A Study on the Performances of Solar Air Collectors Having a Hemispherical Dimple on the Absorber Plate

In order to increase the efficiency of solar air collectors,a new variant with a protrusion is proposed in this study,and its performances are analyzed from two points of view,namely,in terms of optics and thermodynamics aspects.By comparing and analyzing the light paths of the protrusion and the dimple,it can be concluded that when sunlight shines on the dimple,it is reflected and absorbed multiple times,whereas for the sunlight shining on the protrusion,there is no secondary reflection or absorption of light.When the lighting area and the properties of the surfaces are the same,the absorption rate of the dimple is 10.3 percentage points higher than that of the protrusion.In the range of Reynolds number from 3000 to 11000,numerical simulations about the effects of the relative height(e/Dh=0.033–0.1)and relative spacing(p/e=4.5–8.5)of protrusions on air heat transfer and flow resistance show that,in terms of comprehensive evaluation coefficient(PF),the best relative height is 0.085,when the relative spacing is 5.A correlation of Nu and f with Re,e/Dh and p/e is obtained by linear regression of the results,in order to provide a useful reference for the design and optimization of this kind of solar air collector.

Thermodynamic Analysis and Optimization of Flat Plate Solar Collector Using TiO_(2)/Water Nanofluid

To research solar energy's efficiency and environmental benefits,the thermal efficiency,exergy,and entropy of solar collectors were calculated.The experiment involved two glass-topped collectors,fluid transfer tubes,and aluminum heat-absorbing plates.Glass wool insulation minimized heat loss.A 0.5% TiO_(2)/Water nanofluid was created using a mechanical and ultrasonic stirrer.Results showed that solar radiation increased thermal efficiency until midday,reaching 48.48% for water and 51.23% for the nanofluid.With increasing mass flow rates from 0.0045 kg/s to 0.02 kg/s,thermal efficiency improved from 16.26% to 47.37% for water and from 20.65% to 48.76% for the nanofluid.Filtered water provided 380 W and 395 W of energy in March and April,while the nanofluid increased it to 395 W and 415 W during these months.Mass flow generated energy,and the Reynolds number raised entropy.The noon exergy efficiency for nanofluids was 50%-55%,compared to 30% for water.At noon,the broken exergy measured 877.53 W for the nanofluid and 880.12 W for water.In Kirkuk,Iraq,the 0.5% TiO_(2)/Water nanofluid outperformed water in solar collectors.

Improving Heat Transfer in Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors by Magnetic Nanofluids

A parabolic trough solar collector(PTSC)converts solar radiation into thermal energy.However,low thermal efficiency of PTSC poses a hindrance to the deployment of solar thermal power plants.Thermal performance of PTSC is enhanced in this study by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into the working fluid.The circular receiver pipe,with dimensions of 66 mm diameter,2 mm thickness,and 24 m length,is exposed to uniform temperature and velocity conditions.The working fluid,Therminol-66,is supplemented with Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles at concentrations ranging from 1%to 4%.The findings demonstrate that the inclusion of nanoparticles increases the convective heat transfer coefficient(HTC)of the PTSC,with higher nanoparticle volume fractions leading to greater heat transfer but increased pressure drop.The thermal enhancement factor(TEF)of the PTSC is positively affected by the volume fraction of nanoparticles,both with and without a magnetic field.Notably,the scenario with a 4%nanoparticle volume fraction and a magnetic field strength of 250 G exhibits the highest TEF,indicating superior thermal performance.These findings offer potential avenues for improving the efficiency of PTSCs in solar thermal plants by introducing magnetic nanoparticles into the working fluid.

