Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560

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Energy and Buildings

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The development of a finned phase change material (PCM) storage system to

take advantage of off-peak electricity tariff for improvement in cost of heat
pump operation
Francis Agyenim ∗ , Neil Hewitt
School of The Built Environment, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, BT37 0QB, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: An experimental system consisting a longitudinally finned RT58 phase change material (PCM) in a hori-
Received 12 February 2010 zontal cylinder has been conducted to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics of RT58. The investigation
Received in revised form 2 March 2010 forms part of a wider study to investigate a suitable PCM to take advantage of off-peak electricity tar-
Accepted 13 March 2010
iff. The system consisted of a 1.2 m long copper cylinder filled with 93 kg of RT58 with an embedded
finned tube at the centre to serve as a heat transfer tube. The experimental data has been reported using
Keywords:
hourly temperature profiles, isotherm plots, overall heat transfer coefficients and energy stored. The
RT58 phase change material
results show a quadratic relationship between heat transfer coefficient and the inlet HTF temperature
Heat pump
Economy 7
within temperature range (62-77 ◦ C) investigated. Increasing charge inlet heat transfer fluid temperature
Off-peak electricity tariff by 21.9% increased heat transfer coefficient by 45.3% during charging and 16.6% during discharge. The
potential implication of integrating PCM storage system to an air source heat pump to meet 100% resi-
dential heating energy load for common buildings in UK has demonstrated that with an improvement in
heat transfer, store size can be reduced by up to 30%.
© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction pump operations as the main challenges in heat pump develop-

Variable electricity rates are charged by utility companies to
reflect the high cost of providing electricity during the peak periods
of the day. For example in Northern Ireland (United Kingdom), the
economy 7 system charges 15.89 p/kWh during the peak period
(8 am to 1 am) and only 6.39 p/kWh during off-peak period (1 am
to 8 am) [1]. Cost of saving can therefore be achieved for both the
consumer and the utility company if heat pumps can be operated
during the off-peak periods in the night to store heat for use dur-
ing the peak periods of the day. Most studies conducted on heat
pumps have investigated the potential for efficiency improvement
and capacity adjustment through the improvements in compres-
sors, evaporators, condensers, expansion valves, heat exchangers
and working fluid mixtures [2–22]. Hewitt et al (2008) [7] devel-
oped a high temperature air source heat pump and investigated
the performance using air temperatures of -12 ◦ C to +15 ◦ C to heat
water up to 60 ◦ C. Performance across the temperature range was
presented, as well as detailed defrost energy analysis. Results from
a field trial were also presented. The authors acknowledged cost,
adoption of ground source heat pump to existing buildings (lim-
ited to more affluent areas) and the suitability of radiators to heat
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 2890 368 227; fax: +44 2890 368 239.
E-mail address: aboffour@hotmail.com (F. Agyenim).
ment. They also concluded that the provision of a buffer tank or
energy storage system would allow the use of low cost off-peak
electricity tariffs to reduce running costs. Few studies have been
conducted to investigate the use of energy storage to improve the
performance of heat pumps (heating and cooling) systems. Wang
et al (2009) [23] conducted a study of underground thermal stor-
age in a solar-ground coupled heat pump system for residential
buildings. The authors reported an experimental efficiency of the
underground storage based on solar energy collected to be up to
70%. The performance of the store was reported to depend on inten-
sity of solar radiation and the optimal ratio between the store (tank)
volume and collector area and recommended a ratio of 20 l/m2
to 40l/m2 . Okamoto (2006) [24] reported a two year study on the
performance of a heat pump system utilizing heat collected from
seawater installed in an aquarium to provide simultaneous heat-
ing and cooling. Graphical presentations of the results included
seawater and air temperatures, daily and hourly loads, electrical
consumption, energy output, consumption of buildings in summer
and winter and the coefficient of performance (COP) of the sys-
tem. Okamoto (2006) [24] reported a COP of 3.4 for cooling and
2.8 for ice formation with a significant fraction of peak electri-
cal demand during the day shifted to the off-peak period during
the night thereby helping to save cost as a result. Little attention
has been devoted to the improvement in cost of operation of heat
pumps through the use of phase change energy storage system.

