Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Journal of Solar Energy

Volume 2016, Article ID 2405094, 6 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2405094
Publication Year 2016

Research Article
Characterization and Experimental Investigation of
NaNO3 : KNO3 as Solar Thermal Energy Storage for Potential
Cooking Application

Elias Wagari Gabisa and Abdulkadir Aman

Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 26, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Correspondence should be addressed to Elias Wagari Gabisa; [email protected]

Received 14 March 2016; Revised 7 May 2016; Accepted 8 May 2016

Academic Editor: Charles M. Drain

Copyright © 2016 E. W. Gabisa and A. Aman. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.

Household cooking is a major energy intensive activity in most of the Ethiopian households. Replacing the existing inefficient
cooking stoves and the polluting energy source with a renewable source of energy plays a paramount role in conserving the
environment and reducing the indoor pollution. In this study an energy storage phase change material is proposed to store solar
thermal energy for a potential household cooking application. The selected phase change material has a melting point range which
is well fitted to the operating range of temperatures for most of the household cooking activities. The solar energy source is
simulated with electrical heating for experimental investigation of the thermal characteristics. Also it is intended to study the
thermal characteristics of the mixture using deferential scanning calorimeter to identify at which mass ratio the mixture shows
better thermal characteristics. From the laboratory analysis it is found that the 60% NaNO3 and 40% KNO3 by mass have shown
promising thermal characteristics. For applying the selected salt mixture for cooking application, an experiment was conducted on
two Ethiopian local meals, shiro wet and potato meal, to know how much energy is required to cook them and what amount of the
PCM is required to store the required energy. The result reveals that 2.38 kWh energy is required for cooking the two meals for five
family members for lunch and dinner. To store the energy required 4 kg of the PCM was required. Experiments were conducted to
see the charging and discharging time of 60% NaNO3 and 40% KNO3 by mass. From the experimental result for 1.4 kg of the PCM,
charging time of 50 minutes up to 300∘ C and a discharging time of 4.5 hours (from 300∘ C to 100∘ C) are required.

1. Introduction was conducted on two local meals, shiro wet and potato
wet, and experiment was conducted at laboratory level to
Energy storage systems have an enormous potential to determine the charging and discharging time of the phase
increase the effectiveness of energy conversion equipment change material.
use. Thermal energy storage (TES) deals with the storage of As it is known worldwide energy demand and supply mis-
energy by cooling, heating, melting, solidifying, or vaporiz- match are greater problem, especially in developing countries
ing a material; the energy becomes available when the process like Ethiopia, which have solar thermal energy for about 13
is reversed. Solar thermal energy can be stored by elevating months. But to fulfill the mismatch between demand supplies
or lowering the temperature of the substance (sensible heat in such countries they are using wood energy for cooking and
storage), by changing the phase of the substance (latent heat baking, which has an adverse effect on health of the society
storage), or through combination of the two. In this study especially Women.
the thermal characteristics of sodium nitrate and potassium And this encourages deforestation highly. In order to alle-
nitrate mixture as a phase change material with a different viate such a problem it is important to develop technologies
mass ratio are going to be investigated to know at which mass which utilize a renewable energy as source of energy. Solar
ratio the best thermal characteristics will be found. In order cook stove which has a storage media in it is one example
to know the solar thermal energy requirement experiment of such technology. However, solar energy is available during
2 Journal of Solar Energy

