Investigating two configurations of a heat exchanger in an indirect heating integrated collector storage solar water heating system

摘要

Due to the environmental impact of energy usage and increased price of fusel fuel, consumers need to be encouraged to use renewable energy sources. The IHISSWHS (indirect heating integrated collector storage solar water heater system) is one of the most economical systems. It incorporates the collection of a solar energy component and a hot water storage component in one unit. The objective of this study was to investigate ways to enhance the thermal performance of the system. Two configurations of the system were studied: system with double row HX (heat exchanger) and tube length of 16.2 m, and system with single row HX and tube length of 8.1 m and 10.8 m. The service water tube inside diameter was also varied to 10.7 mm and 17.1 mm. The steady state continuity, momentum and energy equations were numerically solved, using FLUENT software. A standard k-ω turbulent model and surface-to-surface radiation model were used. The result showed that the system of 10.8 m tube length and single row HX provided higher outlet temperature than the system of 16.2m and double row HX. Therefore, a significant reduction in cost and power usage can be achieved by using a single row HX.