Numerical Study On Temperature Distribution of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tubes Solar Water Heater

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International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS)

ISSN: 2394-3661, Volume-2, Issue-9, September 2015

Numerical Study on Temperature Distribution of


Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tubes Solar Water Heater
Zaw Min Thant, Myat Myat Soe, Maw Maw Htay

through solar water heating systems plays a big role in the


Abstract This A numerical study on water-in-glass quantity of conventional energy required. Solar water heaters
evacuated tube solar collector using Computational Fluid therefore have significant potential to reduce environmental
Dynamics (CFD) is presented in this work. The water-in-glass pollution arising from the use of fossil fuels [2]. Water heating
evacuated tube is an integral part of evacuated tube solar water
is one of the simplest applications of the solar heat and one of
heater. The water-in-glass collector is the mostly used form of
evacuated tube collector because it has higher thermal efficiency
the expensive. The operation of a solar thermal collector is
and simple construction requirements and hence low based on the absorption of solar heat, and its circulation
manufacturing cost. The usage of evacuated tube collectors is through the system, in order that a working fluid (water for
increasing day by day. Thus, several works have been published instance) can be heated. Evacuated tube solar collectors
for representing the stratification of the fluid inside the tubes exhibit better performance than flat-plate solar collectors, in
and the reservoir, as well as analytical modelling for the heat particular for high temperature operation. Therefore, the glass
flow problem. Based on recent publications, this paper proposes evacuated tube is gradually becoming the key component in
the study of solar water heating with evacuated tubes, their solar thermal utilization such as the solar water heating
operation characteristics and operating parameters. To develop
system. [3]
this work, a computational tool will be used-in this case, the
application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software.
But only in recent years that interest in renewable energy
The commercial software ANSYS-CFX was used for the CFD sources acquired a global importance due to the
simulation of the temperature distribution of water-in-glass intensification of the problems from the Greenhouse Effect
evacuated tube solar water heater, which uses the Finite Volume and progress in studies related to Climate Change In this field,
Method (FVM). The objective of this work is to complement the is inserted the solar energy and its various applications.
studies cited earlier, approaching the transient analysis of an Solar energy plays an important role for sustainable
evacuated tube collector with different inclinations geometries development in coming years and represents a large-scale
and different tube dimensions geometries , to allow better heat alternative energy employment, especially regarding the use
removal from the tube and to evaluate the behaviour of the fluid
in water heating for domestic use. It should be noticed that the
within this solar collector and possible improvements to be
applied in the model. In this work, the model with three profile of energy consumption comprises demand peaks at
different inclinations (30, 45, 60)and same tube dimension certain times of day, particularly at about 7 pm, when most of
(47D1800L) is described and then the model with different the population are coming home and have a chance to take a
dimension(47D1200L, 34D1400L) for same inclination is also bath. [4]
simulated. According to the simulation results, length and Meeting this demand requires a large energy capacity and
diameter (47D1800L) and inclination angle 45 model is the able to meet this peak consumption. However, with the use of
best. decentralized solar collectors in domestic usage, this peak
would not be so pronounced and public investments needed in
Index Termswater-in-glass evacuated tube, computation
energy sector could be shifted to other uses, as example,
fluid dynamics, solar water heater, numerical analysis.
incentive policies for purchasing such systems and taxes
reducing. [5]
The current research in renewable energy indicates a
I. INTRODUCTION
growing interest for solar collectors with evacuated tubes,
Solar energy is one of the alternative energy sources. Solar which has as basic characteristic: low heat loss by convection
energy can be converted into a more useful form by either an resulting from the vacuum isolation. With researches focused
electrical, chemical or thermal process. Water heating on developing models that represent the problem of heat
systems are provided by solar energy (sunlight) directly to transfer of this type of collector, the calculation of
thermal energy. Hot water is required for many purposes and performance, and emphasis on numerical simulation of water
the sun can be used effectively, and economically to provide flow inside the tubes and improvements to increase
this heat. The warming effect of solar radiation is obvious and efficiency. The system is drafted in Fig. 1.
it is well known that a container of cold water, left exposed to Previous works were performed concerning the various
the sun will be raised in temperature. Solar water heating ways to extract heat from vacuum enclosed cylinder,
systems are designed to make convenient use of this including the possibility of developing more realistic methods
phenomenon [1]. In this paper, the utilization of solar energy for calculation of the performance of these collectors.
Numerical analysis models were also evaluated for the
internal flow of water inside the tube, using the software
Zaw Min Thant, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mandalay FLUENT for the fluid-thermal solution, allowing the
Technological University, Mandalay, Myanmar, +9592100609. verification of preferential water flows inside the tubes and a
Myat Myat Soe, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mandalay stagnation region at the end of large length pipes; which could
Technological University, Mandalay, Myanmar, +95943014802.
Maw Maw Htay, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mandalay
directly influence the efficiency of the collector.[6]
Technological University, Mandalay, Myanmar, +959400503768.

