Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437

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Energy & Buildings

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Comparative experimental investigation of two evacuated tube solar

water heaters of different configurations for domestic application of
Baghdad- Iraq
Hassan Naji Salman Al-Joboory
Directorate of Renewable Energy, Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), Baghdad, Iraq

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Evacuated tube solar water heaters have drawbacks that limit their performance against local habits of
Received 23 May 2019 hot water consumption, like slow water temperature rise and slow response to loading. A method to
Revised 5 September 2019
enhance their performance is using heat pipes as heat transport tools from the solar collectors to the
Accepted 14 September 2019
storage water. The present work investigates the enhancement of thermal performance of evacuated tube
Available online 15 September 2019
solar water heaters subjected to (non- standard) load conditions and weather conditions of Baghdad- Iraq.
Keywords: Two identical evacuated tube solar water heaters (both of 120 l capacity and 20 evacuated tube solar col-
Evacuated tube collector lectors) are investigated experimentally. One system works with thermosyphon (natural convection); the
Thermosyphon other system incorporates 20 wickless heat pipes (closed thermosyphon tubes), of 16 mm diameter and
Thermal performance 1750 mm length and are charged with methanol as working fluid at 50% fill charge ratio, as thermal
Solar heat pipe conductors from the solar collectors to the storage tank. A comparison of performance of the two so-
Useful heat gain
lar systems has been conducted by subjecting them simultaneously to different load conditions namely;
Iraqi climate
no load, intermittent and continuous loading to simulate the hot water consumption habits in the local
community. Extra experiments were conducted at sunny days and various weathers at no load to verify
the thermal diode effect of heat pipes and the effect of weather conditions on the systems performance.
Experimental results reveal an enhancement in overall daily efficiency of the heat pipe system over the
thermosyphon system by 22.5% for no load, 42.5% for intermittent loading and 32.4% for continuous load-
ing. The heat pipe system produced higher temperatures and better response at all load conditions and
adverse weather conditions that make it more suitable for local domestic application. The thermosyphon
system performs suitably with no load and intermittent load at small removal quantities. Results agree
with those in the literature.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The energy crisis in Iraq is increasing in the last three decades
due to the substantial increase of demand on electricity and the
corresponding serious shortage in generation. During the last two
decades, a major part of electric energy production in Iraq is
consumed by the domestic sector, where a considerable amount
of the residential energy demand in the cold season goes to water
heating. Solar hot water systems represent a promising solution
to reduce energy demand for their simple design and low cost
as compared with the other renewable energy technologies used
worldwide and can also serve other applications like solar cooling
systems for their energy efficiency and environmental safety [1].
An important advantage of solar water heating systems is their
adaptability to both existing and new buildings [2] of all kinds.
E-mail address: haljoboory@gmail.com
Conventional flat plate solar water heaters are commonly used
for low and medium temperature applications with temperatures
of 40 to 70 °C [3]. Their application is characterized by simple
design, ease of construction, and lower maintenance at afford-
able costs. Yet, some of their limitations [3,4] are: low thermal
efficiency caused by high thermal losses, corrosion and scaling,
freezing at extremely cold climates and many other technical
limitations. Therefore, evacuated tube solar water heaters are
being increasingly used especially in the regions of cold climate
for their excellent thermal insulation. These systems commonly
work by natural convection heat transfer regime (thermosyphon
principle) where heat is transported from the solar collector into
the thermal storage by free convection, which is characterized by
small heat transfer coefficients. Some advantageous characteristics
of evacuated tube solar collectors [5] are the high efficiency with
large temperature differences between the absorber and surround-
ings, achieve higher temperatures, form low weight systems, ease

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2019.109437
0378-7788/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
2 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437

