Development of a Portable Solar Room Heater Using Phase Change Material (PCM)

Abstract: The traditional method of warming rooms at night during harmattan in Northern Nigeria is either dangerous or inadequate. An alternative method of room warming is south. Four prototypes of solar room heaters were developed using glycerine as the Phase Change Material and stainless steel as the heat transfer medium. The dimensions of the prototypes solar room heaters were Type A (diameter = 15.2 cm, length = 30.4 cm), Type B (diameter = 15.0 cm, length = 26.0 cm), Type C (diameter = 15.0 cm, length = 22.0 cm) and Type D (diameter = 16.0 cm, length = 22.0 cm). The average charging period for the solar room heaters was Type A (1 hour 40 minutes), Type B (1 hour 30 minutes), Type C (1 hour 40 minutes) and Type D (1 hour 20 minutes). The average discharging period for the solar room heater was approximately 25,000 seconds (6 hr 57 min). The duration for the charging and the discharging of the room heater has a positive linear relationship with the volume of the phase change material.

Keywords: Thermal energy, Phase change material, latent heat, room heater, glycerine