0378-7788/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.03.027
 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560
Nomenclature
COP Coefficient of performance
Cp Specific heat capacity (kJ Kg−1 K−1 )
d Diameter of PCM container (m)
HTF Heat transfer fluid
k Thermal conductivity (Wm−1 K−1 )
L Length of PCM container (m)
m Mass (kg)
ṁ Mass flow rate (kg min−1 )
Q Energy charged or discharged (J),
q Rate of heat energy charged or discharged (J s−1 )
T Temperature (◦ C)
t Time (s)
U Overall heat transfer coefficient (Wm−2 K−1 )
␭ Latent heat of fusion kJkg−1
Subscripts
in Inlet
l Liquid
m Melting
max Maximum
out Outlet, Outer
pcm Phase change material
ref Reference
s Solid
Long and Zhu (2008) [25] conducted numerical and experimen-
tal investigation into an air source heat pump water heater with
a paraffin phase change material (PCM), n–Tetracosane (melting
point 56.03 ◦ C), designed to take advantage of off-peak electrical
energy. Graphical results reported included time-wise variation of
energy stored and released and system pressure and input power to
the heat pump. The authors reported an average COP of 3.08 for the
system. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the
use of paraffin (RT58) as a phase change material to take advantage
of off-peak electricity tariff as a step to reducing heat pump opera-
tional cost. The suitability of radiators to heat pump operations and
the potential implication of using stored energy to cover 100% heat
load of common residential houses have also been discussed.
2. Experimental setup and procedure
The setup of the storage module consisted of a 1.2 m long hor-
izontally mounted cylindrical storage shell made of 3 mm thick
copper cylinder with outer diameter of 375 mm. A 65 mm copper
tube with 8 longitudinal fins (1100 mm long, 120 mm wide and
1 mm thick) soldered onto its surface was placed centrally in the
PCM to act as heat transfer tube (HTT). This is because RT58 has a
low thermal conductivity (0.2 Wm−1 K−1 for both solid and liquid
states) prompting the need to develop heat transfer technique that
will help improve charging and discharging rates. Previous studies
on the performance of latent heat thermal energy storage systems
had shown that finned and shell and tube (multitube) systems
had the advantages of faster melting during charging [26–38]. In
a study to compare the finned (circular and longitudinal) and shell
and tube (4 tubes) heat transfer systems using a medium temper-
ature thermal energy storage material, Erythritol, Agyenim (2007)
[39] established that the best overall performing system was the
longitudinal finned system which had an advantage of prevent-
ing subcooling of the PCM through nucleation. This explains the
selection of longitudinally finned system for the study.
The phase changing behaviour of RT58 was independently
investigated by analyzing a 20.4 mg of RT58 using a heat flux type
1553
Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) equipped with a refriger-
ated cooling system which uses Nitrogen as a purge gas. In the
experiment, 20.4 mg of RT58 was sealed in an aluminium sam-
ple pan following which the sample was heated from 20 to 70 ◦ C
at 2 ◦ C/min and cooled back from 70 to 20 ◦ C at the same rate of
2 ◦ C/min. The thermophysical properties of RT58 as reported by the
manufacturer and independently investigated by the authors have
