Papers by Keyword: Solar Collector

Abstract: This work presents the numerical analysis of the thermal behavior of a new model of a flat solar collector. The computational model integrates embedded piping configured in a Rhomboid Tessellation Pattern (RTP), with scaling governed by allometric and fractal principles, constrained within a 3 × 3-branched fractal tree structure. The numerical analysis was performed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Autodesk CFD software. The operation of the collector was estimated with water mass flows ranging from 0.01 to 0.06 kg/s, with the water inlet temperature set at 20°C, and analyzed under two simulated solar radiation conditions, 850 and 650 W/m². The studied collector exhibits superior performance compared to traditional collectors. Specifically, it achieves higher fluid temperatures with similar mass flows, even under lower solar radiation conditions. The collector demonstrates thermal performance with efficiencies reaching up to 84.3% for small mass flows. On average, the collector efficiency was 78.1%. The higher thermal efficiency compared to conventional flat plate solar collectors and the reduction in pressure drop by up to 90% compared to traditional collectors make the collector model analyzed in this study a promising option for systems employing solar collectors or collector-evaporators.

Abstract: Solar energy contributes to the development of various industries involving the energy sector. One of the immediate uses of solar energy is in solar-driven desalination technologies, which gives an impact on the issue of water security and assuring safe water for hard-to-reach communities. However, there are limited studies about solar availability and unpredictability that results in the inefficient performance of solar desalination. The focus of this research is to determine the characteristics of the solar simulator using halogen lamps and aluminum plates as the thermal absorber. This study involves the fabrication and experimentation of a solar simulator using an aluminum metal sheet as a thermal absorber. Halogen lamps were used as artificial sunlight as their source of temperature and solar irradiation. Experimentations are carried out indoors, capable of repetitive performances within defined limits. The actual and simulated data collected such as temperature, solar irradiance, and voltage were compared in this study. Results showed that the simulated data from the simulator is within the acceptable range of values from International Electrotechnical Commission standards. Further improvements in the solar simulator setup involve the improvement of the data gathering tools and automation setup in terms of the design of various angles.

Abstract: The ball bearings are the rotating components which are widely spread to moving parts for all machinery operation in general industry. This paper presents the ball bearing resistance tool which has a proper size and can handle the maximum load of 300 kg by using an electric power. The ball bearing resistance tool was used to test the bearings No. 6011 cm. The series of tests was performed in the ball bearings lubricated; engine oil SAE 10W/40, auto transmission fluid Dexron, and hydraulic oil. The rotational speeds for testing were vary; 500, 600 and 700 rpm respectively. At each speed, there were various weight; 50, 70, 90,110,130,150, and 170 kg respectively. The results show that the hydraulic oil generated the smallest coefficients of friction and energy efficiency for ball bearing operation.

Abstract: We have designed and constructed a brand new of a dish solar tracking system. This hybrid system is composed of a sensor module and a local clock time equation systems, and they all work together whatever the weather conditions are. Experimental results from this system show that the tolerances of the azimuth and altitude angles are not over ±2º showing a high accuracy of the system when we have performed this system in Bangkok, Thailand. Moreover, the measured temperature from the solar receiver is 508.25K. This system is then expected to work well with the solar collector for the electric power conversion in future.

Abstract: The increasing number of non-renewable energy and the rising need of energy caused some global issue. We always interested to discuss how human being could create and improve an instrument that can extract energy from renewable energy resources, which is clean and applicable. One instrument that can extract energy from the sun is solar water heater. Solar water heater, consist of two main components. The first one is storage tank, and the other is solar collector. The purpose of this research is to design, manufacture, determine the performance of the solar collector with vacuum tubes and dual heat pipe based on the wick length variation. This experiment used a 150 Watt halogen lamp as the simulator of the sun. A copper fin was utilized to collect heat from the sun and transfer the heat to heat pipes. Adiabatic walls made from Styrofoam and plywood were set to prevent heat transfer to the environment due temperature difference. The performance of the heat pipe was investigated based on the wick length inside the heat pipe. The flow characteristic inside of the heat pipe and the thermal resistance depend on the wick length. The study found that the full-length wick heat pipe has the best performance with 0.37 K/W thermal resistance, and the efficiency of the system reach 34.95%. This is the highest value compared to the half-length and three-quarter length wick heat pipe.

