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Performance of a Heat Pipe Solar Collector

Article  in  Journal of Solar Energy Engineering · February 1998

DOI: 10.1115/1.2888047

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 RESIDENTIAL SOLAR COLLECTOR WITH HEAT PlPES

Kamal A.R. ISJBail and Mabruk K. Abogderah

UNICAHP-FEK-DETF • C.P. 6122
13081 Campinas, SP, Brazi1

ABSTRACT The wick has to be completely wet with the

working fluid to ensure the operation of the
A flat plate solar collector with methanol heat pipe. The wick is held tightly and uniformly
pipes was constructed, Lns t rumerrt ed and tested. against the inside wall of the pipe. The heat
The obtained experimental results are compared transport in a heat pipe is reversible where
with the results obtained by the numericaÍ the working fluid evaporates by adquiring
modelo The analytical solution of the heat energy in the source, the evaporator, and
pipe is obtained using one dimensional formu- condenses at the heat rejection surface, the
lation and their limits are calculated to condenser, where heat is removed. The condensed
ensure the pe rformance of the collector. The working fluid is returned to the evaporator
flat plate solar collector with heat pipes is through the wick due to the capillary pressure
analysed following the method of Duffie and where the cycle starts again by its evaporation.
Beckmen [3] with modification to suit the use
The heat pipe was discovered in 1942 by Gau-
of heat pipes for heat transport and removal.
gler, who registered its first patent in 1944
The experimental results of the flat plate
to be used in a refrigeration system. ln 1963,
solar collector with heat pipes-are compared
Grover registered a patent of a device with
with the numerical predictions giving good
the name of heat pipe presenting ashort
agreement in the test range specially around
theoretical introduction and some experimental
mid-day when the collector approaches the heat
results obtained using a heat pipe with metalic
pipes operating temperature. The temperature
mesh as a wick and sodium as a working fluido
distribution along the heat pipe is also
The first publication of a heat pipe was done
presented in both steady and transient states
by Grover et alli [4]. After wards the number
indicating an expected results.
of publications rapidly increased, but the
first article that contained -a complete
lNTRODUCTION
theoretical unidimensional global formulation
was published by Cotter 1965 [2].
A heat pipe is a device which can transfer a
large quantity of heat with a relatively small The use of heat pipes in solar collectors was
temperature drop because it transports this introduced by Bienert and Wolf who inserted an
heat in its latent formo The heat pipe consists evaporator of a heat pipe in a solar collector
of two main parts (Fig. 1), namely evaporator but the results were not satisfactory. Better
and condenser. lt consists as well of closed results were obtained by Ramsey et alli [5]
outer shell, porous wick, and working fluido who acomplished efficiencys of 50% at a
temperature of 300°C for a heat pipe and a
solar collector with selective surface.
HEAT SOURCE HE A T SINK CONTAINER

Ij IIII I I 111111117 EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSlS

"-"--,---~3
-----VAPOR FLOW
--.J~ ~i
~_J. !ro The flat-plate solar collector with heatpipes,
(Fig. 2) consists of 4 mm thick aluminium
r+r+ ,----;;CK-- ------~ ~ absorbing plate with an effective are a of
1.87 m2 acting as axial fins for 8 copper heat
IIIt III I 111111 H
EVAPORATOR I CONDENSER
pipes inserted in the plate. Each heat pipe
has: an evaporator of 2 m long with an external
diameter of 15 mm and an internal diameter of
13 mm and a condenser of 0.4 m long with an
Fig. 1 Components and principal of external diameter of 12 mm and an internal
operation of a heat pipe. diameter of 11 mm. Each heat pipe with one

- 531 -
 CONDENSER The work of Tien and Sun [6] was used to
calculate the minimum meniscus redius, rc.
To ensure the high conductivity of the heat
pipes it was necessary to calculate the thermal
resistances along the heat pipe using the
following equations:
R = rotp
p,e 2L k
e p
r02tw
Rw,e =
2Lerike,e
2 Le
lIro FvTv(o+
_=---=--=--ll __
La + -i-)
L
=--_.!L- = 1, 9 x 10-1 1 m2K /W
pvÀJ

Fig. 2 Flat plate solar collector

with heat pipes. where t, k, L are thickness, thermal conduc-
tivity and length respectively. The subscripts
bronze layer wickof mesh 50 were evaccuated w, p, a, c, e are wick, pipe, adiabatic, con-
and filled with 192 cm3 of 99% methanol. The denser and evaporator. ke,e' ke,c are
condensers of the heat pipes were cooled in equivalent thermal conductivity of the wick
paralle+ arrangement with water circulating in and working fluid in evaporator and condenser
a closed loop together with a storage tank. respectively.
The flat-plate solar collector with heat pipes
2. Solar Collector with Heat Pipes
is insulated using 30 mm thickness glass wool
and covered with a transparent plastic ·sheet
The main difference in the formulation of a
(PVC) of 0.35 mm thickness. The temperatures
flat plate solar collector with heat pipes and
were monitored by thermocouples distributed
a conventional one is in the calculation of
along the midle heat pipe of the solar collector
the resistances between the absorbing plate
and also at inlet and outlet of the cooling
and the fluido ln case Df the flat plate solar
water as shown in (Fig. 2).
collector with heat pipes, the resistances
considered are: the evaporator wall, the
FORMULATION AND NUHERICAL ANALYSIS equivalent resistance of the working fluid and
the wick and the boiling resistance in the
1. Heat Pipe
heat pipes evaporator.
To ensure the operation of the flat plate Following the method of Duffie and Beckman [3],
solar collector with heat pipes it was with modification to suit the use of heat pipes
necessary to verify the limits of operation of for heat transport and removal and omitting the
the heat pipes. The critical limit was found detailed formulation for brevity, the useful
to be the capillary which was calculated using heat gain is given by:
the equation:
pR,KpAwÀ 2oR, + (5)
Qc = ---:.-- [-- - pR,gLtcos 4>] (1)
1lR,R,ef rc where FR is the heat remova 1 factor, Ac is the
collector area, S is absorbed solar energy, UL
Qc = 550 W (2) is the overall loss coefficient, Ti is the
inlet temperature and Ta is the ambient temper
where Aw, ief' Lt and 4> are \lÍck cross sec t í.on ature. Using the analogy with the conventionaI
area, effective length, total length and solar collectors, the heat removal factor for
inclination of the heat pipe respectively. The flat plate solar collector with heat pipes is
Kp' wick permeability, is given by the equation: calculated using the equation:
d2E3
K =
P 122(1 - E)2