tools from the evacuated tube collectors [10–13] like Thermacore,

Nomenclature Inc., Philco Italiana, S.P.A., Corning Corporation, N.V. Philips Cor-
poration and Feldman. Late developments of evacuated tube solar
Aa Absorber surface area (m2 ) collectors included the utilization of nanofluids to enhance the
cw Specific heat of water (kJ/kg. °C) thermal performance characteristics [14–16]. The importance of
FR Working fluid fill charge ratio (%) heat pipes in solar applications arose since their advent in the six-
HP Heat pipe ties of the past century. Their use as heat transfer elements in solar
It Global Solar Insolation (W/m2 ) water, space heating and cooling systems has increasingly received
k Number of time interval attention [17]. The heat pipe is a heat transfer device of very high
L Heat pipe length (mm) thermal conductance that makes it efficient in transporting heat at
La Adiabatic length (mm) high rates from one location to another at very small temperature
Lc Condenser length (mm) gradients [18]. It is capable of transferring heat at rates orders of
Le Evaporator length (mm) magnitude greater than a corresponding solid thermal conductor
Mt Mass of storage water in the tank (kg) of similar size. An important benefit from using heat pipes as ther-
m˙ Mass flow rate (kg/s) mal conductors from evacuated tube collectors is the elimination
Qo Useful energy gain (J) of water flow into the evacuated tube, preventing energy loss by
SWH Solar water heater the fraction of solar heat gain stored within solar tube due to the
t Time (s) presence of water inside the tube which cannot be removed out
T Temperature (°C) for use. Among the earliest solar heat pipe applications, Bienert
Tm Mean storage water temperature (°C) and Wolf [19] inserted the heat pipe evaporator section into a flat
plate solar collector, while the condenser section was inserted into
Greek symbols
a water manifold attached to the collector. The water manifold was
 Difference
so bulky that the energy was collected and lost easily. Therefore,
η Efficiency
the experimental results were not persuasive to other researchers
Subscripts [20]. Akyurt [21] recommended the use of heat pipes as heat trans-
amb Ambient fer elements in solar hot water systems, and that a thermosyphon
in Input collector with heat pipes had an efficiency of 50% higher than
li Liquid in the conventional collectors. Other works [17,22–24] suggested that
lo Liquid out heat pipes can be used as heat absorbers with both flat plate
max Maximum and evacuated tube solar collectors, as heat is absorbed by the
mf Final mean value evaporator section and transferred at high rates to the condenser
ms Starting mean value section where it is released into the heat sink. Bezrodny et al.
out Output [25], Mantelli [26], Bezrodny [27] and Khairnasov and Naumova
w Water [28] stated that wickless heat pipes (thermosyphons) can be used
in solar systems for their simplicity of design and construction,
low cost, high reliability and high equivalent thermal conductivity
(the transferred flux of heat compared to the pipe cross sectional
of installation, affordable cost, wind resistant, less snow removal area and temperature drop per unit length). Wickless heat pipes
times, receive incident solar radiation from all directions due to are necessarily gravity- assisted, this makes them applicable in
their cylindrical shape and the modularity in design since it is solar water heating systems since the heat sink (the storage water
possible to add or remove collectors to the system. Evacuated tank) is located above the heat source (solar collector). Working
tube solar collector systems have also some disadvantages; they fluids are available for the operational range from −50 °C to 100
are more expensive systems, susceptibility to breaking in domestic °C. This helps eliminate the freezing problem of solar collectors in
use, and cannot be mounted horizontally. An important disadvan- very cold climates by choosing the appropriate working fluid [23].
tage of these systems is the loss of a fraction of solar heat gain The diode property of the heat pipe [29] improves the solar sys-
that is stored within the solar tube due to the presence of water tem performance due to eliminated heat flow reversal, minimizing
inside the tube and this solar heat gain cannot be removed out for heat losses from the thermal storage at night or when the ambient
use, leading to reduced daily solar gain or daily efficiency of the temperature is lower than that of the collector. Solar collectors
solar system. Evacuated tube solar collectors have been available with heat pipes have low sluggishness and respond immediately
worldwide for the last decades; single envelope vacuum tube to the solar radiation intensity change [29]. The use of heat pipes
solar collectors with heat pipes are commonly used in Europe and in solar collectors reduces the system weight as compared with
