Executive Summary : | The part of the population (civilian, army and forces) that lives in Western Himalayan regions of India have two foremost common requirements such as space heating due to extreme cold in the winter and drying of agricultural products due to large production of fruits like almond, apricots, apples, walnuts, etc. Although, it is difficult to meet space heating requirement than drying due to involved constraints. Moreover, heavy rain and snow falls also limits the use of solar energy based technology in these regions. Solar air heaters are globally adopted devices that utilize solar energy to support moderate thermal energy requirements in household and industrial applications. Considering the limitation of solar energy such as only available in the day time and abrupt supply due to change in weather, solar air heaters as per their use can be classified into two categories, i.e., one as instant solar air heater and second as solar air heater with thermal energy backup. In the past few years, researchers have paid attention to overcome drawback of such solar energy based devices and extended their thermal performance for about 2-4 hours after sun shine. Hence, it is reported that solution to this limitation is the use of thermal energy storage materials such as PCMs that can effectively be used for thermal energy backup during off sunshine and nocturnal hours. Few research works are noticed that present designs of solar air heater incorporating thermal energy storage as a single system where thermal backup of hardly 2-4 hours is obtained and outlet air temperature soon reaches to ambient air temperature. Though, thermal backup of few hours is insufficient to support actual space heating requirements. Although, scarcity is noticed in the existing design as per feasibility and implementation that covers investigations under different weather conditions (seasons), study of the effect of geometrical and flow parameters, economics and selection of suitable sustainable materials for fabrication and overall to get 24 hours thermal backup at a significant temperature difference than ambient air temperature. The present research project aimed to perform the feasibility and implementation assessments of the design of phase change material (PCM) assisted solar air heater as a single unit to meet the space heating requirements of the population living in Western Himalayan regions of India. Therefore, the main objective of the project is to design and develop cost effective commercial design of solar air heater as a product equipped with thermal energy storage that can provide 24 hours hot air supply at a significant temperature difference, i.e., ≥〖30〗^o C than ambient air temperature under all weather conditions. In this extent, it is intended to promote utilization of such renewable energy based sustainable systems among the resident of Himalayan states to meet their moderate thermal requirements and reduce carbon emission in such preserved glacier regions. |