where G is the mass flow rate per unit area of

where d is the wire diameter and E, the collector, Cp is a specific heat of the
porosity, is calculated by: cooling fluid and F is fin efficiency:
1.05 nNd
E = 1 - 4 (4) The flat plate temperature is calculated by:

- 532-
 Figure (5) shows a transient heat pipe
temperature distribution. The large difference
The above mentioned iterative process was between the temperatures of the evaporator and
programmed and the useful heat was calculated. the condenser is due to the small heat exchange
The collector efficiency is obtained from the are a on the condenser side, low temperature of
relation: the cooling. fluid and also because of the low
operating temperature of the heat pipe.
(8)

where GT is the radiation intensity on collec-

tor surface.
80
The overall efficiency is equal to the calcula
ted efficiency times the dirt effectfactor
which was measured experimentally at the
Physics Department of UNICAMP.
"'~
I-
60
«
a:
UJ DATE 14/08/1990
e,
RESULTS ANO DISCUSSIONS ::;
~ 40 TIME lO.150m

Figures (3,4) show the temperat.ure distribution

along the heat pipe in steady state, which
gave an expected results.
20
EVAPORATOR
-- -1------
COND.-t
I

o 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

80
HEAT PIPE LENGTH t m )

Fig. 5 Transient heat pipe temperature

DATE 10/09/1990 dist~ibution.
"' 60
a:
::> TIME 12 :30 pm
I- Figure (6) shows experimental and theoretical
«
a: results for one clear winter day in Campinas-
ur
c, 40 Brazil. The low performance in the morning and
::;
"'
I- late afternoon is due to the high angle of
incidence which impairs the operation of the
20
heat pipes. Figure (7) shows the results of
+- .~VAI"()RATOR

----11 the performance of the collector versus

Ta)/GT' The agreement is good between
experimental and the theoretical results.
(Ti-
the

o 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

HEAT PIPE LENGTH (m)

Fig. 3 Steady heat pipe temperature

distribution.
800

" 600
80
a:
"'~
o
JJ a.. 400
60 - DATE 08/08/1990

"'a:::> TIME 12:30 pm

THEORETICAL

I-
.« ---0--- E XPERIMENTA L
a: 200
UJ
c, 40
::;
"'
I-

~·~:0~0~-L~717l:~0~0~~~71~3:~0~0~~~~15~:~00~~~1~7~:~00
20
EVAPORATOR +COND L STANó'ARD OAY TIME

I I Fig. 6 Usefull thermal power

of the.collector.
o 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 .
HEAT PIPE LENGTH ( m )
Figure (8) shows the efficiency as function of
Fig. 4 Steady heat pipe temperature flow rate with (Ti - Ta)/GT constant. ~ote
distribution. that the performance increases with the

- 533-
 70 REFERENCES

60
1. Chi, S.W., Heat Pipe Theory and Practice,
McGraw-Hill (1976), 242.
~~oo O ._.
O
cP
50 o -;;-'_._-- 2. Cotter, T.P., Report 1A-3246-MS, 10s Alamos
(1965),1-37.
~ 40
3. Duffie, J.A. and Beckman, W.A., Solar
>- DATE 11/08/1990
o Engineering of Thermal Process, John Wiley,
z 30
TIME 11:30am 3:00pm -
UJ
New York, NY (1980), 762.
U
IL FLOW RATE 0.1 eis
IL
UJ 20 4. Grover, G.M. and Ericsson, G.F., Journal of
THEORETICAL
Applied Physics, American lnstitute of
_.-0-.- EXPERIMENTAL Physics, 35 (6) (1964), 1190-1191.
10

5. Ramsey, J.W., Gupta, B.P. and Knowles, G.R.,

I
O
0.008 0.013 0.018 0.023
Journal of Heat Transfer, 99 (1977), 163-
( T, - Ta) I Gr ( m2 't I W ) 168.

6. Tien, C.1. and Sun, H.K., lnt. J. Heat

Fig. 7 Collector efficiency versus Mass Transfer ,.14 (1971), 1853-1855.
I1Ta/G-r.

increase af the flow rate until it reaches its

maximum value where ali additional increase in
the flow rate does not effect the perfarmance
of the collector any more.

60
o o
o
50

- 40
>-
o
s:
~ 30
o
IL
IL
W
20
2o
(Ti - Ta)/GT = O.020m C/W

10

o 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 014

FLOW RATE (kg 15 )

Fig. 8 Collector efficiency versus mass

flow with I1Ta/G-r constant.

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained show that the flat plate

solar collector with heat pipes have the same
general trends of a conventional unit.
The thermal performance of the flat plate
solar collector with heat pipes can be
increased by decreasing the distance between
its heat pipes, using glass cover or plastic
cover with higher transmittance to solar
radiation and lower transmittance to infrared
radiation, using fins on external side of the
condensers to increase the heat exchange area
and reducing the filling tube length.

- 534-

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