Performance of a Combined Energy System Consisting of Solar Collector, Biogas Dry Reforming and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell: An Indian Case Study

An energy production system consisting of a solar collector, biogas dry reforming reactor and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) was assumed to be installed in Kolkata, India. This study aims to understand the impact of climate conditions on the performance of solar collectors with different lengths of parabolic trough solar collector (dx) and mass flow rate of heat transfer fluid (m). In addition, this study has evaluated the amount of H2 produced by biogas dry reforming (GH2), the amount of power generated by SOFC (PSOFC) and the maximum number of possible households (N) whose electricity demand could be met by the energy system proposed, considering the performance of solar collector with the different dx and m. As a result, the optimum dx was found to be 4 m. This study revealed that the temperature of heat transfer fluid (Tfb) decreased with the increase in m. Tfb in March, April and May was higher than that in other months, while Tfb from June to December was the lowest. GH2, PSOFC and N in March, April and May were higher than those in other months, irrespective of m. The optimum m was 0.030 kg/s.

Experimental Study of a Solar Thermal Incubator Using a Phase-Change Material for Off-Grid Use

The aim of this study was to provide a simple, easy-to-use incubation system for small-scale rural poultry farmers far from the electricity grid. To this end, a naturally ventilated solar thermal incubator was built and experimentally tested. A U-shaped evacuated tube collector and a wooden crate holding 50 eggs were used to build the solar thermal incubator. Water was used as the heat transfer fluid, and an EPCM was integrated into the incubation chamber for operation at night or when the sun was hidden. The heat generated by the solar collector and stored in the heat transfer fluid is transported to the incubation chamber by thermosiphon to heat the chamber. Temperature and humidity probes powered by a solar panel were placed at various locations to monitor the thermo-hygrometric efficiency of the incubation system. The incubator, heated by natural convection, proved to function normally, and the incubation chamber was maintained throughout the incubation period within a temperature range of 35.53˚C to 39.53˚C and relative humidity averaging 49.4% to 68.5%. The experiment was carried out by introducing 30 eggs and the results of the experimental study showed that the incubator’s efficiency was 87%. The performance tests gave a fertility rate of 93% and a hatching rate of 93%, i.e. 28 fertile eggs and 26 hatched eggs, respectively.

Experiment and numerical simulation on flow and heat transfer in all-glass evacuated tube solar collectors

The experimental study of natural convection in allglass evacuated tube solar collectors is performed through the experimental platform of the solar-assisted fuel cell system.The experimental facility includes solar collectors with different length and diameter tubes, different coating materials, and with / without guide plates, respectively. Threedimensional mathematical models on natural and forced convections in the solar collectors are established and the experimental data is validated by field synergy and entransy principles. The results of natural convection show that the water temperature increases and thermal efficiency decreases gradually with the evacuated tube length. The thermal efficiency increases when absorption rates increase from 0. 95 to 1. 0 and emission rates decrease from 0. 16 to 0. 06. The thermal efficiency of solar collectors is increased after being equipped with the guide plate, which is attributed to the disappearance of the mixed flowand the enhancement of the heat transfer at the bottom of the evacuated tube. The results of forced convertion indicate that the Reynolds, Nusselt and entransy increments of the horizontal double collectors are higher than those of the vertical single collector while the entransy dissipation is lower than that of the vertical single collector. It is concluded that the solar collectors with guide plates are suitable for natural convection while the double horizontal collectors are suitable for forced convection in the thermal field of solar-assisted fuel cell systems with lowand medium temperatures.

Improving performance of flat plate solar collector using nanofluid water/zinc oxide

In this article,the effect of using water/zinc oxide nanofluid as a working fluid on the performance of solar collector is investigated experimentally.The volumetric concentration of nanoparticles is 0.4%,and the particle size is 40 nm,and the mass flow rate of the fluid varies from 1 to 3 kg/min.For this experiment,a device has been prepared with appropriate measuring instruments whose energy source is solar radiation.The solar energy absorbed by the flat plate collector is absorbed by the nanofluid of water/zinc oxide.The nanofluid is pumped to the consumer,a heat exchanger,where it heats the water.The temperature,radiation level,flow rate,and pressure in different parts of the device were measured.The pressure drop and the heat transferred are the most important results of this experimental work.The ASHRAE standard is used to calculate efficiency.The results showed that the use of water/zinc oxide nanofluid increases the collector performance compared to water.For 1 kg/min of mass flow rate,the nanofluids have a 16% increase in efficiency compared to water.From the results,it can be concluded that the choice of optimum mass flow rate in both water and nanofluid cases increases efficiency.

