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ASSIGNMENT ON WATER HEATING

SUBMITTED TO: - PROF. A.I. BAMGBOYE

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL


ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

BY

RABIU ANIS A.

MATRIC NO: - 210647

20/10/2018.
INTRODUCTION

Renewable energy sources have the capacity to play a significant role in replacing conventional
fuels in four distinct zones, such as electric power production, hot water production,
transportation of fuels, and countryside (off-grid) power services. Since 1980 the use of solar
technology has increased at a rate of about 30% yearly. In2010, Renewable Energy Policy
Network has reported that about 70 million houses are now using solar water heating (SWH)
systems worldwide. The economic benefits of the utilization of SWH can mainly be realized
through savings in fuel costs for water heating and environmental issues. SWH systems are
becoming wide spread and are now contributing significantly to both domestic and industrial
sectors in several countries.

China currently dominates the global solar thermal market, Chinese companies manufactured
28million square meters of system in 2009 which was above 80% of global solar hot
water/heating output. Apart from China, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, and India lead the solar hot
water market. The European Union (EU) utilizes most portion of the remaining total installed
SWH capacity. Germany marked a record in 2008 with an estimated SWH capacity of about 1.1
GW, but the new installations were slightly lower in 2009. Similarly, the government of Brazil
targeted a reduction of more than 1000MW additional energy installations by the year 2015
through the initiation of SWH systems

In general, Solar Water Heating technology is considered to be a matured one that has attained
commercialization. Yet, there exists several opportunities to further improve the system
performance for an increase in its reliability. Renewable energy research has become
increasingly important since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, and more work is being carried
out in analyzing different aspects of Solar Water Heating systems, such as collector design,
storage tank, and different working fluids, to suit regional or specific geographical conditions.
SOLAR WATER HEATING
Solar water heating (SWH) this is the process of converting solar energy from the sunlight into
thermal energy (heat) for water heating using a solar thermal collector.

Components of Solar Water Heating

1. Flat plate collector


2. Storage tank
3. Circulating system (connecting pipes) and auxiliary heating system
4. Control of the system (Solar panels, inverters, electric meter, temperature sensor,
circulating pump) for a complex SWH.

Classification of Solar Water Heating systems


Solar water heating (SWH) is categorized based on the following;

1. Nature of heat transfer through the working fluid, SWH systems can be broadly
classified into:
i. Direct systems
ii. Indirect systems.

In the direct system, water is heated directly in the collector. In the indirect system, a
heat transfer fluid is heated in the collector which is then passed through a condenser
or a heat exchanging device to heat water.

2. Depending on the circulation of working fluids;


i. Passive circulation system (thermosyphon)
ii. Active circulation system. (pump)

Passive circulation systems refer to thermosyphonic method in which the density


difference induces the circulation of the fluid, naturally. On the other hand, active
circulation employs a pump to effect forced circulation of the working fluid.

3. To overcome the freezing of the working fluid during adverse weather conditions;
i. Recirculation or drain-down technique (direct)
ii. Drain-back technique for (indirect).

Usually differential thermostats are used to control the system in accordance to the hot
water demand with an exception to thermosyphon and integrated collector storage
systems.
SOLAR COLLECTOR

Solar collector is the heart of a solar thermal system. It absorbs solar radiation, converts it into
heat, and transfers useful heat to the solar system. There are a number of different design
concepts for collectors: besides simple absorbers used for swimming pool heating, more
sophisticated systems have also been developed for higher temperatures, such as integral
storage collector systems, flat-plate collectors, evacuated flat-plate collectors and evacuated-
tube collectors.

Flat-plate collectors
this is the most commonly used solar thermal technology which consist of the following
component parts;

1. a transparent front cover,


2. collector housing and
3. an absorber.

The absorber; this is located inside the flat-plate collector housing for converting sunlight to
heat and transfers it to water in the absorber tubes. It serves as a fluid circulation passageway.
As the collector can reach stagnation temperatures up to 200°C (i.e. when no water flows
through), all the materials used must be able to resist such heat. It is usually made of metal
materials such as copper, steel or aluminum.

The collector housing; can be made of plastic, metal or wood, and the glass front cover must
be sealed so that heat does not escape, and dirt, insects or humidity do not get into the
collector itself. Many collectors also have controlled ventilation, so as to avoid condensation
inside the glass front cover. The collector housing is highly insulated at the back and sides,
keeping heat losses low. However, there are still some collector heat losses, mainly due to the
temperature difference between the absorber and ambient air, and these are subdivided into
convection and radiation losses. convention is caused by air movements, while the latter are
caused by exchange of heat by radiation between the absorber and the environment.
A transparent front cover (sheet of glass) this helps to prevent most of the convection losses as
the collector faces the sun. Furthermore, it reduces heat radiation from the absorber into the
environment in a similar way as a greenhouse does. However, the glass also reflects a small part
of the sunlight, which does not then reach the absorber at all. The figure below shows the
processes occurring at a flat-plate collector.
A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector"
commonly refers to solar hot water panels, but may refer to installations such as solar parabolic
troughs and solar towers; or basic installations such as solar air heaters. Concentrated solar
power plants usually use the more complex collectors to generate electricity by heating a fluid
to drive a turbine connected to an electrical generator.

