conductive materials
High conductive particles such as metallic or graphite
nanoparticles can be a compound with the PCM substance
to form a PCM–graphite/metal composite through different
manufacturing processes such as grinding, compressing,
blending, and thermal treatment techniques. This variety
of shaping and manufacturing techniques raised its
potentials as one of the most promising enhancement
methods. Therefore, investigating the effect of dispersing
high conductive particle to form PCM compound aroused
the researchers’ curiosity in recent years.
Luo et al. [91] proposed a process to prepare an
erythritol-nano-titania composite and compared its thermal
characteristics with those of pure PCM erythritol. The
results showed that the utilization of 0.2% by volume
nano-titania enhanced the erythritol heat capacity by 14%
and 40% for the liquid and solid states, respectively.
Mettawee and Assassa [92] experimentally investigated
the effect of adding the aluminum powder to paraffin
352
Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
wax to enhance its thermal conductivity during the
charging and discharging processes in a compact solar
collector, as shown in Figure 7. Different aluminum mass
fractions were investigated from 0.1 to 0.5. It was found
that the 0.5 mass fraction was the most effective one. The
results also showed that there was a proportional relation
between the heat transfer rate and the aluminum mass
fraction. Moreover, it was observed that the thermal
gradient and the melting rate of the PCM composite were
much higher than those for pure paraffin. The complete
melting time for the pure wax and the composite was 7
and 5 h, respectively. The main daily efficiency varied
between 82% and 94% for the composite wax, and while
for pure paraffin, it varied between 32% and 54%. The
authors concluded that the addition of aluminum particles
enhanced the thermal conductivity of the paraffin wax
and increased the useful heat gain and the heat transfer
coefficient. Al-Kayiem and Lin [93] experimentally
investigated the effect of adding nano-copper particles to
paraffin wax, with a melting temperature of 60.5°C, to
enhance the efficiency of a flat-plate solar collector. The
results showed that the use of nano-copper particles
increased the thermal conductivity of pure paraffin by
24%. However, the addition of particles marginally
enhanced the total system efficiency, when compared with
the solar collector with paraffin wax only. The efficiency
increased only from 6.9% to 8.4%.
Expanded graphite has several advantages such as high
thermal conductivity, good compatibility with organic
materials, high stability, and low density [90]. Haillot
et al. [94] evaluated the performance of a SDWHS with a
latent storage material to find the most applicable PCM
to store energy. A composite made of compressed
expanded natural graphite (CENG) and PCM was installed
directly inside a flat-plate solar collector to replace the
traditional copper-based solar absorber. Different
composites based on CENG and several storage materials
(paraffin, stearic acid, sodium acetate trihydrate, and
pentaglycerin) were studied. It was found that the
CENG/sodium acetate trihydrate composite was
inappropriate for the integration in the solar collector
because of its instability when heated to a temperature
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Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems Abokersh M. H. et al.

above 100°C. The thermal cycling tests demonstrated the resistance. Although steel has a high thermal
stability of the RT65 paraffin and pentaglycerin after conductivity and affordable cost, it is not recommended
650 cycles. The authors concluded that CENG/RT65 to be used as fin material owing to its high possibility of
paraffin and CENG/pentaglycerin composites were corrosion and its high density, which reduce the PCM
efficient to be used as a solar absorber and to store thermal volume fractions and increase the required volume
energy. and cost.
8. Several factors affect the effectiveness of high
conductive material additives such as the porosity of
6. CONCLUSION AND the matrix, PCM/additives mass fraction, and the
RECOMMENDATIONS thermal conductivity of these additives. Generally,
the composite PCM is more suitable to enhance the
The present study reviews the application of utilizing PCM heat transfer than the PCM integration within the high
in SDWHS. This utilization includes the integration of the conductive matrix, as it can be machined easily in
PCM in the solar collector and water storage tank, and any shape by injection molding. Also, the matrix
introducing the PCM as a latent storage tank. Furthermore, structure inhibits the natural convection. For the
this paper reviews various techniques utilized to enhance PCM/matrix technique, it is recommended to use
the heat transfer of the PCM including the usage of fins foams with high porosity to obtain the optimum
and high conductive additive. The following conclusions enhancement.
can be drawn:
The mentioned review shows a significant amount of
1. The PCM selection for SDWHS must satisfy certain research into the utilization of PCM in SDWHS. However,
properties that include an acceptable range of melting there are very few attempts to study the integration of the
temperature (50–60°C), chemically stability, acceptable PCM in evacuated tube solar collectors. More experiments
solidification/fusion latent heat, non-toxicity, and are required to evaluate the thermo-physical properties of
inexpensiveness. Therefore, of the previously PCM at different temperatures.
mentioned materials, organic PCM is the most Also, the proposed designs are preliminary in nature,
acceptable material for SDWHS. and no commercial product is still available in the
2. The reviewed papers show that the available methods international market. Therefore, more studies are required
used to experimentally measure the PCM properties, toward the cost-effective processes of the PCM integrated
differential scanning calorimetry and differential in SDWHS.
thermal analysis are not accurate. Also, most of the
published PCM properties do not include the
dependency of the specific heat and thermal NOMENCLATURE
conductivity on temperature.
3. The integration of the PCM inside the flat-plate solar
collector showed a significant improvement in the CENG = compressed expanded natural graphite
collector efficiency, system cost reduction with a high DSC = differential scanning calorimetry
dependency on the collector tilt angle, discharge flow DTA = differential thermal analysis
rate, and weather conditions. DWHS = domestic water heating systems
4. Utilizing PCM modules in water TES tank is a very EPCM = encapsulated phase change material
promising technique in harvesting hot water at ESM = energy storage material
almost constant temperature during the shutoff of HPC = Heat pipe condenser section
the energy supply. Moreover, the shape and material HTF = heat transfer fluid
of the modules greatly affect the performance of the HWSHE = Hot water supply heat exchanger
TES unit. HX = heat exchanger
5. The natural convection has a great influence during the LHS = latent heat storage
melting phase, while this influence vanishes during the LHTES = Latent heat thermal energy storage
solidification phase because the conduction is the main PCM = phase change material
heat transfer mechanism. PP = palmitic acid
6. Most of the PCMs have a very low thermal PS = stearic acid
conductivity in the solid phase. However, the thermal SDWHS = solar domestic water heating system
properties of the available commercial PCMs could be SHS = sensible heat storage
enhanced through different techniques. SM = myristic acid
7. The efficiency of the fin materials depends on the SWH = solar water heater
thermal conductivity, density, cost, and chemical TES = thermal energy storage
stability of the fin material. Aluminum and graphite USAT = urea–sodium acetate trihydrate
are the most suitable materials to be used as a result USATL = urea–sodium acetate trihydrate–lead acetate
of their high conductivity, low density, and corrosion trihydrate

Int. J. Energy Res. 2018; 42:329–357 © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 353
DOI: 10.1002/er
Abokersh M. H. et al. Use of phase change material in domestic solar water heating systems
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