Performance investigation of solar thermal collector with auxiliary heater for space heating

In this paper,the performance of a solar thermal system with a focus on space heating was investigated.A 70 m^(2) detached house was considered in the weather conditions of the city of Tehran,Iran.A thermosyphon solar water heater with a flat plate collector combined with an auxiliary electrical heater supplies the heating demand of the house.The proposed system was modeled and analyzed using TRNSYS software.In this regard,the TRNBuild module was employed for the building load calculation.The model has been simulated for one year of operation.The effects of the solar collector’s surface area and storage volume were assessed.The results show that for a solar collector with a 15 m^(2) surface area,the solar fraction is 0.29 in January,during which the solar radiation is the lowest.Using solar collectors of10 m^(2) and 5 m^(2) surface areas,the solar fraction falls to 0.23 and 0.14,respectively in January.Besides,two cases of 150 L and 300 L storage tanks are taken into account.Eventually,it is found that using a 15 m^(2) solar collector and a 150 L storage tank can appropriately provide the building’ s heating demand taking the thermal performance and economic aspects into consideration.

Heat Transfer Optimization in Air Flat Plate Solar Collectors Integrated with Baffles

This paper presents an experimental analysis for comparisons of conventional flat plate solar collectors and collectors integrated with different numbers of baffles. Heat transfer between absorber plate and drying fluid (air) has been one of the major challenges in the design and operations of the indirect solar dryer systems. In this experiment, efficiency of air flat plate solar collector integrated with 2, 3, 4 and 8 baffles was studied and compared with the ordinary collector. The results showed that integrating solar collector with baffles significantly increased the efficiency of the system. It was noted that collector with 2, 3, 4 and 8 baffles had a mean efficiency of 29.2%, 31.3%, 33.1% and 33.7% respectively while with no baffles was 28.9%. The analysis showed that when there were less than four baffles in the collector, heat transfer was dominant over pressure drop and hence high efficiency. However, when the number of baffles exceeded four, the effect associated with an increase in pressure drop highly observed compared to heat transfer coefficient, thus resulted to insignificant increase in efficiency. Therefore, the optimum number of four baffles was commended for the designed model for optimum efficiency.

Life cycle cost analysis of new FRP based solar parabolic trough collector hot water generation system

Parabolic trough collectors （PTCs） are employed for a variety of applications including steam generation and hot water generation. This paper deals with the experimental results and an economic analysis of a new fibre reinforced plastic （FRP） based solar PTC with an embedded electronic controlled tracking system designed and developed for hot water generation in a restaurant in Madurai, India. The new collector performance has been tested according to ASHRAE Standard 93 （1986）. The performance of a new PTC hot water generation system with a well mixed hot water storage tank is investigated by a series of extensive tests over ten months period. The average maximum storage tank water temperature observed was 74.91℃, when no energy is withdrawn from the tank to the load during the collection period. The total cost of the new economic FRP based solar PTC for hot water generation with an embedded electronic controlled tracking system is Rs. 25000 （US$ 573） only. In the present work, life cycle savings （LCS） method is employed for a detailed economic analysis of the PTC system. A computer program is used as a tool for the economic analysis. The present worth of life cycle solar savings is evaluated for the new solar PTC hot water generation system that replaces an existing electric water heating system in the restaurant and attains a value of Rs. 23171.66 after 15 years, which is a significant saving. The LCS method and the MATLAB computer simulation program presented in this paper can be used to estimate the LCS of other renewable energy systems.

Solar Desalination with Latent Heat Storage Materials and Solar Collector

Availability of clean water is going to become one of biggest demands of the country. Even though there arc various technologies available for purification of water harnessing solar energy fits the purpose for future problems. Distillation is one of many processes available for water purification, and solar energy is one of several forms of heat energy that can be used to energize this process. In this review a study is made to enhance the productivity of the solar stills by connecting solar still with latent heat storage and solar air heater in series and other factors like improving evaporation rate by maintaining Low depth, more exposure area, heat addition by solar collector and presence of latent heat storage material, which is a paraffin wax as a integral part of still. Latent heat storage is one of the most efficient ways of storing thermal energy. Unlike the sensible heat storage method, the latent heat storage method provides much higher storage density, with a smaller temperature difference between storing and releasing heat. Further augmentation of the yield by scraps, pebble, and sand are added.

