Abstract
The characteristics of thermal behavior of solid heat storage tank (Rock Bed) combined with air heating type of sollar collector were investigated theoretically by applying the heat transfer model considering for rock-air convection heat transfer, thermal conduction as a void parameter, and heat loss to the environment, and experimentally by cylindrical rock-beds connecting with the ref-lamp simulation system of the solar collector. The storage energy equations were descritized by the control volume method and solved numerically by Guess-Seidel iteration full implicit technique. The behaviors of storage performance have been discussed for various parameter under the condition of (1) the air flow rate per unit of face area, (2) solar incident intensity q_<inc>, (3) storage geometory factor d_1/L_1 and (4) storage and discharge time span mode. From the experimental and numerical results, it is cleared that G_a : air mass flow rate per cross-section area of storage tank, and K_s : solar incident per storage tank volume are the most significant governing parameter on the phenomena.
