Experimental investigation on air cooler with thermal storage

The domestic air coolers, which are cost effective, play a positive role in providing human comfort during hot weather [5]. However the performance is dissatisfactory in the high humid regions. This project paves a way to investigate the performance of air cooler integrated with phase change material (PCM) by eliminating the problem of rise in humidity that usually encountered in the conventional air cooler. The objective of the present invention is to provide cooled air to maintain the room temperature according to the requirement. This type of air cooler consists of heat exchanger, air duct and variable speed fan. Before the use of the mobile air cooler, the PCM filled heat exchanger tubes are kept in a domestic refrigerator for few hours depending on the requirement. During this period the phase change material in the tubes are get converted to solid and stores cold energy as latent heat of fusion. This is known as cold energy charging process. The charged PCM filled heat exchanger tubes are to be fitted to the heat exchanger whenever the customer needs to use this “Air Cooler with Thermal Storage”. When “Air Cooler with Thermal Storage” is switched on, the atmospheric air gets circulated by the fan passes through the heat exchanger and finally air gets cooled by the Ice/phase change material. During that time, The Ice/phase change material absorbs the heat present in the air and changes its phase from solid to liquid. This process is known as cold energy discharging process. This cooled air is focused to the area where occupants are present and cooling can be achieved locally.