Thermal Properties of Solar Collector Comprising Oscillating Heat Pipe in a Flat-Plate Structure and Water Heating System in Low-Temperature Conditions

Yuhang Gao, Chao Gao, Haizhen Xian and Xiaoze Du
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Yuhang Gao: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Chao Gao: Zhongyuan Engineering Corp. of China National Nuclear Corp., Engineering Management Department, Beijing 102206, China
Haizhen Xian: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Xiaoze Du: School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: Solar collectors are very important to the photothermal utilization of solar energy in low-temperature conditions. In this paper, a solar collector comprising an oscillating heat pipe in a flat-plate structure is designed and studied experimentally. The thermal properties are studied in detail, and we finally obtain the startup temperature and the expression of the instantaneous efficiency with a relative error of 5%. The results show that the impact of inclination angles on the startup properties of the solar collector is significant to the thermal properties. The comparisons of the efficiency of the present design and similar products are also displayed and discussed, showing that an oscillating heat pipe collector in a flat-plate structure overcomes the low efficiency, high startup temperature and bad pressure resistance of conventional solar collectors. In addition, the thermal properties of the water heating system based on the novel collector were also tested, illustrating the differences between the solar irradiance and the water heating system. Some improvements (e.g., shell material and assembly method) were made in this system design process to increase the heat transfer efficiency and solve the corrosion and pressure resistance problems.

Keywords: oscillating heat pipe; solar energy collector; thermal properties; water heating system; flat-plate type (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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