day time and the demand for cooking in those countries is molten nitrate salt TES but is limited to low-temperature
during off shine time [1] during which the sunshine availabil- applications. However, this oil-rock TES has been proven
ity is very law. successful for solar thermal applications. The selection of
According to Ethiopian Rural Development and Pro- the type of TES depends on various factors such as the
motion Center (2006) 77% of total energy consumption is storage period (diurnal or seasonal), economic viability, and
covered by fire wood and charcoal and the other 15% is operating conditions [5].
from agricultural residue, and the other 6% was met by According to Sulaiman and Inambao [6], based on their
modern electricity and kerosene [2]. Foong et al. (2011) studies on development of thermal energy storage and cooker
have developed a solar box cooker by using stearic acid and module, they come up with the conclusion that to allow
magnesium nitrate hexahydrate as a phase change material adequate heat flow during rapid cycles of heat charging and
for storing Energy. They have conducted an experiment to discharging the heat transfer coefficient between the thermal
evaluate the thermal performance of the developed solar medium and PCM needs to be increased.
cooker for its charging and discharging time. Finally they Tesfay [7] investigates thermal storage wit solar salt
come up with the fact that the cooker has an efficiency of 82% experimentally as well as numerically and simulates it in
and maximum temperature within the cooker was ranging COMSOL. According to Tesfay’s study the PCM (solar salt) of
from 78 to 84∘ C [3]. Zhang and Fang (2006) used a mixture 2 kg melts within about 4.5 hours by applying 650 W average
of nitrate salts as thermal energy storage material. The nitrate power and Tesfay comes up with the possibility of storing
salts are sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate with 60 : 40 thermal energy with solar salt for more than one day since
mole percent ratio; they have conducted the thermal behavior the salt mixture has the melting point in the range of its
of the salts by using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) application, 180–220∘ C, of Injera baking.
[4]. Having the above and other related studies, in this Zhang et al. [8] investigated the thermodynamic evalua-
study studying the thermal characteristics of NaNO3 : KNO3 tion of phase equilibria in NaNO3 : KNO3 system and came
mixture is intended which is not clearly addressed with up with the conclusion that the solid solutions in the inter-
scholars for different mass ratios, so that different scholars mediate phase appeared to be a mixture of the NaNO3 based
my pick one which is important for their application. The solid solution and KNO3 based solid solution depending on
DSC method which is employed here is the world standard the X-ray diffractometry result at 473 K. Finally they under-
to investigate phase transition of phase change materials stand that solidus behavior indicates that NaNO3 : KNO3 is
(PCM) and also to determine their thermal characteristics. better regarded as a system with limited solid solutions rather
The method followed during experimental investigation of than as a continuous series of solid solutions.
thermal energy requirement was designed locally as well as Greis et al. [9] have conducted a study on phase diagram
for the charging and discharging time determination. of the binary system NaNO3 : KNO3 using DSC. They come
The obtained result shows that it is possible to use the up with the result that liquidus curve has its minimum at 494
PCM for high temperature cooking application and it is and 50% mole KNO3 with a very flat solidus curve.
better to use the 60 : 40 mass ratio since it has promising
thermal characteristics. The thermal stability of the PCM 2. Methods
with a required range (200–300) of temperature is also very
promising. In this section, the materials used for conducting the char-
There are large numbers of phase change materials that acterization of PCM and experimental investigation with
melt and solidify at a wide range of temperatures, making the employed methodologies are discussed in detail. For
them attractive in a number of applications. Paraffin waxes the characterization of the PCM, different standard methods
are cheap and have moderate thermal energy storage density were followed to insure the accuracy of the results. The
but low thermal conductivity and, hence, require large surface equipment used to analyze the thermal characteristics of the
area. Hydrated salts have larger energy storage density and PCM is differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) which is the
higher thermal conductivity but experience super cooling method adopted all over the world. Differential scanning
and phase segregation, and, hence, their application requires calorimeter (DSC) measures the melting point, specific heat
the use of some nucleating and thickening agents. The main capacity, and latent heat of fusion of the PCM. The density
advantages of PCM encapsulation are providing large heat of the liquid PCM is determined by the well-known standard
transfer area, reduction of the PCMs reactivity towards the method using pycnometer.
outside environment, and controlling the changes in volume Melting point, specific heat capacity, and latent heat of
of the storage materials as phase change occurs [4]. fusion were analyzed by using standard method of ASTM-
TES systems have also been suggested for storing ther- D4419-90(2005) by using differential scanning calorimeter.
mal energy at medium (38–304∘ C) and high temperatures The prepared salt mixtures were 12 g : 8 g (NaNO3 : KNO3 ),
(120–566∘ C). For instance, systems in an oil-rock system 10 g : 10 g (NaNO3 : KNO3 ), 8 g : 12 g (NaNO3 : KNO3 ),
for hot water and heat-recovery applications are examples 4 g : 16 g (NaNO3 : KNO3 ), and 16 g : 4 g (NaNO3 : KNO3 ).
of medium-temperature applications, while those in molten Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) analysis was
nitrate salt systems (an excellent storage medium) for steam performed using PerkinElmer DSC8000 instrument. Heat
production for process applications are for high temper- flow and temperature were recorded in the instrument with
atures. Oil-rock TES, in which the energy is stored in a an accuracy of 0.01 mW and 0.05∘ C, respectively, within
mixture of oil and rock in a tank, is less expensive than temperature ranges of 100–500∘ C. The measurements were
Journal of Solar Energy 3

