16-05-2013, 01:52 PM
Design of Advanced Solar Water Heaters
Design of Advanced.doc (Size: 23 KB / Downloads: 28)
Abstract
In the past decade there has been a significant increase in the use of domestic solar water heaters. Whilst the range and quality of products on the market have increased to meet this demand, flat plate solar collectors of the type used in many modern domestic hot water systems have not changed significantly in the past twenty years. These types of absorbers typically have high heat losses and low efficiency, particular throughout winter months. A novel type of solar collector has been proposed which addresses a number of issues including heat loss characteristics and seasonal performance. The project is investigating both design and production aspects of the new collector to provide an optimized design for an advanced domestic solar water heater.
An indoors experimental program has commenced and has shown that considerable reductions in the overall heat loss may be possible with the proposed design and further experimental work is being undertaken to confirm this. It is believed that further reductions can also be achieved by the introduction of convective suppression barriers on the underside of the upper leading edge of the double sided plate. Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) will be used to visualize the flow inside the concentrator cavities and to experimentally determine the flow velocity profiles within the cavities. A computational fluid dynamics model has also been developed to assist in the design process. This model will be validated with experimental results.