been reported in Agyenim and Hewitt (2009) [40]. Two end caps
each with a central orifice allowed the passage of the heat transfer
tube. A small opening at one end of the cap allowed the passage of
thermocouple wires embedded in the PCM to measure temperature
variations in RT58. The operation of the experimental storage mod-
ule consisted of two loops; a charging loop, which transferred heat
from hot water to RT58 and a discharging loop, which discharged
heat energy through a water radiator. A schematic diagram of the
experimental apparatus for the storage system is shown in Fig. 1.
Prior to charging, hot water bath (PID controlled) was heated and
continuously circulated through a bypass to achieve set inlet HTF
temperature.
The data acquisition system consisted of an array of T-type
thermocouples (measured at 0.3% accuracy), an OG4 (oval gear)
flowmeter (measured at 1% accuracy), data logger (DataTaker
DT615) and personal computer system to measure and record tem-
peratures and the mass flow rate of the heat transfer fluid (HTF). The
location of temperature sensors in the PCM system are detailed in
Fig. 2. Axial distances from the inlet were annotated by A (50 mm),
B (300 mm), C (600 mm), D (900 mm) and E (1150 mm). In addi-
tion, measurements of inlet and outlet temperatures to the store
and three temperature readings each on the surfaces of the PCM
container and the outer insulation were taken to help evaluate the
net energy charged and the overall heat transfer coefficient. Each
experiment was repeated three times and the averages evaluated
for the analysis.
3. Experimental results and discussion
3.1. Thermal response comparison–Temperature time curves
Figure 3 shows the comparison of thermal response (aver-
age temperature) in the PCM during charging and discharging for
average inlet HTF temperatures of Tin =62.9 ◦ C, 66.5 ◦ C, 71.0 ◦ C and
76.7 ◦ C at a constant mass flow rate of ṁ = 8.8 kg min−1 for the
charging and ṁ = 14.7 kg min−1 for the discharge. The overall aver-
age temperature in the system was calculated using twenty-seven
thermocouple readings from Fig. 2, nine each from three locations
along the axial direction of the storage system:
• Location A at the entrance (50 mm from the entrance),
• Location C at the middle of the store (600 mm from the entrance)
and
• Location E at the exit (1150 mm from the entrance).
Indicated with dotted horizontal lines on the curves are the
average temperature ranges for the melting (56.0-63.0 ◦ C) and
solidification (51.0-60.0 ◦ C) processes, taken from DSC analysis.
PCM was said to be in the solid state if average melting tempera-
ture was below 56 ◦ C. Within the melting temperature range, PCM
was in phase change state and if temperatures exceeded 63 ◦ C, PCM
was said to be completely melted. The trend of average tempera-
ture time curves show three stages; solid sensible heating, phase
change and liquid sensible heating. The final melt temperatures
achieved and the sequence in rise of average PCM temperatures
show that increased inlet HTF temperature from Tin =62.9 ◦ C to
Tin =76.7 ◦ C increased the rate of heat transfer. This was caused by
higher temperature driving potential (from higher temperature dif-
1554 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental PCM system used to investigate the effect of longitudinal fins on the charging of RT58.