double envelope all- glass evacuated tube solar collectors using conventional water- filled collectors, hence reducing less structural
direct flow U- tubes have been successfully used in Japan. [6]. The support. Also, the heat pipe is modular in design; it is a single unit
production expansion of the evacuated tube solar collectors have facilitating the assembly of a collector array composed of multiple
come after the development of the Chinese “low cost splutter heat pipes. De Vries et al. [30] stated, theoretically, that a heat
coaters” to produce the absorber surface on all- glass evacuated pipe solar collectors without fluid circulation control performed
tubes [7]. Several systems have been employed to remove thermal good similarly to a conventional solar collector with control. Hull
energy from evacuated tubes [8], some manufacturers use a U- [31,32] proposed that the heat pipe solar collector system suffers
shaped copper tube running along the inside wall of the collector a heat transfer penalty, which can be minimized by proper design
tube, as in the General Electric collector, or a straight tube running at the heat pipe condenser and system manifold. Toiliev et al
all the way through as in the Sanyo collector. Another proposed [33] and Bairamov and Toiliev [29] experimentally concluded that
development is to utilize filled-type evacuated tube with double the water temperature was 10–11 °C higher, at the end of the cool-
U-tubes [9]. In another design, the collector is filled with water ing cycle, than in the case of solar collector without heat pipes.
through a thin glass tube running down the centerline, such as the They attributed this to the effect of heat pipe diode property
Owens- Illinois collector [6]. Many manufacturers have used heat that reduces heat losses from the hot water storage of the heat
pipes with different arrangements and materials as heat removal pipe solar collector. El- Nasr and El- Haggar [34], and Hammad
 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437
[35] proposed a flat plate wickless heat pipe solar collector design
then tested it with various working fluids at different charges
and inclinations under the climatic conditions of Cairo, Egypt. A
flat plat solar collector cooled by a set of heat pipes was also
described. It was found that efficiencies and quantities of useful
energy agreed with the results obtained from a water-cooled solar
collector. Chun et al. [36] stated that the solar water heating sys-
tems are not sensitive to the type of heat pipe working fluid. Nada
et al. [37] and Feldman and Noren [38] showed that the number
of heat pipes has a significant effect on the collector efficiency. Al-
Joboory [5] experimentally investigated the performance of locally
manufactured laboratory scale individual and integrated solar wa-
ter heaters with evacuated tube collectors integrated with wickless
heat pipes of different sizes and charged with acetone, ethanol
and methanol under different weather conditions of Baghdad, Iraq.
Test results with different load patterns and weathers, revealed
that incorporation of heat pipes to the solar water heating system
significantly enhanced the performance over the conventional
evacuated tube systems. Methanol was also recommended as a
heat pipe working fluid. Azad [39] investigated the performance of
a flat plate solar water heater equipped with heat pipes protruding
into the water manifold. Chen et al. [40] found experimentally that
flat plate solar hot water system with wickless heat pipes showed
better long- term performance than a corresponding evacuated
tube solar water heater. Sarachitti et al. [41] proposed and tested
experimentally a “roof integrated solar concrete collector” that can
daily produce 40 liters of hot water at 40 to 50 °C and stated that
it is more economically feasible as compared to evacuated tube
heat pipe solar water heating systems. Chow et al. [42] evaluated
experimentally the transient and daily efficiency and heat loss
performance of evacuated tube and heat pipe solar water heaters
in Hong Kong and concluded that the system without heat pipes
performed weaker than that with heat pipes. Yan et al. [43] stated
that, for tests in Hohhot (40.85°N, 111.67°E) China, the addition
of heat pipes into the evacuated tube SWH raised the instan-
taneous thermal efficiency by 15%. Their findings agreed with
those of Yu et al. [44] for flat solar heater incorporating cellular
heat pipe tested at Hangzhou (30.18°N, 120.07°E) in China. Teles
et al. [45] investigated an evacuated tube solar collector with an
absorbing copper tube positioned eccentrically inside the collector
with a tracking system. Maximum and minimum daily efficiency
of the collector of about 73% and 42%, respectively, for the city
of Sao Luis, Brazil. Joseph et al. [46] evaluated experimentally an
evacuated tube heat pipe solar water heating system for pave-
ment heating and snow-melting in Fayetteville, Arkansas over the
winter season to maintain two 3.05 m × 1.22 m × 0.13 m concrete