made under purified nitrogen atmosphere with a flow rate of

20 cm3 /min and at a heating rate of 5∘ C/min. The mixtures
of the salts are taken from the furnace and kept in oven at
30∘ C to protect them from moisture and then after a day
the samples were taken out from the oven and measured
on electrical balance of accuracy of 0.0001 g. The already
weighed samples are put in the aluminum pans of DSC
and closed with the lid for analysis. The lid is crimped by a
sample press. The crimped sample pan was immediately put
inside the sample chamber of DSC after preparation. In the
experimental procedure, a temperature range from 100∘ C to
500∘ C was set with a heating rate of 5∘ C/min followed by
a cooling cycle at the same rate. The density of the liquid
NaNO3 : KNO3 mixture was determined using standard
method for density and relative density by using pycnometer Figure 1: DSC result for sample ratio of 30 : 70.
(ASTM-148-02(2007)).
The experimental investigation for charging and dis- 108.9 75.58
charging was conducted in the research grade laboratory of 70
100
Faculty of Chemical and Food Engineering. The PCM used
is a laboratory grade solar salt (NaNO3 : KNO3 ) which has a 60
purity of 99.9%. 80
Heat FlowEndo up (mW)

Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)

Thermal energy requirement for cooking the two local 50
meals was conducted electrical stove which has a power meter 60 40
within it and its rating power is 1000 W. A known amount
of shiro wet and potato was cooked by the stove; the power 30
consumption is recorded when the wet becomes matured 40
enough sensibly. 20
The charging and discharging time were conducted 20
10
experimentally by selected PCM during DSC analysis and
putting it in a known volume stainless steel jar and 600 W
power is applied from the bottom of the jar and the increase −2.552 −2.676
146.9 200 300 400 500 555.9
in temperature of the PCM was recorded within 2-minute
Temperature (∘ C)
interval until the PCM reaches slightly above its melting
point. Heat FlowEndo up (mW)
Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)
3. Result and Discussion Figure 2: DSC result for sample ratio of 40 : 60.
In this subsection, the detailed description of the results is
discussed thoroughly. The results discussed are the charac-
terization of the PCM, which are the melting point, latent As indicated in Figure 1, the melting point of 30 : 70
heat of fusion, specific heat capacity and the density, the sample ratios by mass is 225.36∘ C, the enthalpy of fusion is
thermal energy requirement for potential cooking applica- 44.8320 J/g, and specific heat capacity at the solid state (at
tion, and modeling of the heat transfer characteristics during 200∘ C) is around 10 J/g∘ C and above the melting point it
charging. increases steeply with temperature. At the melting point the
absorbed heat becomes very high and also the specific heat
3.1. Characterization of Storage Material. Differential scan- at this point is in order of 40 J/g∘ C. Even though the melting
ning calorimetry (DSC) was used to determine the melting point of this sample is very promising, the enthalpy of fusion
point. A low scanning rate was chosen to record the heat (the latent heat absorbed) is very low. This implies that for
flow curve as function of temperature in order to improve storing energy per a given amount of sample it requires larger
the sensitivity of detection. It helps to pick up any small container.
endothermic peaks and also avoids the thermal resistance As indicated in Figure 2, the melting point of 40 : 60
between the internal furnace and sample. All the selected sample ratios by mass is 225.38∘ C, the enthalpy of fusion
systems are composed of alkaline nitrate; all of them have two is 95.7905 J/g, and specific heat capacity at the solid state
basic components which are sodium nitrate and potassium (at 200∘ C) is around 5 J/g∘ C and above the melting point it
nitrate. DSC plots for each ratio were collected for three runs increases with temperature. It is about 10 J/g∘ C in the liquid
to ensure the reproducibility. Peak temperatures, enthalpy of region at temperature range of 350∘ C. At the melting point
fusion for melting peaks, and the solid phase transformation the absorbed heat becomes very high and also the specific
temperatures are shown in Figure 1 for deferent ratios of the heat at this point is in order of 40 J/g∘ C. Here in this sample
sample. the melting point is promising and is in order of required
4 Journal of Solar Energy