ference) as inlet HTF temperature increased. It can be seen from
Fig. 3 that at the end of 24 hours charge period, average PCM tem-
peratures for experiments with Tin =66.5 ◦ C and Tin =62.9 ◦ C were
in the phase change temperature regime. As such it can be con-
cluded that complete melting was not achieved. Complete melting
occurred in experiments with Tin =76.7 ◦ C and Tin =71.0 ◦ C, indi-
cated by the rise in temperature above the upper phase change
temperature limit (63 ◦ C). The thermal performances of the sys-
tems in terms of final melt temperature, complete melt time and
the heat transfer coefficient for the charging process are given in
Table 1.
Temperature driving potential between the PCM and the inlet
HTF were higher at the start of the discharge process, resulting
in the sharp fall in temperature at the start of the discharge pro-
cess. No subcooling effect was however observed at the start of
the discharge process. Slower temperature gradients following the
sharp temperature drops represented periods of latent heat energy
discharge and solidification process. As complete solidification

Fig. 2. Cross-sectional views and the locations of thermocouples in the fin augmented PCM (RT58) storage system.
 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560 1555

Fig. 3. Comparison of average PCM temperature with change in inlet HTF temperature.

approached, progressively less and less heat energy was discharged
and the temperature driving potential (difference) reduced grad-
ually until HTF and PCM temperatures became similar. Table 1
provides the average PCM temperatures after 4 and 6 hours of dis-
charge, average radiator surface temperatures and the heat transfer
coefficient for the different charge inlet HTF temperatures.
3.2. Thermal response - Isotherm comparison
Isotherm plots midway (600 mm) along the length of the store
(considered to be least influenced by end effect) and average tem-
peratures achieved after 4, 7 and 24 hours of charging are illustrated
in Fig. 4. The isotherm diagrams in Fig. 4 were plotted using 26
directly measured thermocouple sensors at C (Fig. 2, location C)
with linear interpolation between points. Four (4) hours was cho-
sen to represent the classical daily heating period required for
most homes. Economy 7 discounts electricity price for 7 hours each
night hence the choice of 7 hours to represent maximum allowable
period for charging under economy 7. The choice of 24 hour period
was meant to represent a complete day heating, which in practical
application, appears unrealistic. However, it has been included to
represent the challenge in charging the PCM and to stress the need
for an advanced heat exchanger system design.
Figure 4 shows clearly that RT58 PCM cannot be melted within
4 hours of charging for any of the inlet HTF temperatures stud-
ied. As expected, the experiment with Tin =76.7 ◦ C recorded the
highest average PCM temperature of 55.1 ◦ C but was below the
lower limit of the melting temperature range. The upper half regis-
tered temperatures in the melting temperature range (green colour
background) whereas the lower half remained in the solid state
(blue background colour). This difference was caused by the ini-
tial formation of thin film of liquid around the heat transfer tube
whose size gradually increased to cause buoyancy effect with less
dense liquid moving upwards. In the case of experiments with
Tin =62.9 ◦ C, Tin =66.5 ◦ C and Tin =71.0 ◦ C, majority of the PCM had
not reached the phase change regime after 4 hours. Respective
radial distances from the centrally placed heat transfer tube which
had reached the phase change temperature regime were 45 mm,
50 mm and 58 mm. Similar trend was observed after 7 and 24 hours
of charging but with increased size of phase change region. The
sequence of average temperature rise and the increased size of
phase change region demonstrate the start of melting from the heat
transfer tube towards the inner wall of the PCM container. How-
ever, higher temperatures achieved at the outer circle of the PCM
container represented the end effect from the copper container
with higher thermal conductivity (k = 400W/(m K). Isotherm plot
also demonstrated an unequal distribution of temperatures with
the upper half of the store recording higher temperatures than the
bottom. This phenomenon was repeated in all experiments and
could be attributed to the effect of buoyancy. The higher the inlet
HTF temperature, the more unequal the temperature distribution
was.

Table 1
Performance parameters measured for the change in inlet HTF temperature from Tin =62.9 to Tin =76.7 ◦ C.

Inlet HTF temperature, Tin (◦ C)