slab surfaces above freezing temperature. In clear sky conditions,
Maximum storage fluid temperature of 74.0 °C was recorded
and an average daily power of 2.7 kW was collected during the
test period. Mustafa Ali [47] investigated the effect of heat pipe
working fluid and ambient air velocity on the energy and exergy
performance of evacuated tube solar collectors using wickless heat
pipes in Turkey. Shafieian et al. [48] evaluated theoretically and
experimentally the performance of a heat pipe solar water heating
system working with continuous flow conditions for residential
hot water consumption Perth, Western Australia to calculate the
optimum number of glass tubes of the heat pipe solar collector
beyond which the increase in performance become insignificant.
Kavolynas and Rejeris [49] investigated experimentally indoors
an evacuated tube heat pipe solar collector system under con-
stant conditions of 800 W/m² and different flow conditions. A
large increase in mass flow rate was found to minimize the
average collector efficiency. Wisut et al. [50] tested the thermal
efficiency of a heat pipe evacuated tube solar water heater of
compound parabolic concentrating (CPC) solar collector without
tracking. A thermal efficiency of 78% was obtained. Esen and Esen
3
[51] experimentally investigated solar water heaters with loop
thermosyphons integrated to the storage and charged with three
refrigerants separately. Nkwetta et al. [52] presented an in- door
experimental comparison of the thermal performance of two evac-
uated tube heat pipe solar water heating systems for solar cooling
application, one of them is modified with a concentrator, at 60°
inclination angle. Both solar systems consist of evacuated tube
heat pipe solar collectors connected to water manifolds and tested
under standard test conditions. The modified system was reported
to improve the fluid temperature rise and overall daily energy by
30% and 25.42% respectively. In another work, Nkwetta and Smyth
[53] investigated experimentally outdoors the two solar systems
with the modified system equipped with an internal concentrator
to supply hot water to high temperature solar absorption cooling
systems.
Most investigations cited in the literature on the use of heat
pipes in the solar water heating systems were carried out with
solar collectors integrated to water manifold and emphasis was on
how the thermal performance of the solar system was affected by
thermo- physical properties of the wicked type heat pipe. More-
over, out- door testing in most investigations was based on the
international standards like the ASHRAE standard 93–77 [54] and
the ISO 9806–1.2 Standard [55,56] that do not fit to the local
culture for domestic use. Out- door performance evaluation under
(non- standard) load conditions that simulate the local habits
of hot water consumption is necessary. A comparative outdoor
investigation for the effect of using wickless heat pipes (closed
two phase thermosyphons) on the performance of evacuated tube
solar hot water systems under the Iraqi meteorological conditions
has not been cited in the literature nor experimental testing with
(non- standard) loading patterns that simulate the hot water
consumption of the local culture of Iraq.
The present work investigates the thermal performance of
two identical evacuated tube solar water heaters, one is working
by the thermosyphon principle (natural convection), while the
other incorporated wickless heat pipes (closed two- phase ther-
mosyphons) integrated to the evacuated tube solar collectors and
the thermal storage tank, under different loading patterns (that
simulate the local hot water consumption habits) and different
weather conditions of Baghdad. Performance of the solar water
heating systems under study have not been investigated nor been
modified in the Iraqi weather conditions.
2. Methodology
In this section the experimental system designs are explained
along with the operation test procedure, experimental setup and
measuring equipment and instrumentations. The systems are two
evacuated tube heat pipe solar water heating systems, one works
by natural convection (thermosyphon phenomenon) whereas the
other system uses wickless heat pipes (thermosyphon tubes) as
the heat transport tool from the evacuated tube collectors into the
storage water tank.
2.1. The experimental solar water heating systems
The two identical tested solar water heaters, shown in Fig. 1,
are supplied by GTC Solar Systems Professional, China [57]. All
dimensions and design specifications of the two systems are
shown in Table 1. Both systems were installed due south and
tested simultaneously under the same load patterns and weather
conditions.
Twenty wickless copper heat pipes are manufactured, tested,
evacuated, charged and their evaporator sections fixed in the
evacuated tube solar collectors, as shown in Fig. 2. Wickless heat
pipe are cheaper than wicked heat pipes, easier to fabricate and
4 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437

