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International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

Performance evaluation of evacuated tube collector solar water heating


system: A Review
Patel Krunal#1, Mr. Nirmal kumar*2, Mr. A. K. Dandiwala#3
#1
PG Student, Mechanical Engineering Department, SVMIT-Bharuch, Gujarat Technological University.
#2
Asst.Prof, Mechanical Engineering Department, SVMIT-Bharuch, Gujarat Technological University.
#3
Asst.Prof, Mechanical Engineering Department, BITS Vadodara, Gujarat Technological University.
1
krunalpatel064@gmail.com, 2nirmal.kumar@svmit.ac.in, 3ankitdandiwala@gmail.com

Abstract
Renewable energy is important for replace the using of electrical energy generated by petroleum. Energy consumption from petroleum
must be reduced because of the limited petroleum resources and contribute of pollution to the earth. Solar power has become a source of
renewable energy. More research is needed to increase capability and reduce production costs of solar water heating system. The objective of the
project is to do investigation of the numerical and experimental results of solar water heater. several studies carried out by scholars to improve
the performance of the solar water heater collector in the recent times. The specific objective is to design performance parameters measuring and
testing technique for solar water heater and method that can improve the efficiency of the solar water heater collector. Solar energy is the most
readily available and free source of energy, which can be used to generate heat energy though solar thermal technology. Different Tests selected
for the performance evaluation were Thermal efficiency test on evacuated glass-tube. The tests are carried out to check and evaluate the
durability, integrity, capability and efficiency of solar evacuated tube collector.

KeywordsSolar energy, evacuated tube collector, Efficiency, Storage tank, Heat pipe

INTRODUCTION
The solar energy is the most capable of the alternative energy sources. Thermal conversion is a technological scheme that utilizes a
solar radiation. When a dark surface is placed in sunshine, it absorbs solar energy and heats up. Solar energy collector working with sun facing
surfaces will transfer energy to the water that flow through it. To reduce heat loses to atmosphere and to improve it efficiency, one or two sheet
of glass are usually placed over the absorbed surface. Such losses increase rapidly as the temperature of the working fluid increases. Solar water
heating (SWH) is a proven and famous renewable energy technology and has been used in many countries of the world. The SWH system
investigated consists of mainly three parts, namely a flat plate solar collector, a storage tank and a circulating pump. Solar water heating system
have been the famous application that using solar radiation as an energy sources that using thermal conversions. A solar water heater consists of
a collector to collect solar energy and an insulated storage tank to store hot water. The solar energy incident on the absorber panel coated with
selected coating transfers the heat to the riser pipes under the absorber panel The water passing through the risers get heated up and is delivered
the storage tank. The recirculation of the same water through absorber panel in the collector raises the temperature in a good sunny day. he total
system with solar collector, storage tank and pipelines is called solar hot water system.

LITERATURE SURVEY
Kaichun Li, Tong Li concluded that The flow and heat transfer performance of solar water heaters for different initial temperatures (ranging
from 273K to 313K) with elliptical collector tubes are evaluated and compared with normal solar water heater using numerical simulation. The
predicted results match fairly well with experimental data. Results indicate that, the temperature distributions of all the tube cross sections are
similar, but the velocity profiles of them are much dissimilar. The fluid velocity near the wall and decrease with decrease in the ratio of the cross
section major and minor axis, which induces the reduction in the circulation rate through the collector tubes, which is not conducive to
heat transfer. The value of Nuseelt number increase with increment in initial temperature. The larger the value of b/a, the better heat transfer is.
Over the range investigated, the mean Nusselt number of solar water heater with b/a=1are 292 Kaichun Li et al. / Energy Procedia 70 ( 2015 )
285 292respectively 59% and 19% larger than the solar water heaters withb/a=0.6 and 0.8 for the temperature ranging from 273K to 313K

Mr. M.V. Kulkarni, Dr. D. S Deshmukh investigated that the Solar water heater performance is a topic of neverending discussion in the solar
renewable energy field. While the performance of solar water heater systems is at par, still there is scope of
performance improvement. In order to assure certain quality for solar water heater systems, it is necessary to design standards, conduct tests to
verify compliance of these standards. In this paper solar water heater performances parameters are discussed which would be useful to optimize
and compare various solar water collectors. It would provide information to consumers regarding performance of the solar water heater. There is
wide scope in research and development of solar water heater to enhance performance by increase transmission of energy through the collector
to the working fluid also reduces thermal losses. Evacuated tube collectors have lower thermal losses as compared to flat plate collector and
hence are less affected by ambient conditions. Instead of conducting the tests for the whole year, the tests
can be conducted for about fifteen days and the results should be extrapolated to obtain annual performance.