Figure showing the process at the flat plate collector

Selective Absorbers
Black materials have high absorbing capacity of sunlight, and heat can be generated result.
metallic materials do not naturally have a black surface, coating of the surface is required for
selective absorption. Black, temperature-resistant lacquer can serve this purpose, but there are
much better materials for absorber coating. When a black surface is heated up, it emits part of
the heat energy again as heat radiation.

A black lacquered absorber shows an effect, transferring only part of the absorbed heat to the
water that flows through the absorber tubes, while radiating some heat back into the
environment. So-called selective coatings absorb the sunlight almost as well as black lacquered
surfaces, and re-emit a much smaller amount of heat radiation. While the coating processes
needed for these materials are more complicated than those for lacquering, this is
compensated for by much higher efficiencies. As a result, many absorbers today have selective
coatings, with materials used including black chrome, black nickel or TiNOX.

Evacuated-tube collectors
Convection heat loss due to air movements inside the collector can be significantly
reduced by maintaining a vacuum between the front cover and the absorber of a flat-plate
collector. As the ambient air pressure would then force the front cover against the absorber,
small supports must be used between the back of the collector and the cover, to keep the cover
itself in shape. It is difficult to maintain the vacuum over a long period of time, since ambient air
will always find a way between the glass and the housing to get into the collector, and an
evacuated flat-plate collector therefore has to be evacuated again from time to time. These
disadvantages can be avoided with evacuated-tube collectors. The high (almost complete)
vacuum inside the closed glass tube of the evacuated-tube collector is more stable over a long
period of time than in an evacuated flat-plate collector. Due to their shape, glass tubes can
better resist the ambient air pressure, and therefore no supports are needed between the back
and front sides.
An evacuated-tube collector comprises a closed glass tube, inside which is a metal
absorber sheet with a heat pipe in the middle, containing a temperature-sensitive medium such
as methanol. The sun heats up and vaporizes this heat pipe fluid, and the vapour then rises to
the condenser and heat exchanger at the end of the pipe. There, the vapour condenses, and
transfers heat to the heat carrier of the solar cycle, water with antifreeze agent. The condensed
fluid flows back to the bottom of the heat pipe where the sun begins heating it up again. To
work properly, the pipes must have a minimum angle of inclination, in order for the vapour to
rise and the fluid to flow back. A cross-section of the evacuated-tube collector and the principle
of its operation is shown below. With some evacuated-tube collectors, the heat pipe passes
through the end of the glass tube, so that the heat transfer medium of the solar cycle can flow
directly through it. A heat exchanger is not needed with this type of collector, and the collector
does not have to be mounted at the minimum angle of inclination.

Fig. showing the top view and the Principle of an evacuated tube collector with heat pipe.
picture showing the Connections of evacuated tubes to the solar cycle

A significantly higher energy gain can be obtained with evacuated tube collectors,
especially during the cooler months of the year. Thus, a solar system using evacuated tube
collectors requires a smaller collector area than one using standard flat-plate collectors.
On the other hand, the specific collector price for evacuated-tube collectors is higher than that
for flat-plate systems. A further consideration is that tube collectors cannot be directly
integrated into a roof, so they must always be installed on top of it, reducing their architectural
possibilities.

TPYES
The simplest type of solar water heating is the thermosiphon system.

1. Thermosyphon systems
This is a passive system that works on the principle of density difference to transport heat
energy. Potable heat transfer fluid (i.e., water) is heated by a solar collector and the natural
convection drives the water from the solar collector unit to the hot water storage tank unit.
the thermosyphon system operate on temperature rise/difference where the cold water
has a higher specific density than warm water. Water becomes less dense due to solar
heating and expands according to the temperature rise. Hot water is circulated to the
storage tank, and the relatively cooler water from the bottom of the tank is circulated to
the solar collector device. Therefore, the storage tank is always mounted at a height above
the collector to allow the free flow of water through the pipes.

This flow is dependent on the duration of sunshine, since it aids density variation which
in turn affects the flow of water. To reduce pipe friction, a larger pipe diameter is
recommended rather than the normal size (2–3 in. diameter). Usually, connecting lines are kept
at an angle to prevent the development of larger air bubbles that would resist the flow of
water. Also, the solar collector–inlet is connected to the bottom of the storage tank to avoid
reverse flow. In situations, where the collector working pressure is less than the direct supply of
city water, suitable pressure reduction valves are used.