Table 1
Design specifications of the evacuated tube solar water heating systems [57].

System component Item Design specifications

Thermosyphon system Heat pipe (HP) system

Solar collector Type and material High quality borosilicate glass evacuated tube, 20 tubes × 35 mm (inner
diameter) × 47 mm (outer diameter) × 1500 mm (length) × 1.2 mm (thick.)
Absorber surface The inner glass tube, coated with graded Al-N/Al (transmittance = 0.93,
absorptivity >0.95, emissivity 7–8% (at 80 °C))
Max. strength 0.8 MPa, 30 m/ s wind resistance
Thermal properties 3.3∗ 10− 6 o C thermal expansion, Stagnation temp. >200 °C, Heat loss <0.8 (W/
m2 °C), Vacuum of 0.0133 Pa
Heat transport Natural convection Heat pipe
Storage tank Max. capacity: 120 l; Material: Sus 304 2b Food Grade 0.41 mm steel sheet; Insulation: High density pressure
polyurethane, 50 mm thickness; Outer shell: Galvanized steel sheet of 0.25 mm thickness
Frame Galvanized steel structure; Inclination: 45°; Facing due South

Table 2
Characteristics of the heat pipes.

Type Wickless heat pipe (Thermosyphon tubes)

Material Copper

Dimensions Total length, L 1750 mm

Evaporator length, Le 1500 mm
Condenser length, Lc 200 mm
Adiabatic Length, La 50 mm
Pipe diameter 16 mm
Pipe wall thickness 1 mm
Working fluid Methanol, at 50% FR of evaporator volume
surface treatment Painted with mat black spray

tube solar collector; whereas the condenser sections protruded

Fig. 1. The solar water heaters prepared for testing.
works satisfactorily with solar water heaters. All heat pipes used in
this system have 16 mm diameter and are of 1500 mm evaporator
length, 200 mm condenser length and 50 mm adiabatic length, as
indicated in Table 2. All heat pipes were charged with methanol at
fill charge ratio of 50% of the evaporator volume, this fluid at this
ratio was recommended for better heat pipe performance [5]. Heat
pipe evaporator sections were aligned at the evacuated tube center
by aluminum spacers and Teflon bushings sealed with RTV silicon
rubber to prevent storage water from flowing into the evacuated
into the storage tank to transport collected solar energy into the
storage water. The cold water inlet is connected directly to the
mains to replenish consumed solar heated water. The assembled
solar water heaters were supported on a steel stand facing south
at a tilt angle of 45°, at which optimum heat pipe performance
was reported [5] and represents a good winter tilt angle for solar
collectors in Baghdad city, Iraq (33° 18 N, 44° 21 E).
2.2. Experimental setup and instrumentation
Temperatures of both systems were recorded at many locations
by calibrated Type K (Nickel-Chromium/ Nickel-Alumel) thermo-
couples that are capable of measuring temperatures from (−50 to
400 °C) with accuracy of (0.75% ± 2.5 °C). Water temperatures at
inlet, exit and inside the storage, the heat pipe evaporator surface

Fig. 2. The evacuated tube solar collector modified with the heat pipe.
 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437
and the ambient temperature were recorded by connecting all
thermocouples to a (Lutron BTM- 4208SD) temperature recorder
with a resolution of 0.1 °C and an accuracy of ± (0.4% + 0.5 °C).
The water temperature distribution inside the storage tank was
measured by three thermocouples. The mean tank temperature
(Tmean ) is the arithmetic mean value of the three readings. The hot
water withdrawal rate was measured via a Rota meter type flow
meter, whereas the hot water removal quantities are measured
by graduated containers. Solar radiation intensity was recorded
by a calibrated LUTRON SPM-1116SD data logging solar power
meter, with a range of reading of 0–20 0 0 W/m2 and an accuracy
of 0.1 W/m2 .
2.3. Testing program and measurement procedure
Outdoor experimental tests were conducted in January, Febru-
ary and March of 2017 in Baghdad, Iraq in sunny days with clear
sky conditions. Each experiment period started from 8:00 a.m.
till 18:00 p.m., with some extra experiments continued up to
24:00 p.m. Experimental readings at quazi- steady conditions are
recorded every 30 min for the time period from 8:00 a.m. till
16:00 p.m., and every 60 min after 16:00 p.m. to 24:00 p.m. The
system was tested with three load scenarios; these are no water
withdrawal (no load), intermittent and continuous hot water
withdrawal. Experiments without hot water withdrawal were
conducted at three storage volumes of 120 l, 100 l and 80 l Inter-
mittent withdrawal tests were conducted at rapid withdrawing of
5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 l from the storage tank within five minutes at
the beginning of each operation hour at a period from 10:00 a.m.
to 14:00 p.m. Continuous withdrawal experiments were conducted
at rates of 10, 20 and 30 l/hr along the operation period from 8:00
a.m. to 18:00 p. m. loading experiments are conducted by allowing
the cold supply water into the storage tank while opening the
exit hot water valve. The proposed load patterns are intended to
simulate the local habits of hot water consumption.
2.4. Calculations procedure
The calculation equations that are used to obtain the thermal
performance are also commonly used by other works [5,34,47,51–
53]. The overall daily heat collection is calculated from the
temperature readings at the beginning and end of the experiment
time period from 9:00 a.m. till 18:00 p.m. by
 