Abstract: The solar thermal cooling system is expected to replace the utilization of conventional cooling system, particularly the vapour compression system. This cooling system is power-efficient, refrigerant environmentally friendly and able to use the abundant potential of solar energy. Hence, the optimization of this cooling system is necessary in order to obtain the best performance. For that purpose, this study focus on the simulation phase of the solar thermal cooling system utilization in MRC FTUI building as well as the optimization of solar collector applying EnergyPlus and GenOpt software. The position and the tilt angle of solar collector set as parameter study to gain the best performance of solar collector to produce hot water, which will be used as energy source in the absorption chiller. Finally, the optimum position and the optimum tilt angle every month in a year were obtained from this study.

Abstract: The color of the asphalt is close to black, it has the good ability of absorbing the solar energy. Road asphalt are solid or half a solid state at normal temperature, it must be reduced the asphalt viscosity to a certain range before used it. The main method of reducing the viscosity of asphalt is heating it. Because of the high temperature of the construction of asphalt, the traditional method on the asphalt heating is electrical heating which needs to consume large amounts of energy. Solar energy is huge and clean energy, which can save large of energy on the asphalt heating. This paper expounds on the solar heating principle, as well as designs the solar heating device to research the energy-saving method on the heating of road asphalt.

Abstract: The daily collected heat energy of solar collector in solar water heating system is calculated by the modeling of solar collector and stratified tank, and the result is verified by experiments. Through analysis of the calculation results, the simplified formula for calculating the daily collected heat energy is given. Using this simplified formula, the daily collected heat energy under different flow rates is calculated. The result shows that the daily collected heat energy of solar collector running in solar water heating system tends to stable when the flow rate above 0.005kg/(m².s).

Abstract: In this work, several methods are experimentally investigated with the aim of enhancing the thermal characters of solar pond. Which included putting porous medium to the bottom of the solar pond, combining a solar collector and building evaporation basin respectively .Two mini cylindrical solar ponds are built and the thermal performance of the solar pond is investigated by comparing the temperature distribution of the two solar ponds. The experimental results show that the utilization of the porous medium in the bottom layer might enhance the heat storage ability of the lower convective zone (LCZ); The introduction of the solar collector might advance the temperature of the LCZ greatly, which lessens the heat loss of the whole system. These methods play important roles in enhancing the thermal characters of the solar pond, which brings forward a new way for the improving of solar pond.

Abstract: The performance of integrated solar collector / thermal energy storage with immersed heat exchanger was investigated experimentally at the Solar Research Site, University Technology PETRONAS, (4.4224^oN, 100.9904^oE), Malaysia. The experimental set up consisted of 150 liters storage tank capacity with immersed coil heat exchanger, single glazing 1.5m² flat plate collector with 15^o tilt to the horizontal. The circulation of the working fluid was by forced in closed loop with a mini solar pump. Aluminum cell foam was attached to the absorber as extended surface. The surface of the collector was coated with black ornament to improve its absorption. The system was tested under clear skys, for two cases; with and without water drawn-off for seven days per case studied. The performance evaluation data obtained for case1 at the mean maximum solar intensity was 503.98 W/m² were: maximum daily water temperature 63°C, average daily water temperature 46°C, collector efficiency 63% and system efficiency 43%. Whilst for case 2, the mean maximum solar intensity was 473.11 W/m², the maximum daily water temperature 54°C, average daily water temperature 39.36°C, collector efficiency 54% and system efficiency 39%. The system efficiency for case 2 showed that the heat exchanger performed slighlty better and the water drawn-off effect is minimal.