Performance of the Solar Collector with Vacuum Tubes and Dual Heat Pipes Based on Wick Length Variation

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.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 819)
• Pages: 147-151
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.819.147
• Online since: January 2016
• Authors: Nandy Putra*, Kristofer Haliansyah, Wayan Nata Septiadi
• Keywords: Heat Pipe, Solar Collector, Vacuum Tube, Wick

References

[1] Michael V. Albanese, Brian S. Robinson, Ellen G. Brehob, M. Keith Sharp, Simulated and Experimental Performance of A Heat pipe Assisted Solar Wall, Solar Energy 86 (2012) 1552-1562.

DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2012.02.017

[2] Indonesia energy outlook & statistic 2006. Depok, Indonesia: Energy Reviewer, University of Indonesia; (2006).

[3] M. Hammad, Experimental Study of The Performance of A Solar Collector Cooled By Heat pipes, Energy Convers. Mgmt, Vol. 36, No. 3, (1995), pp.197-203.

DOI: 10.1016/0196-8904(94)00050-a

[4] Vasiliev Leonard L., Review Heat pipes in Modern Heat Exchangers, Applied ThermaL Engineering 25 (2005) 1-19.

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2003.12.004

[5] R. Kempers, A.J. Robinson, D. Ewing, C.Y. Ching, Characterization of evaporator and condenser thermal resistances of a screen mesh wicked heat pipe, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 51 (2008) 6039-6046.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2008.04.001

[6] Kyu Hyung Do, Hyo Jun Ha, Seok Pil Jang, Thermal Resistance of Screen Mesh Wick Heat pipes Using The Water-based Al2O3 Nanofluids, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 53 (2010) 5888-5894.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2010.07.050

[7] Shoeib Mahjoub, Ali Mahtabroshan, Numerical Simulation of A Conventional Heat pipe, Word Academy of Science : Engineering and Technology 39 (2008) 117-122.

[8] W. W Wits, R. Legtenberg, J. H Manna, Selecting Capilary Structures forHeat pipe in Multilayer Printed Circuit Boards, European Thermal-Science, The Netherlands (2008).

[9] M. Raisul Islam, K. Sumathy, Samee Ullah Khan, Solar Water Heating Systems and Their Trend Markets, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 17 (2013) 1-25.

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2012.09.011

[10] Yong Li, Heng-fei He, Zhi-xin Zeng, Evaporation and Condensation Heat Transfer in A Heat pipe with A Sintered-Grooved Composite Wick, Applied Thermal Engineering 50 (2013) 342-351.

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2012.07.042

[11] Nchelatebe Nkwetta, Mervyn Smyth, Performance analysis and comparison of concentrated evacuated tube heat pipe solar collectors, Applied Energy 98 (2012) 22-32.

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.02.059

[12] David A.G. Redpath, Thermosyphon Heat-pipe Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heaters for Northern Maritime Climates, Solar Energy 86 (2012) 705-712.

DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2011.11.015

[13] David A.G. Redpath, Philip C. Eames, Steve N.G. Lo, Phillip W. Griffiths, Experimental investigation of natural convection heat exchange within a physical model of the manifold chamber of a thermosyphon heat-pipe evacuated tube solar water heater, Solar Energy 83 (2009).

DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2009.01.002

[14] H.M.S. Hussein, H.H. El-Ghetany, S.A. Nada, Performance of wickless heat pipe flat plate solar collectors having different pipes cross sections geometries and filling ratios, Energy Conversion and Management 47 (2006) 1539-1549.

DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2005.08.009

[15] H.M.S. Hussein, M.A. Mohamada, A.S. El-Asfourib, Optimization of a wickless heat pipe flat plate solar collector, Energy Conversion and Management 40 (1999) 1949-(1966).

DOI: 10.1016/s0196-8904(99)00082-5

[16] S.J. Munusamy, Heat Pipes in Electronic Packaging [TJ264. S774 2007 frb], Universiti Sains Malaysia, (2006).

[16] F.J. Hong, P. Cheng, H.Y. Wu, Z. Sun, Evaporation/Boiling Heat Transfer on Capillary Feed Copper Particle Sintered Porous Wick at Reduced Pressure, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 63 (2013) 389-400.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.03.086