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Numerical Study on Temperature Distribution of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tubes Solar Water Heater

tube and the corresponding tank section to which the tube is


connected. Investigation using CFD simulations indicated
that the flow and heat transfer in the tube is not significantly
influenced by what happens in the adjacent tubes. Therefore,
there was a need to develop a simpler computational domain
which could be used to investigate the effect of varying
operating conditions on the natural circulation flow rate
through the tubes. [15]

The commercial software ANSYS-CFX was used for the


CFD simulation of the temperature distribution of
water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heater, which uses
the Finite Volume Method (FVM). Three-dimensional
models were developed considering only the water in the
shape of the storage and pipe. Since the modeling of glass and
other components would result in increased computational
cost without adding considerable accuracy to the solution.
Fig.1.Experimental set-up of evacuated tubes The heat transfer by radiation was modeled by applying a heat
flux incident on the lateral surface of the tube. Other approach
In additional studies, the natural circulation rate within an used was considering only a part of the storage tank and one
evacuated tube was analyzed by using a numerical model and tube, instead of the entire solar collector. [16] [17]
Computational Fluid Dynamics software (CFD), in this case
FLUENT. The modeling of the system consisted of a tube A. Geometry of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Solar Water
attached to the thermal reservoir. As for the distribution of Heater
radiation along the circumference, it was applied the The geometry of the water-in-glass evacuated solar
condition of 82 [W] of total energy inserted into the system collector used in the simulations contains, as main
through uniform or variable heating between the top and components: a manifold and internal tube. The first standard
bottom of the tube. In conclusion, experimental tests allowed model geometry characteristics are: tube diameter 47 [mm],
validating the numerical model. [7] tube length 1800 [mm] (47D1800L), tank diameter 400 [mm]
and tank width 120 [mm] with three different tilt angles were
Analysis of an evacuated tube solar collector with single evaluated; 30, 45 and 60.
opening and mounted on a reflective system were also
evaluated. This system would allow the concentration of the
reflected radiation on the collector. The study was conducted
by means of numerical model and experimental apparatus. It Tank
was also studied the effects on the internal flow by varying the
heat flux distribution along the pipe circumference. [8]

A different geometry was also discussed through an


evacuated tube collector with two opened ends, arranged
vertically and the collector subjected to solar radiation from Tube
all directions [9]. Other studies concerning the analysis of
solar collectors must be pointed out, such as [10], [11], [12]
and [13]. In this context, the evacuated tube collectors are
interest systems whose low heat loss by convection and high
efficiency along the day allow the installation of a few units to
meet a family necessity for hot water. Therefore, any research
that seeks improving the technology and knowledge in such
equipment should be encouraged. [14]
For the fluid-thermal analysis of the system, Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Heat Transfer
(CHT) adopting the ANSYS-CFX software will be
applied.
Fig.2. Model of water-in-glass solar water heater at 45 inclination
II. NUMERICAL SIMULATION APPROACH
And then two different models geometry were also discussed
The water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heater that is
by changing tube dimensions such as tube diameter 37 [mm],
studied in this research consists of 10 evacuated tubes with
tube length 1400 [mm] (34D1400L) and tube diameter 47
direct connection to a 120 L storage tank. Modeling heat
[mm], tube length 1200 [mm] (47D1200L). The geometry is
transfer and fluid flow inside a 10-tube-and-tank system
represented in Fig. 2.The geometries are modeled with
would require high computational power which at this stage is
tetrahedron elements. Tank-tube connection is presented in
not possible to perform. An attempt has been made to simplify
Fig. 3.
the solar water heater by modeling only a single evacuated

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International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS)
ISSN: 2394-3661, Volume-2, Issue-9, September 2015
S M ,buoy ref g (1)

For buoyancy flows where the density variation is driven


only by small temperature variations, the Boussinesq model is
used. The buoyancy source term by appling Boussinesq
approach is expressed from the simplified equation (2).Which
considerers the independence of the fluid density with respect
to temperature and pressure, and applies gravitational
acceleration gradients on each finite volume as a linear
function of the material thermal expansivity; this approach
gives good results when used in most incompressible fluids,
such as water.

ref ref T Tref (2)