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International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

R. Chandrashekar concluded that Mathematical models were investigated to study various heat transfer phenomena in solar flat plate collector
system. As inlet temperature of water increases, the efficiency of the collector system will decrease. The efficiency increases more
or less linearly with ambient temperature. Increase in ambient temperature decreases loss of heat by radiation, convection and conduction to the
surroundings. Increasing the thickness of insulation beyond 5cm is worthless as there is no effect on the efficiency of system. Instantaneous
efficiency increases to maximum from 12 noon to 13:00 PM. and it also proportional to ambient temperature. Efficiency of
the system decreases with the increase of wind speed, due to the heat loss to the surroundings. Transmission coefficient of transparent covers
should be more than 0.95 in order to obtain higher efficiency of the collector system. The efficiency could be improved by using good selective
coatings.

Dilip Mishra concluded that in the present work, the thermal performance of the evacuated U-tube solar collector is investigated. Further from
study it is found that vacuumed tube prevents the leakage of heat from collector and traps heat for useful heating purpose of water. Thus helps in
increasing collector thermal performance. The influences of atmospheric temperature and the solar radiation intensity on the collector efficiency
are studied. Effect of copper fin and U-tube in terms of its heat retaining capacity has been observed and it is found that the thermal efficiency of
Evacuated U-Tube Collector has been increased by 10-15% then water-in-glass evacuated tube solar ware heater. All the results have been taken
from natural convection flow of water inside the tube. The further augmentation of heat transfer from vacuum tube can be made by creating
turbulence in the fluid flowing inside the tubes. The turbulence can be set-up by following three methods- I. By vibrations. II. By forcing the
fluid or water by means of some external power, used safely to avoid breakage. III. By cross movement of experimental set-up with changes in
angles as per the position of sun in the sky.

Michel Hayek, Johnny Assaf investigated that the Various experiments were conducted in order to characterize the overall performance of
evacuatedtube solar collectors as used in the local Lebanese market. The results are in good agreement with similar results published by
manufacturers and independent testing authorities. The main conclusion is that the heat-pipe collectors have a much better efficiency than the
water-in-glass collectors. Those later are however, more widely used locally owing to their lowest initial cost and their relatively short payback
periods.

H. N. KADEVAL, DESAI MUKESH K concluded that Borosilicate glass are suitable to use in place of tube for design and fabrication of
evacuated tube collector to reduce the cost of the system. The black color coated aluminum foil found suitable to use as a heat absorbing element
in place of inner vacuum glass tube in the commercial systems. Different test like preconditioning test, Static pressure leakage test, outdoor no
flow exposure test, Thermal performance test are used to carried out performance of all glass evacuated solar water heater system.

S. L. Pensalwar, R. S. Tamhankar investigated that the At this stage, theoretical and numerical analysis of saddle supports for evacuated tube
collectors is done. An alternative to conventional evacuated tubes is given which is more efficient and can be manufactured indigenously. The
evacuated tube with collector area 0.1044m2 will be able to increase water temperature by 480CFor a volume of 10 liters per tube in a day.

Prof. V. Y. Chaudhary, Bharat Kalamkar investigated that the The CFD analysis has been carried out to investigate the thermal performance
of two phase closed thermosyphon evacuated tube SWH with working fluid in heat pipe as conventional fluid water and Al2O3-H2O nanofluid.
Following conclusions are made from experimental study and are detailed as below: 1) the temperature difference of evaporator and condenser
surface for system having nanofluid is lesser than system having water as working fluid. It shows that effective thermal conductivity of heat pipe
increases when nanofluid (Al2O3+water) is used. 2) The thermal performance of SWH with heat pipe containing nanofluid is better than that of
conventional heat pipe SWH. There is 10-12% rise in outlet temperature due to nanofluid as a working fluid. 3) Analysis results also revealed
that the heat pipe tilt angle had crucial effects on thermal performance of evacuated tube SWH. The optimum performance is obtained at 35 for
both the system.

Amer A. Mohammed investigated that the Experiments were carried out on a proposed design of an evacuated-tube solar collector to find out
its applicability to produce high temperature water or steam. It was found that using long and small diameter through-flow pipe results in many
operation problems caused by high frictional losses inside the pipe. To overcome the problems a collector with larger area and higher mass flow
rate should be employed. It was also found that engine oil is an efficient medium for heat transfer between the evacuated tube inner surface and
the throughflow pipe outer surface. However other fluids may also be used in place of oil like anti-freeze solutions or fluids with suspended
nano-particles. The effects of changing the collector geometry (pipe length and diameter) on the minimum mass flow rate necessary to overcome
friction and produce steam requires further future investigations.

