CONSTRUCTION AND THERMAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTORS

Darwesh, M.; Elmetwalli, A. H.; Derbala, A.; Fouda, T.; Morad, M.

doi:10.21608/mjae.2010.105372

CONSTRUCTION AND THERMAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF FLAT PLATE SOLAR COLLECTORS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Lecturer, Agric. Eng. Dept., Fac. of Agric., Tanta Univ., Egypt

² Assoc. Prof. Eng. Dept., Fac. of Agric., Tanta Univ., Egypt

³ Prof., Agric. Eng. Dept., Fac. of Agric., Tanta Univ., Egypt

⁴ Prof., Agric. Eng. Dept., Fac. of Agric., Zagzig Univ., Egypt

10.21608/mjae.2010.105372

Abstract

A solar energy systems (two solar water heaters and a storage tank) were constructed to deremine their actual thermal performance under average weather conditions. The system consisted of five components; collector box, absorber plate, copper pipes, insulation material, and glass cover). The thermal test of performance for the two areas of solar collectors (2 and 2.994m²) with three flow rates of water (2, 7.5 and 12 l/min) were computed. The thermal performance of the solar collectors was evaluated in terms of the useful heat energy gain or the collector efficiency.
The main results of this research work can be summarized as follows:
The daily average absorbed solar radiation during these experiments were 14.31, 14.22 and 13.93 kWh/day at with the use 2.994 m² of solar collector area under water flow rates (2, 7.5 and 12 l/min), while they were 10.19, 9.77 and 9.31 kWh/day with the use of 2 m² of solar collector area under 2, 7.5 and 12 l/min water flow rates. The daily average absorbed solar radiation converted into useful heat gain during the experimental work were 11.08, 11.26 and 9.49 under (2, 7.5 and 12 l/min water flow rates, respectively) under the use of 2.994 m² of solar collector area. While they were 8.30, 7.41 and 6.88 kWh/day under 2, 7.5 and 12 l/min water flow rates with the use of 2m² of solar collector area.The daily average overall thermal efficiency during these experiments were 62 and 64 % with the use of 2.994 and 2m² of solar collector areas , respectively. Consequently 38% and 36% of the total solar energy available were lost.

Main Subjects

Processing Engineering of Agricultural Products

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