Eq. (2) is combined with the pressure gradient (hydrostatic


Fig.3. Mesh of water-in-glass solar water heater pressure) and the body force to have a nal term in the
B. Boundary Conditions Boussinesq approach y-momentum Eq.(5) that is expressed as
gy (T-Tref) for the buoyancy effects. Eq. (5) couples the
The boundary conditions on ware-in-glass evacuated solar temperature eld and the ow eld.
water are described on Fig.4. In this study, the initial The conservation equations adapted to the Boussinesq
temperature of the water in the models was set as 300 [K]. For approach model are given below:
solar irradiation of 1 kW/m2 Cabanillas results show that the
average absorbed around the tube circumference is Continuity equation
approximately 600 W/m2 and three different tilt angles was
U x U y U z
evaluated; 30, 45 and 60. The analysis consists in a 0 (3)
transient state, so that 1 hours of operation was considered. x y z
The gravitational acceleration was set as 9.81 [m/s], absolute Momentum equations
pressure 1 [atm] and heat losses was neglected in the models. Component x
The fluid motion was considered as laminar flow, since water U x U x U x
velocity didnt achieved greater magnitudes. Ux U y Uz
x y z (4)
1 P Ux Ux Ux
2 2 2


x x 2 y 2 z 2

Component y
U y U y U y
Ux U y Uz
x y z (5)
Uy Uy Uy
2 2 2

g y T Tref
x 2 y 2 z 2

Component z
U z U z U z
Ux U y U z
x y z (6)
1 P 2U z 2U z 2U z

z x 2 y 2 z 2
Fig.4. Boundary condition of water-in-glass evacuated solar water heater Energy equation
T T T
C. Mathematical Model cU x U y Uz
x y z (7)
The problem presented in this fluid-thermal analysis
consists in solving the combined equations of Navier-Stokes T T T
2 2 2

k 2 2
and energy equation for incompressible fluid and subjected to x y 2 z
density variation with temperature. For this case,
ANSYS-CFX uses the finite volume method for modeling For the buoyancy case, the equations of momentum neglect
the constitutive equations of the system in their conservation the hydrostatic gradient from the pressure term, called in this
form. case as "movement pressure" which is responsible for the
D. Boussinesq approximation fluid motion and corrects the absolute pressure to evaluate the
material properties.
For buoyancy calculations, a source term is added to the
momentum equations as follows:

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Numerical Study on Temperature Distribution of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tubes Solar Water Heater

III. VALIDATION OF NUMERICAL SIMULATION


Although CFD techniques are widely accepted such
numerical models need to be validated against experiments in
order to gain some confidence in the results. The experimental
setup was designed and installed at Mandalay Technological
University, Mandalay (96.1E, 21.98N). Fig.1 gives the view
of experimental set-up of evacuated solar water heater. This
system consists of 10 water-in-glass evacuated tubes coupled
to a120-litre horizontal tank for hot water. In water-in-glass
evacuated tubes, the outer tubes and the inner tubes are made
of Borosilicate glass with 58mm outside diameter and 47mm
inner diameter with 1800mm length. The angle of the
evacuate tubes is mounted at 45 with respect to the horizontal
surface so as to receive the maximum solar radiation. . The
cylindrical tank is diameter 400mm and 1200mm length. The
water temperature at inlet and outlet and the ambient Fig.6. Temperature distribution of solar water heater with 45 inclination
temperature are measured by the type-C thermocouples. The after one hour of operation
measurements are taken for one hour from 11a.m. to 12.00
noon. At that time inlet temperature is 304K and the heat flux
is about 600w/m2. Fig.5 shows the temperature distribution of
water-in-glass evacuated solar water heater as determined by
experimental measurements and simulation model.
Temperature was measured in various positions in the
collector via thermocouple type K with numerical display and
resolution 1C, the ambient temperature was measured by
normal mercurial thermocouple. All of these works presented
good agreement with experimental data for simplied
geometry of the solar collector. The error percentage is 12%
between experimental and simulation.

Temperature Distribution one hour operation for 21st December 2014


38
Simulation
Temperature (K)

36 Experimental Fig.7. Temperature distribution of solar water heater with 30 inclination


after one hour of operation
34
As seen in Fig. 6,7and 8, the stagnation zone was reduced
32 and the lower temperature observed in the simulation of 1
hour of operation was approximately 310 [K], indicating that
30
0 0.1 0.2
0.5 0.3
0.6 0.4
0.7 0.8 0.9 1 there was not water at 304 [K] in the system.
Time(hr)
Fig.5.Comparison of simulated temperature distribution with experimental
measurement

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


In this paper, three different collectors and different
inclination angles are simulated.