Charging 62.9 66.5 71.0 76.7

Outlet HTF temperature during charging ( ◦ C) 62.5 66.0 70.4 75.8

PCM final melt temperature ( ◦ C) 57.9 61.1 67.5 73.0
Complete melt time (minutes) - - 1198 612
Overall heat transfer coefficient during charging, Wm−2 K −1 (24 hours) 16.1 19.0 21.8 23.4
Discharge
PCM temperature during discharge (◦ C) 4h 48.0 51.2 53.1 55.7
6h 44.1 47.9 50.9 53.9
Radiator temperature during discharge ( ◦ C) 4h 38.4 40.2 40.5 41.9
6h 36.9 38.9 39.5 40.4
Highest radiator surface temperature achieved during solidification ( ◦ C) 40.4 42.7 42.9 46.5
Heat transfer coefficient during discharge, Wm−2 K −1 (24 hours) 15.1 16.1 17.0 17.6
1556 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560
Fig. 4. Isotherm comparison of melt profile after 4 (classical charge time), 7 (maximum possible charge time) and 24 hours (whole day) charging for average inlet HTF
Ti =62.9 ◦ C, 66.5 ◦ C, 71.0 ◦ C and 76.7 ◦ C.
Based on economy 7, the most appropriate inlet HTF tempera-
ture would be that at Tin =76.7 ◦ C which achieved an average PCM
temperature of 59.5 ◦ C, similar to the average melting tempera-
ture recorded from the DSC analysis. For an air source heat pump,
an inlet HTF temperature of Tin =76.7 ◦ C would not be achieved for
the condenser output at a reasonable coefficient of performance
(COP). This is because performance of an air source heat pump
deteriorates with condenser output temperatures above 65 ◦ C. This
then restricts the selection of appropriate inlet HTF temperature to
charge RT58 to Tin =62.9 ◦ C, taking into account the condenser effi-
ciency. However, if heat source is a solar collector or an industrial
heat, then an inlet HTF temperature of Tin =76.7 ◦ C would be most
appropriate to ensure faster melting.
3.3. Energy charged/discharged and heat transfer coefficient
The rate (q) and the amount (Q) of heat energy charged and
discharged were calculated using equations 1 and 2 respectively.
q = ṁ cp T
Q = q t
Figure 5 shows the influence of inlet HTF temperature on the
cumulative amount of heat energy charged. As expected, increased
inlet HTF temperature increased the cumulative amount of energy
charged. The average percentage of energy lost to the ambient was
7.3% during charging and ranged from 8.1% with Tin =62.9 ◦ C to 6.9%
with Tin =76.7 ◦ C.
Table 2 details the quantitative amounts of energy charged at 4,
7 and 24 hours of charging. A ratio of energy charged to the theo-
retical maximum amount of energy available Q/Qmax was used to
assess whether or not energy charged was sufficient to melt the
PCM. The theoretical maximum amount of energy Qmax required to
charge 93 kg of RT58 was estimated at 20.1MJ using equation (3) for
temperature range between Tref = 20 ◦ C and T = 65 ◦ C with average
melting temperature at Tm =60 ◦ C.
Table 3.
Qmax = m [Cp,l (T − Tm ) +  + Cp,s (Tm − Tref )] (3)
A Q/Qmax value of less than 1 signified insufficient energy
(1) to melt the PCM and a value of 1 meant that theoretically,
energy charged could melt the PCM. This was however not the
(2) case due to the unequal heat distribution in the melt which
 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560 1557

Fig. 5. The effect of inlet HTF temperature on the energy charged after 24 hours of charging.

resulted from buoyancy effects especially where liquid formation
occurred.
By comparing the Q/Qmax value of 1.19 with the isotherm plot
in Fig. 4 for the experiment with Tin =66.5 ◦ C, it can be concluded
that although 19% excess energy (over the maximum energy) was
charged with average PCM temperature of 61.1 ◦ C, not all sections
of the PCM were completely melted after 24 hours of charging. Also
a 3.8% change in net Q/Qmax values between Tin =62.9 ◦ C (7th hour)
and Tin =76.7 ◦ C (4th hour) produced an average temperature change
of 10%. A comparison of the isotherm plots for the two scenarios
also demonstrate the influence of inlet HTF temperature on the
melt profile. Although only 3.8% energy difference was charged,
the melt profiles are quite different. Experiment with Tin =76.7 ◦ C
recorded the higher unequal distribution indicating that, the higher
the inlet HTF temperature, the more unequal the distribution would
be. If possible lower HTF temperatures with effective heat trans-
fer mechanism would be preferred to melting PCMs due to their
low thermal conductivities. This reiterates the need to combine
isotherm plots, energy charged and temperatures in the analysis of
PCM problems. Whereas incomplete melting is undesirable since
it does not allow the complete utilization of the latent heat, it has
been reported to have an advantage of initiating solidification and
reducing subcooling, if any [33].
3.4. Overall heat transfer coefficient, U
The effect of change in inlet HTF on the overall heat transfer
coefficient after 24 hours of charging are shown in Fig. 6. The overall
heat transfer coefficient (U) between water as a HTF and RT58 as a
PCM during charging and discharging were calculated using equa-
tions 4 and 5 respectively. In equation 4 and 5, Tpcm represented
the average PCM temperature calculated from 36 thermocouple
readings, 12 each at axial locations A (50 mm), C (600 mm) and E
(1150 mm) as shown in Fig. 2. Tin and Tout each represented aver-

