Theoretical and Experimental Analyses of Heat Transfer in a Flat-Plate Solar Collector
Keywords:
Experimental, flat-plate, heat transfer, performance, solar collectorAbstract
In this paper, the heat transfer in a flat-plate solar collector with water tubes spreading across its width was analyzed. The performances of the system both theoretically and experimentally were evaluated and compared. The theoretical results obtained agreed well with the experimental results, except that a slight higher deviation of heat loss was obtained in the experimental analysis and low solar radiation in the morning and late afternoon affects the system. An average heat loss coefficient of 0.68 W/m2.°C was obtained in the experimental analysis, while 0.65 W/m2.°C was obtained in the theoretical analysis. The collector efficiency was high around the mid-day when the collector receives the highest energy and the useful heat rate was at its maximum. The results also reveal that the performance of the solar collector depends much on the heat rate. The collector efficiency increases as the heat rate increases until a maximum efficiency of 72.2 % was reached at optimum heat rate of 785 W.
Downloads
Metrics
References
R Kumar and MA Rosen. A critical review of photovoltaic-thermal solar collectors for air heating. Appl. Energ. 2011; 88, 3603-14.
MA Eltawil and DVK Samuel. Vapour compression cooling system powered by solar pv array for potato storage. Agric. Eng. Inter.: CIGR Journal 2007; 9, 1-23.
C Lamnatou, E Papanicolaou, V Belessiotis and N Kyriakis. Experimental investigation and thermodynamic performance analysis of a solar dryer using an evacuated-tube air collector. Appl. Energ. 2012; 94, 232-43.
DEFRA. Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. New Bill and strategy lay foundations for tackling climate change, Available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/
environment/climatechange/uk/legislation/
index.html, accessed July 2008.
C Garnier, J Currie and T Muneer. Integrated collector storage solar water heater: Temperature stratification. Appl. Energ. 2009; 86, 1465-9.
A Alvarez, O Cabeza, MC Muniz and LM Varela. Experimental and numerical investigation of a flat-plate solar collector. Energy 2010; 35, 3707-16.
BO Bolaji and AP Olalusi. Performance evaluation of a mixed-mode solar dryer. AU J. Tech. 2008; 11, 225-31.
M Thirugnanasambandam, S Iniyan and R Goic. A review of solar thermal technologies. Renew. Sustain. Energ. Rev. 2010; 14, 312-22.
VB Vaidya, PV Walke and VM Kriplani. Effects of wind shield on performance of solar flat plate collector. Int. J. Appl. Eng. Res. 2011; 6, 379-89.
AME Momin, TS Saini and SC Solanki. Heat transfer and friction in solar air heater duct with v-shaped rib roughness on absorber plate. Int. J. Heat Mass Tran. 2002; 45, 3383-96.
J Huang, S Pu, W Gao and Y Que. Experimental investigation on thermal performance of thermosyphon flat-plate solar water heater with a mantle heat exchanger. Energy 2010; 35, 3563-8.
BO Bolaji. Mathematical modelling and experimental investigation of collector efficiency of a thermosyphonic solar water heating system. Analele Universitatii Eftimie Murgu 2011; 28, 55-66.
R Tang, Y Cheng, M Wu, Z Li and Y Yu. Experimental and modeling studies on thermosyphon domestic solar water heaters with flat-plate collectors at clear nights. Energ. Convers. Manag. 2010; 51, 2548-56.
H Taherian, A Rezania, S Sadeghi and DD Ganji. Experimental validation of dynamic simulation of the flat plate collector in a closed thermosyphon solar water heater. Energ. Convers. Manag. 2011; 52, 301-7.
M Rommel and W Moock. Collector efficiency factor for absorbers with rectangular fluid ducts. Sol. Energ. 1997; 60, 199-207.
KAR Ismail and MM Abogderah. Performance of a heat pipe solar collector. J. Sol. Energ. Eng. 1998; 120, 51-9.
JA Duffie and WA Beckman. Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1991.
J Facao and AC Oliveira. Analysis of a flat-plate heat pipe solar collector. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies, Nottingham, UK. 2004, p. 1-5.
BO Bolaji. Exergetic analysis of solar drying systems. Nat. Resour. 2011; 2, 92-7.
BO Bolaji. Flow design and collector performance of a natural circulation solar water heater. J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 2006; 1, 7-13.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2012 Walailak University
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.