Usually an auxiliary heater is included to augment the heating process of a Solar Water Heating,
in particularly when used in solar adverse regions. Although, it is not commonly used in the
other parts of the world, in European and North American regions, a double tank SWH storage
system is used. If the collector heats up the water, the water rises again and reaches the tank
through an ascending water pipe at the upper end of the collector. The cycle of tank–water
pipe–collector ensures the water is heated up until it achieves an equilibrium temperature. The
consumer can then make use of the hot water from the top of the tank, with any water used
being replaced by cold water at the bottom. The collector then heats up the cold water again.
Due to higher temperature differences at higher solar irradiances, warm water rises faster than
it does at lower irradiances. Therefore, the circulation of water adapts itself almost perfectly to
the level of solar irradiance. To avoid a backward flow of water a thermosyphon system’s
storage tank must be positioned well above the collector, otherwise the water will cool down
over the night. Furthermore, the cycle does not work properly at very small height differences.
In regions with high solar irradiation and flat-roof architecture, storage tanks are usually
installed on the roof.
Thermosyphon systems operate very economically as domestic water heating systems, and the
principle is simple, needing neither a pump nor a control. However, thermosyphon systems are
usually not suitable for large systems, that is, those with more than 10 m² of collector surface.
Furthermore, it is difficult to place the tank above the collector in buildings with sloping roofs,
and single-circuit thermosyphon systems are only suitable for frost-free regions.

Picture of thermosyphon SWH


Figure showing a thermosyphon system.

Buoyancy (upthrust) is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of an
immersed object. The thermosyphon systems works on the buoyancy principle. an object
whose density is greater than that of the fluid in which it is submerged tends to sink. If the
object is either less dense than the liquid or is shaped appropriately (as in a boat), the force can
keep the object afloat. This can occur only in a non-inertial reference frame, which either has
a gravitational field or is accelerating due to a force other than gravity defining a "downward"
direction.
2. Forced-circulation systems

In contrast to thermosyphon systems, an electrical pump is required to move water


through the solar cycle of a system by forced circulation. Collector and storage tank can then be
installed independently, and no height difference between tank and collector is necessary. A
system using forced circulation with a conventional boiler for back-up heating.
Two temperature sensors monitor the temperatures in the solar collector and the
storage tank. If the collector temperature is above the tank temperature by a certain amount,
the control starts the pump, which moves the heat transfer fluid in the solar cycle; ‘switch-on’
temperature differences are normally between 5°C and 10°C. If the temperature difference
decreases below a second threshold, the control switches off the pump again.
In regions where there is a danger of frost, a double-circuit system is usually used. Drinking
water is kept inside the storage tank, while the water in the solar cycle is mixed with an
antifreeze agent. A heat exchanger transfers the heat of the solar cycle to the storage tank, and
keeps the drinking water separate from the antifreeze mixture.
Forced-circulation systems can be used for room heating as well as domestic water heating. In
this case, collectors and storage tanks must be much larger than with simple domestic water
heating systems, where a collector surface of about 4 m² is sufficient for most households.
Larger systems have also been realized successfully with two or more storage tanks.

Figure of a double-cycle system with forced circulation with a conventional boiler for back-up heating.
3. Solar District Heating

This system is used in a housing estate where solar systems is to be fitted for water heating.
The collectors are either distributed on the houses, or replaced by a large, central solar
collector. The collectors then heat up a big central storage tank, from which much of the heat is
distributed back to the houses. The surface to volume ratio of a central storage tank is much
better than that for distributed storage systems, so the storage losses are much lower, and
even permit seasonal heat storage. Solar district heating is also an option if room heating is to
be covered by solar energy. There are higher piping losses with a central tank, but some solar
district heating demonstration systems have already been successfully tested.

Figure of a Solar District Heating

4. Integrated collect or storage systems (passive) ICS

Unlike the conventional SWH system in which a collector acts as an absorber of sunlight, the ICS
system utilizes both the collector as well as the storage tank as an absorber to collect solar
radiation. In most cases, the entire exterior part of the reservoir acts as an absorber. However,
these systems are subjected to heavy heat losses, especially during non-sunshine hours. Several
measures, such as selective absorber surface coatings, insulating materials, and a single- or
double-glazing glass cover shave been used to reduce the heat losses. A few other techniques
were also attempted to culminate the heat loses: movable protection cover, insulated baffle
plate, and utilizing phase change material (PCM) inside the storage tank. Researchers have also
attempted to use transparent insulating materials for the appropriate exposed parts. Further,
to reduce the heat losses, the storage tank was operated on thermal stratification modes, by
drawing the hot water from the top of the storage tank and cold-water inlet to the bottom of
the tank.