Table 2
The amounts of energy charged and heat losses up to 4, 7 and 24 hours of charging.

Tin 62.9C 66.5C 71.0C 76.7C

Qmax Qc /Qmax Qc Qc /Qmax Qc Qc /Qmax Qc Qc /Qmax

Cumulative energy charged (MJ) 4hrs 7.73 0.38 8.32 0.41 8.07 0.40 10.99 0.55
7hrs 10.70 0.53 11.90 0.59 12.52 0.62 17.13 0.85
24hrs 21.41 1.07 25.76 1.28 32.21 1.60 36.90 1.84

Cumulative energy lost (MJ) 4hrs 0.14 0.14 0.13 0.14

7hrs 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.35
24hrs 1.74 1.80 2.34 2.55

Cumulative net energy charged (MJ) 4hrs 7.59 0.38 8.18 0.41 7.94 0.40 10.85 0.54
7hrs 10.39 0.52 11.59 0.58 12.20 0.61 16.78 0.84
24hrs 19.67 0.98 23.96 1.19 29.87 1.49 34.35 1.71

Table 3
Heat load fraction and container sizes required to store RT58 PCM to cover 100% heating load for different house types.

Building type Flat Terraced Semi-Detached Detached

Average floor area (m2 ) 70 96 105 143

kW 4.2 5.8 6.3 8.6
Heat Load kWh (4hrs) 16.8 23.0 25.2 34.3
MJ 60.5 82.9 90.7 123.6
Fraction covered (%)* 17.2 12.5 11.5 8.4
Tank volume (litres) to Experimenta 746 1027 1116 1528
cover 100% load Optimum 520.7 714 781 1064
*
Based on energy stored within 7 hours with Tin =62.9C and Qc /Qmax =0.52.
a
Projection based on energy charged from current heat exchanger arrangement (Table 2).
1558 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560
Fig. 6. The effect of inlet heat transfer fluid temperature (Tin ) on the heat transfer coefficient (U) for the charge and discharge of RT58.
age temperatures of three thermocouple sensors at A, C and E at 90
degrees angle (horizontal).
 
ln (Tin − Tpcm )/(Tout − Tpcm )
U=q
 dout L (Tin − Tout )
 
