Effects Of Operating Parameters On The Performance Of Solar Water Heating Systems Using Flat Plate And Evacuated Tube Collectors For Domestic Hot Water Applications

Abstract

This Study Gives An Overview And Analysis On The Effect Of Operating Parameters On The Thermal Performance Of Solar Water Heating Systems With Two Distinct Collector Configurations; Flat Plate And Heat Pipe Evacuated Tube Collectors. The Thermal Analysis Of These Two Systems Was Conducted Based On The Account Of Variation In Weather Conditions Of Adama City, Volume Flow Rate, Collector Orientation And Storage Tank Size, And It Was Carried Out By The Virtue Of T*Sol?? Pro Simulation Programme. ?The Results Showed That For A Fluid Circulating At 120 L/H, The Highest Monthly Solar Fraction Of Fpc And Etc Systems Were 80% And 64.6%, Respectively, And These Values Were Found Around November (Hidar) Which Have A Total Solar Irradiation Of 191 Kwh/Month. For Both Systems, The Hourly Tank Outlet Temperature Was Higher During November At 12:00 Pm With 87??C And 71.2??C For Etc And Fpc, Respectively. At The End A Typical Day In April, The Energy Accumulated In The Collectors Would Reach 2.71 Kwh/Day For Etc And 2.26 Kwh/Day For Fpc. Regarding The Flowrate, Simulation Of The Systems Is Done For Three Flow Rates (80, 120 And 160 L/H). The Results Also Showed That For A Typical Day In April, The Hourly Maximum Tank Inletoutlet Temperature Difference Was Obtained For Both Etc And Fpc At 12:00 Pm At A Flow Rate Of 160 L/H, Where The Corresponding Maximum Tank Outlet Temperature Becomes 74 And? 62.5 ??C. At This Volume Flow Rate, A Solar Water Heating System Efficiency Of 59% And 50%,? And Also A System Solar Fraction Of 82% And 68.1% Could Be Achieved For A Swh System Employing Etc And Fpc, Respectively. For A Stationary Collector In Adama, The Highest Solar Fraction Has Been Found At A Collector Inclination Of 10?? To Be 74 And 57.1 For Etc And Fpc, Respectively. The Corresponding Mean Hourly Collector Outlet Temperature Was 40 And 36.2 ??C. Etc???S Energy Accumulation In The Tank At The End Of A Year It Reached 6074.1 Kwh/Year, 6266.3 Kwh/ Year And 6390.5 Kwh/ Year For 360, 450 And 540 L, Respectively, Whereas For Fpc, It Add Up To 4836.6 Kwh/ Year, 5127.93 Kwh/ Year And 5335.43 Kwh/ Year, For 360, 450 And 540 L, Respectively. The Annual System Solar Fraction For Etc???S Swh System Is 72%, 74% And 74.1%, For 360, 450 And 540 L, Respectively And The System Solar Fraction For Fpc???S Swh System Is 55.1%, 57.1% And 58.5%, For 360, 450 And 540 L, Respectively.? Annually, A Solar Irradiation Of 10962 Kwh/Year Will Fall On Both Collectors, And Etc???S Swh System Lost 3869 Kwh/Year Of This Energy At The Collector, 760.4 Kwh/Year At The Pipe And 309.4 Kwh/Year At The Storage Tank, While Fpc???S Swh System Lost 5094 Kwh/Year Of The Collected Energy At The Collector, 591.5 Kw/Year At The Pipe And 242.4 Kwh/Year At The Storage Tank.