147 409.4 108.9 75.58

100 70
120 350
60
100
300 80
Heat FlowEndo up (mW)

Heat FlowEndo up (mW)

Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)

80 50

Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)

250
60 60 40
40 200
20 30
150 40
0 20
100
−20 20
50 10
−40

−66.29 −12.16 −2.552 −2.676

147 200 300 400 500 555.9 146.9 200 300 400 500 555.9
Temperature (∘ C) Temperature (∘ C)
Heat Flowendo up (mW) Heat FlowEndo up (mW)
Specific heat (J/g ∘ C) Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)

Figure 3: DSC result for sample ratio of 50 : 50. Figure 4: DSC result for sample ratio of 60 : 40.

50.61 74.75
range. But the absorbed latent heat per a given mass of the 70
sample is not very promising and the additional sensible heat 40
absorbed after the melting point as the temperature increases 30 60
is relatively low.
20
Heat FlowEndo up (mW)

50

Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)

Figure 3 shows the DSC results of the 50 : 50 mass ratio
samples. This shows that the melting point is still promising 10
and is in the required range for potential cooking applica- 40
0
tion. The melting point is 225.10∘ C; enthalpy of fusion is −10 30
54.9971 J/g and the specific heat capacity in the solid region
seems uniform at about 3 J/g∘ C. In the liquid region it is −20
20
around 25 J/g∘ C in the required temperature range of cooking −30
application which is required actually in the liquid region. 10
−40
Having good melting point and specific heat in the liquid
region did not guarantee the use of this sample for utilization −55.17 −2.651
for the required application. The absorbed energy per a given 147 200 300 400 500 555.9
amount of sample should be in order of 100 J/g and above for Temperature (∘ C)
consideration as good thermal energy storage. Heat FlowEndo up (mW)
In Figure 4 it is indicated that the melting point of the Specific heat (J/g ∘ C)
sample 60 : 40 ratio is 225.38∘ C, the heat absorbed per gram
of the sample as a latent heat is 120.9100 J/g, and specific Figure 5: DSC result for sample ratio of 70 : 30.
heat capacity of the sample in the solid region is around
6 J/g∘ C. The specific heat increases with the temperature in
the liquid region and it is around 10 J/g∘ C in the required
temperature range (200–300∘ C) for cooking application; it heat capacity, 𝐶𝑝 , in the solid region looks lower, 3 J/g∘ C, as
absorbs large amount of energy as the peak value which compared to other samples and it is still lower in the liquid
makes it more preferable and highly promising for thermal region, 8 J/g∘ C.
energy storage. The area under the peak is the amount of
energy absorbed per a given mass of the sample, and it 3.2. Charging and Discharging Time Determination. The tem-
shows that the melting process requires a large amount of perature distribution in the stainless steel PCM container
energy. jar is recorded during charging and discharging process.
From Figure 5 the DSC result of the 70 : 30 mass ratio The increase in the temperature of PCM during charging
samples is shown with two peeks. The first peak indicates the process and the decrease in temperature of the PCM during
melting point of the mixture, while the second peak shows discharging process are recorded.
when the DSC scans the sample and found some pure NaNO3 Figure 6 shows the charging process of the PCM. Initially
salt alone. The melting point of the mixture is 224.30∘ C, the temperature of the PCM was at 25∘ C and the thermostat
enthalpy of fusion is 29.3720 J/g which is lower. The specific of the stove on which the jar is put is set to 300∘ C, which is
Journal of Solar Energy 5

350 350

300
300
250
PCM temperature

200
250
150

PCM temperature
100 200

50
150
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time 100

Figure 6: PCM charging process for experimental setup.