Indra Budihardjo, Graham L. Morrison investigated that This paper presents both measurement and numerical modelling of circulation rate
in a water-in-glass evacuated tube solar collector. For the purpose of simulation, two computational domains are examined. The first is an open
thermosyphon model and the second is a single-tube model coupled to a section of horizontal tank. These domains have a relatively small
number of mesh elements, and therefore are more computationally efficient than simulating a complete tube and tank system. The CFD model
was validated against PIV measurements. Good agreement between the experimental and simulation results was achieved in a number of
qualitative and quantitative parameters, namely the peak velocity of the heated fluid stream, the location of the peak velocity, the cross-over
point between the two opposing streams and the flow structure as the hot fluid rises up the tank. The validation results serve as a basis for using
CFD analysis with reasonable confidence in further parametric studies. The effect of varying tank temperature and heat distribution around the
absorber tube circumference on the natural convection rate in a single tube was investigated. Simulation results show that when heating is
concentrated on the top half of the tube, a thin and fast stream of heated fluid is formed, whilst bottom heating creates a slower and deeper flow
at the outlet. Variation of tank temperature was found to have a significant effect on the circulation rate. A 25 K increase in tank temperature
significantly reduces water viscosity, resulting in more than 50% increase in the rate of circulation through the tube. The high flow rates
observed in these investigations would result in a fully mixed state for the storage tank. Although stratification is important for optimum
performance of flat plate collector systems the lack of stratification for an evacuated tube collector may not be significant due to the lower heat
loss from the tubes. A model of a horizontal tank direct coupled to 20 evacuated tubes is now being developed for predicting annual
performance. The model will include the effect of the collector circulation rates reported in this study.

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International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

A. A. Satam concluded that From the descriptive study, it may seen that there is little difference between flat plate and evacuated tubes, in fact
flat plate may actually be higher, but this is during minimal heat loss conditions. When averaged over a year evacuated tube collector have a
clear advantage. The key points are: 1. Due to the cylindrical shape of the evacuated tube, the solar tubes are able to passively track the sun
throughout the day. Flat plate collector only provides peak energy output at midday when the sun is perpendicular to the collector's surface. 2.
Air is evacuated from the solar tube to form a vacuum. This greatly reduces conductive and convective heat loss from the interior of the tube. As
a result wind and cold temperatures have less effect on the efficiency of the evacuated tube collector. 3. Evacuated tubes are strong, long lasting,
and should one be broken, inexpensive and easy to replace. If a flat plate collector panel is damaged the whole panel must be replaced. 4. Due to
the high efficiency absorption of solar radiation even during overcast conditions, combined with excellent insulative properties of the solar tube,
solar tube collectors can heat water all year round (backup from gas and electricity is still required).5. Due to the various advantages of
evacuated tube collector over flat plate collectors, a smaller collector can be used to provide the same heating performance. For example, a
standard household of 4-5 people would usually require a 250-300L water storage tank.Depending on your location, only 25 evacuated tubes
would be required to provide all summer hot water needs and a large percentage in other seasons. Flat plate solar collectors can produce similar
heat output to evacuated tube collectors, but generally only during hot, sunny conditions. When averaged over an entire year, evacuated tube
collector heat output per net m2 of absorber area is between 25% to 40% greater than a flat plate collector. Also, future study related to
evacuated tube collectors includes that, to carry out different tests at different inclination angles and at vertical position of tubes, because it is
current requirement of manufacturers due to space limitations in countries like India.

Thermal Efficiency Test


This test of solar collector was performed to evaluate the extent of their capability to provide useful heat under given climatic and operating
conditions. The solar collector was tested over its operating temperature range under clear skyconditions for determining its efficiency. The
measurement was carried out under steady state condition. Data points whichsatisfy the requirement given below were obtained for at least four
inlet temperature spaced evenly over the operatingrange of the collector. One inlet temperature was selected such that the mean fluid temperature
in the collector lies within 3C of the ambient temperature in order to obtain an accurate determination of thermal efficiency.

Total heat collected (KW)= Q = mw Cpw T


Where, Q = amount of heat collected in kW
mw = mass of water heated in one solar day
Cpw = specific heat of water, 4.18 kJ/kg C
T = the temperature deference of water,
Collector efficiency=Q/Is x A
Where, Is = Solar insolation on tilted surface,
A = solar collector area

CONCLUSIONS
Through the study of all the research papers we conclude that, Borosilicate glass are suitable to use in place of tube for design and
fabrication of evacuated tube collector to reduce the cost of the system. The black color coated aluminum foil found suitable to use as a heat
absorbing element in place of inner vacuum glass tube in the commercial systems. Different test like Thermal performance test are used to
carried out performance of all glass evacuated solar water heater system. Evacuated tube collectors have lower thermal losses as compared to flat
plate collector and hence are less affected by ambient conditions.

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