Schematic diagram of ICS solar water heating system

5. Direct circulation systems (active)

Unlike thermosyphon systems, direct circulation systems require a pump to circulate water
from storage tank to the collector to get heated. The hot water flows back to the storage
system and is ready for the end-user. The pump is usually controlled by a differential
thermostat that regulates water at the top header by a sufficient margin to the bottom of the
tank. A check valve prevents the reverse circulation to avoid night time thermal losses from the
collector. The collectors can be positioned either above or below the storage tank as pump is
used to activate circulation. Direct circulation system is generally used only under situations
when freezing is not a concern. Sometimes, water from the cold storage tank or city water
supply can be used directly into the system. Care should be taken when quality of water is hard
or acidic, in a direct circulation system since it would result in scale deposition which in turn
may cause clogging or corrosion of the collector tubes. Direct circulation systems more
commonly employ a single storage tank which is with an auxiliary heater. However, in few case-
studies, two-tank storage systems have been used as well. During the inevitable situations,
when the direct circulation system has to be employed, to operate in adverse weather
conditions certain modifications are introduced in the design of SWH system to overcome the
freezing issues. One such modification is to operate the direct circulation system in drain-back
mode. Generally, a differential controller integrated pump is used to circulate water from the
storage tank to the solar collectors. A drain-down valve provides the freeze protection function.
While turned on by the controller, the valve isolates the solar collector inlet from the storage
tank outlet. At the same time, the differential controller opens a valve that permits water to
drain away from the collector. In order to drain water out from the bottom of collectors, a
vacuum breaker is installed at the top of each collector to allow the air circulation.

Schematic diagram of a recirculation loop applied to the SWH systems of commercial building
6. Indirect water heating systems (active)

Indirect systems of Solar Water Heating utilize two circulation loops to effect heating:

(a) the closed-collector loop and

(b) the open storage tank loop.

Usually, the heat transfer fluid is circulated with in the closed-collector loop, to gain the heat
and is then passed through a heat exchanger where heat is transported to the potable water
that flows in an open loop to the storage tank. There are several different types of working
fluids used in the closed loop, such as water, refrigerants, and anti-freeze mixtures. The heat
exchanger can either be an internal system (placed inside the water storage tank or outside of
the storage tank) or as an external system. An expansion tank integrated with a pressure relief
valve is used in the closed circulation loop system. In the pressurized system, the tank is
provided (an additional expansion tank) to have a control on temperature and pressure of the
working fluid. However, for the unpressurized system, the tank is provided to release the
pressure when required to vent.

Schematic diagram of integral-type solar-assisted heat pump (ISAHP) system


7. Air Systems (active)

Unlike water or other refrigerants, air has also been used as working fluid, for its unique
advantages. Compared to the conventional SWH system, air can be used as a working fluid even
during freezing weather conditions, is non-corrosive, and requires only low maintenance
requirements. However, the system is generally large and requires considerably large space for
air handling unit. A typical arrangement of a solar air heating system incorporated with a
pebble bed storage units. Fans and dampers are incorporated to aid the system operation. The
heat gained by the air in the collector duct is released through a heat exchanger to aid domestic
hot water supply of up to 80-degree Celsius. A major drawback of the air systems is that air has
low heating capacity and its performance deteriorates further when the ambient temperature
is very low. Research has been carried out to overcome the disadvantages that are inherent to
air assisted heat pump (HPs) to certain extent. An air-source Heat Pump was designed to
operate on a HP cycle and was provided with an auxiliary heater to meet the demand during
insufficient solar radiation. The heat pump mode of operation was activated during day-time
and the study showed that, the solar energy enhanced the total electrical energy savings and
the need for reverse cycle defrosting operation was eliminated. A common form of air-source
Heat Pump water heater as a packaged product is comprised of a water-cooled condenser, a
compressor, and a fan-coil evaporator. Condenser may either be separated from the storage
tank through which water is pumped from storage tank and placed at the top of the unit or a
wrap-around coil on the wall of the storage tank.

Schematic diagram of standard air system configuration


Schematic diagram of Air-source heat pump water heater (a) with wrap-around condenser coil, and (b) with
external condenser

Applications of Solar water heater

The solar water heating systems are used in the following areas; Swimming pools, residential
houses, textile industries, boiler houses, hospital and nursing home, Dairies and food
processing industries, textile factory, hotels and restaurants.

Advantages

1. Simple to construct and install


2. No or negligible running cost
3. Almost free from maintenance
4. It saves time and high-grade form of electric energy
5. Cost is low and economically competitive
6. They are effective approximately 80% radiation is turned into heat energy.

Disadvantages

1. Freezing problem
2. Solar thermal panels can only heat water
3. Constant checking of antifreeze and pump need to be done to ensure optimal
performance.
4. A new hot water cylinder will need to be installed so space is required to install this.

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