50

the maximum temperature required for cooking application. 0

The charging process is continued until the PCM temperature 0 50 100 150 200 250
becomes in order of 300∘ C, which is about 70∘ C greater than Discharging time
that of the PCM melting point. The temperature of the PCM
Load temperature
at the top of the jar was recorded at interval of two minutes. PCM temperature
From Figure 6 it is observed that PCM temperature increases
gradually until it reaches its melting point and it increases Figure 7: Discharging processes with load.
steeply until it reaches the melting point within 25 minutes
and stays there at almost constant temperature for some time
since it is a phase change process.
The discharging process was conducted with load appli- 350
cation and without load application. 500 mL of tap water was
put on the jar containing charged PCM and the decrease in 300
temperature of PCM and the increase in water temperature
250
PCM temperature

were recorded with an interval of two minutes when load is

applied. Meanwhile for the case with no load application the 200
PCM is taken from the heat source and the bottom part is
put on insulator prepared by the size and then the decrease in 150
temperature is recorded by interval of 2 minutes. 100
The discharging process is continued until the PCM tem-
perature reduces to be in order of 100∘ C, though it contains 50
high amount of usable energy. Figure 7 shows the variation of
0
load temperature and PCM temperature during discharging 0 50 100 150 200 250 300
process. The load temperature increases gradually, while the Time (minutes)
PCM temperature decreases. As it is clearly seen in the figure
the load starts to absorb the heat rapidly until it becomes PCM temperature with no load
above 50∘ C and starts to decline; this is because there was a PCM temperature (with load)
gap between the PCM and the load and the heat transfer was Figure 8: Discharging of the PCM with no load and with load.
by convection in the gap and conducted to the load through
the air in the gap rather than pure conduction between the
PCM and the load.
Figure 8 shows the variation of PCM temperature without 4. Conclusion
load and with load during discharging process. The PCM
temperature decreases gradually and reaches 100∘ C within This paper presents the characteristics of different ratio
4.53 hrs, while it takes about 4.9 hrs with the case of no load. by mass of the PCM (NaNO3 : KNO3 ) mixture and the
When the load is applied the PCM temperature starts to numerical modeling of the PCM was simulated using ANSYS
decrease to its phase change temperature at about 25 minutes, mechanical APDL 15.0 to see the temperature distribution
while in the no load case it starts to decrease to its phase in the PCM. And the potential energy requirement for
change temperature after 60 minutes. The PCM stays at its potential local cooking application was conducted. Finally
phase change temperature for about 100 minutes when there experimental investigation was conducted to see the validity
is no load application. Both become decreasing slowly beyond of the model. Generally from the whole study we have the
the phase change process to 100∘ C. following conclusions.
6 Journal of Solar Energy