Thermal performance of integration of solar collectors and building envelopes

The integration of building with solar collector was studied. The theoretical model of integration of building envelopes and flat plate solar collectors was set up and the thermal performance of integration was studied in winter and summer,and compared to envelopes without solar collectors. The results show that the solar collection efficiency is raised in the integration of building envelopes and solar collectors with the air layer doors closed. This is true whether in winter or summer. The increment is higher as the inlet water temperature increases or the ambient temperature is low. In winter,the heat loss is significantly reduced through integration of the building envelopes and solar collectors with the closed air layer doors. The integration with the open air layer door is worse than that without collectors. In summer,the heat gains of the integration of envelopes and solar collectors are more obviously reduced than envelopes without collectors,the integration with the open air layer door is a little better than the closed one,but the difference is very small.

Thermal performance of solar air collector with slit-like perforations

To offer a potentially low-cost and high-efficiency option for once-through applications,the unglazed transpired solar collector was studied. The semi-empirical correlation of overall heat exchange effectivenessε for UTC with circular holes was proposed to verify whether it being fit for this kind of absorber with slit-like perforations. The results show that in certain parameters,the predicted values of ε are very close to measured values,and the root mean square difference in betweens about 0.10,so the modle is suitable. Based on experimental results,this kind of absorber is proved to be feasible,with highest value of ε,up to 0.81. In addition,with the increase of γ,overall heat exchange effectiveness ε will decrease,i.e.,the value of ε will decrease with the increase of suction velocity vs or the decrease of wind velocity uw. However,the actual value of solar radiation intensity G and ambient temperature T∞ have little influence on ε.

Multi-factor Effects on Layout of Solar Collector

Considering the influencing factors of the layout of solar collectors such as the tilt angles,azimuth angles,spacing between collectors and the number of collector rows,a mathematical model of the collected energy of the solar collector with limited area on the horizontal plane is established.Two different optimized models including the cost benefit model and the minimum annual auxiliary heating energy model are conducted in this paper.The results show that,the collected energy in a year could increase with the increase of the number of collector rows.And the collected solar radiation in a year increases firstly and then decreases with the increase of the collector tilt angles.Furthermore,the collected solar radiation in a year increases firstly and then decreases with the continuous increase of the azimuth angles from -90° to 90°.Taking Nanjing city of China as an example,based on the optimized objective of maximum benefit,the optimal layout of the solar collector array in the area of 200 m2 should include:the number of collector rows is 8,the tilt angle is 40° and the azimuth angle is 0°.Meanwhile,the optimal methods for the optimized objective of minimum annual auxiliary heating energy should include:the number of collector rows is 9,the tilt angle is 50°,and the azimuth angle is 0°.

Experimentation of a Plane Solar Integrated Collector Storage Water Heater

In order to popularize the use of the solar-water heaters, especially in the residential and tertiary sectors with the third world, it appears to be necessary to reduce their cost while improving their performances. It is the object of this integrated storage collector thus created and tested in the south of Tunisia. It is simply made up of a tank playing the double part of solar absorber and storage tank of warm water, of a glazing to profit from the greenhouse effect and of an insulating case. Its measured energy performances, by the method of input-output proves its effectiveness to produce hot water, in spite of its simplicity of manufacture, usage and maintenance. Indeed a temperature of water exceeding 70?C is reached towards the afternoon True Solar Time, and for an efficiency of 7%. Thus, this type of collector with integrated storage is entirely satisfactory and could be available to larger mass.