A. Solar water Heater Model with 47D1800L


After simulating one hour of operation, it is already
possible to visualize the temperature distribution in a
water-in-glass evacuated solar water heater with 30,45 and
60 inclination angles in Fig. 6,7and 8 respectively. In these
figures, the blue region represents lower water temperature
and the red region indicates the highest temperatures of the
system, close to the tube wall which receives the heat flux. For
30, 45 and 60 of inclinations, the temperature of water in
the top portion of the tube is higher than that of middle and
bottom. This is because of buoyancy effect produced due to Fig.8. Temperature distribution of solar water heater with 60 inclination
density difference. after one hour of operation

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International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS)
ISSN: 2394-3661, Volume-2, Issue-9, September 2015
temperatures were measured at the tank and tube connection.
The temperature stratifications in the tank for different
inclinations are described in Fig.11. At 45inclination, the
temperature is slightly higher than 30 and 60.

B. Two Different solar Water Heater Models with Two


Tube Dimensions 47D1800L and 34D1400L
The temperature distribution of the two different models
with (47D1200L) and (34D1400L) dimensions at 45
inclination through one hour operation are shown in Fig. 12
and 13.

Fig.9.Temperature development for different inclinations

The temperature development for different inclination can


be seen in Fig.9. At 45 of tilt angle (figure6), the lower
temperature region is less than at 30. At 60 the lower
temperature area is lowest. Comparing the thermal
performance of the model (47D1800L), subjected to different
collector inclinations, the results showed little difference
between the temperatures development achieved on each
analysis (as can be seen in Fig. 9).

Fig.12.Temperature distribution of solar water heater (47D1200L) with 45


inclination after one hour of operation

Fig.10. Temperature Stratification in the tank for 45inclination

Fig.13.Temperature distribution of solar water heater (34D1400L) with 45


inclination after one hour of operation

Fig.11.Temperature Stratification in the tank for different inclinations

The temperature distribution of the water on a vertical


plane in the tank is shown in Fig. 10. It can be observed that
the water with a lower temperature goes to the bottom,
whereas the water with higher temperature circulates along Fig.14. Temperature development for different geometries with 45
the top of the tank due to the buoyancy effects. The inclination

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Numerical Study on Temperature Distribution of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tubes Solar Water Heater

Mandalay Technological University, for giving suggestion,


permission, and encouragement to do this paper. The author
would like to express special thanks to Dr. Myat Myat Soe,
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
for her invaluable supervision and guidance to complete this
paper. The author is also sincerely thankful to his teachers
from Mechanical Engineering Department, Mandalay
Technological University, for their valuable suggestions and
comments on this paper.

Nomenclature
SM,buoy- the source term,
g - the gravitational acceleration,
- the corrected density,
ref - the reference density used in all terms related
to the density except the above source term,
- the thermal expansivity,
Fig.15. Temperature Stratification in the tank for different tube dimension T - the studied temperature and
Tref - the reference temperature set as an average
Analyzing the temperature for the three models, the value of the problem domain.
- dynamic viscosity
conventional collector acquired higher temperature values as k - conductivity
in Fig.14. For the tilt angle of 45, the maximum temperature c - specific heat
in the first model (47D1800L) was of 315 [K], the model with Ux ,Uy, Uz -velocity component
(47D1200L) achieved 312 [K] and the model (34D1400L)
314 [K].The simulation of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar
water at various diameters and lengths is showing in Fig.15,
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The author is deeply gratitude to Dr. Tin San, Associate
Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering,

6 www.ijeas.org
International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS)
ISSN: 2394-3661, Volume-2, Issue-9, September 2015
[15] P.Selvakumar, Dr.P.Somasundaram , Effect of Inclination Angle on
Temperature Characteristics of Water in-Glass Evacuated Tubes of
Domestic Solar Water HeaterIJEIT,Vol.1, Issue4, April2012
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Z. M. Thant is a student presently pursuing Ph.D


in Mandalay Technological University, Mandalay, Myanmar. His field of
research includes solar energy, heat transfer, computational fluid dynamics
and computational heat transfer. He has published more than three papers in
International and National Conferences.

M. M. Soe is Associate Professor, Department of


Mechanical Engineering, Mandalay Technological University, Mandalay,
Myanmar. She has both teaching and research experience of more than 20
five years in the field of solar energy, computational fluid dynamics and
experimental fluid dynamics. She has published more than 10 papers in the
International and National Journals and Conferences.

M. M. Htay is Assistance Lecturer, Department of


Mechanical Engineering, Mandalay Technological University, Mandalay,
Myanmar. She has both teaching and research experience more than 8 years
in the field of Industrial field. She has published more than 10 papers in the
International and National Journals and Conferences.

7 www.ijeas.org

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