After characterizing the different ratios of the PCM the Competing Interests
one which is 60% m/m of NaNO3 and 40% of KNO3 m/m
ratio was selected as promising one which has the thermal The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests
characteristics of melting point of 225.38∘ C, latent heat of regarding the publication of this paper.
fusion of 120.91 J/g, and specific heat capacity of <6 J/g∘ C in
the solid region and >10 J/g∘ C in liquid region. The thermal Acknowledgments
characteristic of the PCM shows that there is possibility of
using the PCM for a wider high thermal application. Elias Wagari is very pleased to thank all the people who in
From the experimental analysis of the energy require- one way or another helped him to successfully accomplish
ment for cooking of two local meals it was found that this M.S. thesis work. In particular, he would like to express
2.38 kWh of power is required to cook “shiro wet” and “potato his profound and sincere gratitude to his supervisor Dr.
meal” for five family members for lunch and dinner. To store Abdulkadir Aman for his supervision, advice, and inspiration
2.38 kWh of energy 4 kg of PCM and 2.19 liters of PCM from the early stage of the thesis work to the final level. His
container are needed. Having PCM in small volume container valuable guidance and immense interest in the thesis topic
will provide a large amount of energy and therefore it is were prime mover for his daily activities. He is very grateful
possible to use the PCM for cooking application. for his all-round assistance and family type relationship. He
On evaluating the model by experimental work to fully is very grateful for the help he received from the technical
charge the PCM of 1.4 kg consumes about 50 minutes to bring persons in the Faculty of Chemical and Food Engineering,
it to 300∘ C, while it needs about 4.9 hours for discharging to particularly Adisu Wondimeneh, for his help during labo-
100∘ C without any load application and 4.53 hour when 500 ratory analysis and experimental investigation by providing
liters of water is used as a load. From this experimental result him the necessary equipment and technical help. Finally, he
it is concluded that it is possible to use this PCM by charging would like to thank his lovely wife, Khayriya Yenus, for her
it with a short period of time as it is also seen in the numerical efforts and encouragement all the way during his work.
modeling, and it can be used for a longer time; therefore
the model and the experiment reveal the same conclusion of References
short charging time.
Generally, standing on all conclusions above, the PCM [1] C. Thirugnanan and P. Marimuthu, “Experimental analysis of
(NaNO3 : KNO3 60% m/m : 40% m/m) is the appropriate latent heat thermal energy storage using paraffin wax phase
choice for potential cooking application by storing a cheapest change material,” International Journal of Engineering and
solar thermal energy. Innovative Technology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 372–376, 2013.
[2] Ethiopian Rural Development and Promotion Center Report,
2006.
5. Recommendation
[3] C. W. Foong, J. E. Hustad, J. Løvseth, and O. J. Nydal, “Numer-
Even though different parameters are investigated and ana- ical Study of a High Temperature Latent Heat Storage (200–
lyzed during the study still there are other remaining works 300∘ C) Using Eutectic Nitrate Salt of Sodium Nitrate and
to be investigated by different scholars in the area. The obser- Potassium Nitrate,” 2011.
vations for further investigation are summarized as follows. [4] Z. Zhang and X. Fang, “Study on paraffin/expanded graphite
Since solar energy is the most available and promising source composite phase change thermal energy storage material,”
Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 303–310,
of thermal energy, it is better to design a system comprising
2006.
the PCM for solar thermal energy storage system, so that the
[5] J. C. Gomez, N. Calvet, A. K. Starace, and G. C. Glatzmaier,
energy will be available at any time required storing it in such
“Ca(NO3 )2 -NaNO3 -KNO3 molten salt mixtures for direct ther-
materials.
mal energy storage systems in parabolic trough plants,” Journal
Industries are using thermal energy for different appli- of Solar Energy Engineering, vol. 135, no. 2, Article ID 021016,
cation in the process. During the time of utilization there is 2013.
waste thermal energy which can be used for the same process [6] A. S. A. Sulaiman and F. L. Inambao, Development of thermal
or other processes by storing the energy that is going to be energy storage and cooker module for integrated solar energy
wasted. Here, for industries that are using high temperature project [M.S. thesis], University of Kwatulu-Howerd College
thermal energy, recovering the thermal energy waste using Campus, Durban, South Africa, 2008.
NaNO3 : KNO3 (60 : 40% m/m) is recommended allowing [7] A. H. Tesfay, Experimental investigation of a concentrating solar
further study for the mechanism of utilization and recovery fryer with heat storage [Ph.D. thesis], NTNU, 2015.
options in their waste recovery strategy. [8] X. Zhang, J. Tian, K. Xu, and Y. Gao, “Thermodynamic evalu-
The effect of insulation on heat transfer is a very critical ation of phase equilibria in NaNO3 -KNO3 system,” Journal of
thing in order to minimize loss of thermal energy. In the case Phase Equilibria, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 441–446, 2003.
of such a PCM material it is the case which is very critical and [9] O. Greis, K. M. Bahamdan, and B. M. Uwais, “The phase
has a very large effect on the efficiency of the designed system. diagram of the system NaNO3 -KNO3 studied by differential
For such matter it is highly recommended to investigate scanning calorimetry,” Thermochimica Acta, vol. 86, pp. 343–
how it affects a storage process and efficiency of a certain 350, 1985.
designed system during charging and discharging of the
PCM.