ln (Tpcm − Tin )/(Tpcm − Tout )
U=q
 dout L(Tout − Tin )
As expected, an increase in inlet HTF temperature (Tin ) to the
store increased the overall heat transfer coefficient (U) with a
quadratic relationship between the two. Heat transfer coefficient
increased faster for the charging process than for the discharge pro-
cess. This was because whereas the U value had a direct influence on
the temperature difference between HTF and PCM during charging,
the increase in U value for the discharge process was linked with
the total amount of energy stored and the final PCM melt temper-
ature achieved. The higher the inlet HTF temperature, the more
the amount of energy stored and the higher the U value for the dis-
charge. Increasing charge inlet HTF temperature by 21.9% increased
heat transfer coefficient by 45.3% for the charging process and 16.6%
for the discharge process.
The overall heat transfer coefficient U achieved were quite low
when compared with values reported in literature by Choi and Kim
(1992) [38] who reported U values of between 60 and 160 W/m2 K.
The difference was due to several factors including the type of PCM
used (MgCl2 .6H2 O–an inorganic PCM with reported higher thermal
conductivity of 0.704 W/(mK)), the experimental setup with air as
a heat transfer tube, the size of PCM container (100 mm height and
9.4 mm diameter cylinder) and the vertical orientation of store by
Choi and Kim (1992) [38]. Compared to the current system investi-
gated which has a commercial size with diameter of 375 mm, major
differences could occur if even the same PCM were used. This reit-
erates the need to put any calculated heat transfer coefficient from
any energy storage experiment into context even with the same
PCM for different experimental setups. Again it stresses the need
to develop a test standard such as European Standards or British
Standards to ensure uniformity in test procedure and analysis as
suggested by Agyenim et al (2010) [41].
3.5. Energy storage capacity of RT58 applied to residential
housing heating load
Based on the average floor areas of the most common types of
residential buildings in UK and the rule of thumb guidelines for
(4)
assessing building services produced by BRRIA (2001) [42], Table 3
details the average heating load in kW, kWh and MJ, if house is
heated for an average period of 4 hours in a day using an average
(5) heating load of 60W/m2 .
If heat source to the store were to come from an air source heat
pump with a maximum condenser outlet temperature of 65 ◦ C, the
most appropriate inlet HTF temperature within the range investi-
gated would be 62.9 ◦ C. For a maximum economy 7 charge period
of 7 hours, the fraction of heat energy covered by RT58 store are
listed in Table 3. The projected minimum volume of store to cover
100% household heating load for a day based on experimental val-
ues obtained from the current heat exchanger system (Tin =62.9 ◦ C
and solidified PCM temperature of 48 ◦ C after 4 hours of discharge)
are detailed in Table 3. It can be seen that a semi detached house
(with about 32% proportion of total UK housing stock) [43] would
require 1116 litres volume of RT58 store, which compares well with
900 to 1200 litre range of oil tank sizes for most residential homes.
The size of tank can however be reduced by maximum 30% to 781
litres with a significant improvement in heat transfer during charg-
ing and discharging of RT58. In the case of a detached house, 1528
litre volume of RT58 will be required to cover 100% heat load, which
again can be reduced by up to a maximum of 30% with improved
heat transfer.
3.6. Radiator output temperatures
The output temperatures from a single radiator installed to
discharge stored energy from RT58 are shown in Fig. 7. Radiator
surface temperature peaked at the start of the discharge process
which represented the collection of latent heat. With increase in
time, temperature dropped from an initial high value of between 41
and 47 ◦ C to 38 and 41.6 ◦ C in 4 hours. Experiment with Tin =76.7 ◦ C
recorded the highest radiator temperatures followed by those with
Tin =71.0 ◦ C, Tin =66.5 ◦ C and Tin = 62.9 ◦ C in that order indicating that
increased inlet HTF temperature during charging has a bearing on
the surface temperature achieved. This was because with increased
 F. Agyenim, N. Hewitt / Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 1552–1560
Fig. 7. The effect of inlet heat transfer fluid temperature on the radiator surface temperature.
inlet HTF temperature, more energy was stored with higher final
melt temperatures which subsequently provided more discharge
energy.
4. Conclusion
An experimental phase change energy storage system devel-
oped to assess its suitability to heat pump operations has shown
that the average store tank size needed to cover 100% daily heat-
ing need of a semi detached house, operating the heat pump in the
maximum 7 hour low cost window period (under economy 7) is
1116 litres. After 7 hours of charging with HTF inlet temperature
of 62.9 ◦ C, the fraction of maximum energy available for heating
was 52%. This was due to the low thermal conductivity of RT58,
leading to slow charging and discharging rates. Results from the
study has demonstrated that with an improvement in heat trans-
fer techniques to charging and discharging heat effectively from the
store, store size can be reduced by 30%. It is therefore imperative
to develop new heat exchangers in order for heat pump operations
to take advantage of the low cost tariff economy 7 offers.
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