Arrangement of Multirow Solar Collector Array on Limited Roof Width

At the limited roof north-south （N-S） width of a building, for the array with multirow collectors based on no shading at winter solstice noon and sloped at latitude, this paper studied the shading and the radiant energy striking on solar collector array. Based on Kunming solar radiation data, the annual and monthly solar radiant energy striking on multi-array collectors was analyzed and estimated, from no shading to partial shading by adding 1-3 collector row, at the slopes of 10°, 15°, 20°, 25°, 30°, 35° and 40°, respectively. The results showed that properly increasing the row number by reducing the slope of collectors was reasonable in order to get more annual radiant energy. Adding 1 row at 10° of slope was economical for Kunming, based on the 5-row array at 25°. And adding collector row by 20% at 10° of slope could increase the radiant energy striking on the array by 19%.

Investigating Two Configurations of a Heat Exchanger in an Indirect Heating Integrated Collector Storage Solar Water Heating System

Due to the environmental impact of energy usage and increased price of fusel fuel, consumers need to be encouraged to use renewable energy sources. The IHICSSWHS （indirect heating integrated collector storage solar water heater system） is one of the most economical systems. It incorporates the collection of a solar energy component and a hot water storage component in one unit. The objective of this study was to investigate ways to enhance the thermal performance of the system. Two configurations of the system were studied： system with double row HX （heat exchanger） and tube length of 16.2 m, and system with single row HX and tube length of 8.1 m and 10.8 m. The service water tube inside diameter was also varied to 10.7 mm and 17.1 mm The steady state continuity, momentum and energy equations were numerically solved, using FLUENT software. A standard k-w turbulent model and surface-to-surface radiation model were used. The result showed that the system of 10.8 m tube length and single row HX provided higher outlet temperature than the system of 16.2 m and double row HX. Therefore, a significant reduction in cost and power usage can be achieved by using a single row HX.

Enhanced efficiency in Concentrated Parabolic Solar Collector(CPSC) with a porous absorber tube filled with metal nanoparticle suspension

In this study, effects of different nanoparticles and porosity of absorber tube on the performance of a Concentrating Parabolic Solar Collector(CPSC) were investigated. A section of porous-filled absorber tube was modeled as a semi-circular cavity under the solar radiation which is filled by nanofluids and the governing equations were solved by FlexPDE numerical software. The effect of four physical parameters, nanoparticles type, nanoparticles volume fraction(φ), Darcy number(Da) and Rayleigh number(Ra), on the Nusselt number(Nu) was discussed. It turns out that Cu nanoparticle is the most suitable one for such solar collectors, compared to the commonly used Fe_3O_4, Al_2O_3, TiO_2.With the increased addition of Cu nanoparticles all the parameters φ, Da and Ra shows a significant increase against the Nu, indicates the enhanced heat transfer in such cases. As a result, low concentration of Cu nanoparticle suspension combined with porous matrix was supposed to be beneficial for the performance enhancement of concentrating parabolic solar collector.

Theoretical and Experimental Study of a Double Air-Pass Solar Thermal Collector with an Insulating Rod of Millet

In this article, we present the study of a double-pass air insulated by crushed millet stem mixed with gum arabic. The study is carried out based on mathematical models obtained by writing energy conservation laws in the various components of the system, which made it possible to determine the evolution of the air temperature as a function of the length of the absorber and to make a comparison with the experimental results. After comparing the results obtained with those found in the literature, the influence of some physical and geometrical parameters on the performance of the solar thermal collector is presented.

Thermal Analysis and Experimental Validation of Parabolic Trough Collector for Solar Adsorption Refrigerator

This work presents an algorithm able to simulate the heating of a solar collector throughout the day. The discussed collector is part of a solar adsorption refrigerator, and is used to regenerate the activated carbon contained inside a cylindrical recipient (absorber), which is located in the focal line of a parabolic trough concentrator. The developed algorithm takes into account all the transfer mechanisms when analyzing the heat transfers taking place between the collector’s components and the environment, as well as the transfer mechanisms towards the absorber’s interior. The temperature evolution for the collector’s elements is obtained, and the model is validated by comparing the experimentally measured surface temperature of the absorber with the one determined by the algorithm. The experimental data were gathered from similar collectors in two different scenarios: Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). The model is satisfactorily validated with experimental data.