Qo = Mt cw Tm f − Tms
Where Mt is the storage water mass in the tank (kg), Tms and
Tmf are the mean temperatures ( °C) at the beginning and end
of the period. The overall daily (bulk) solar system efficiency was
obtained by the equation;
 
Mt cw Tm f − Tms
ηo = t
0 Aa I (t )dt
whereas at hot water withdrawal experiments, the daily overall
heat collection was obtained by the equation;
 solar tubes. However, the decrease in efficiency with lower storage
  t
Qo = Mt cw Tm f − Tms + m˙ l cw (Tlo − Tli )dt
0 storage through the insulation which is caused by the increased
which can be simplified to;
 
Qo = Mt cw Tm f − Tms + Ml cw (Tmo − Tmi )
 i=k
where; Ml = m˙ il t i , and (Tmo − Tmi ) = m˙ il (Tloi − Tlii )t i /
 i i
m˙ l t , and k is the number of time increments (ti ) within
the withdrawal experiment period. The daily overall (bulk) solar
5
system efficiency was then obtained from;
 
Mt cw Tm f − Tms + Ml cw (Tlo − Tli )
ηo = t (5)
0 Aa I (t )dt
3. Results and discussion
The experimental program and data collection for the present
work are conducted under the meteorological conditions of Bagh-
dad city, Iraq (33° 18 N, 44° 21 E), in clear sky sunny days of
January, February and March of 2017. Some extra experiments are
also conducted under various weather conditions. The selection of
the type of heat pipes and type and fill charge ratio of the heat
pipes working fluid for the modified system was based on the
outdoor testing results of the individual solar systems and heat
pipe testing results conducted by Al-Joboory [5]. The design details
of the tested systems are given in Table 1. The proposed loading
patterns are intended to simulate the local hot water consumption
habits. The performance of the solar systems is characterized by
the overall daily useful heat gain and overall (bulk) performance
of the system, Variation behavior of the storage temperature
and the system response to replenish the lost energy at weather
variation and loading (hot water withdrawal). Loading (hot water
withdrawal) is conducted by opening the exit water valve to allow
specified amount to flow out from the storage tank, while allowing
corresponding amount of cold supply water into the storage tank
to replenish the withdrawn amount of hot water.
3.1. Solar water heaters performance with no load
No load tests are conducted in clear sky dates with maxi-
mum global solar radiation values ranging between 753 W/m2 to
774.5 W/m2 and ambient temperatures from 15.2 °C to 24.9 °C.
The experimental results on the two solar water heating systems
under research revealed that; along the experimental period from
8:00 a.m till 18:00 p.m, at no load conditions, higher temperatures
were obtained with smaller storage capacities, and higher useful
heat gain with higher daily bulk efficiency were obtained for larger
storage volume. However, the heat pipe system attained higher
storage temperatures at the three storage capacities, as shown in
Fig. 3, where the heat pipe system recorded maximum temper-
atures increase over the thermosyphon system by 32%, 20% and
25.2% for storage capacities of 120, 100 and 80 l respectively. This
has led to improve the overall useful heat gain by 35.9%, 22.5%
and 24.5%, and improved overall daily efficiency by 22.5%, 16% and
(1) 15.57% over the thermosyphon system for storage capacities of
120, 100 and 80 l respectively, as shown in Fig. 4. This increase
is attributed to the advantage obtained from the thermo- physical
properties of heat pipes; those are the latent heat transfer by the
phase change of the heat pipes working fluid and the thermal
diode effect. Another reason is that, in the thermosyphon system,
a fraction of solar heat gain is stored within solar tube due to
(2) the presence of water inside the tube and this solar heat gain
cannot be removed out for use, leading to the daily solar gain or
daily efficiency of the thermosyphon system is much less than
that of the heat pipe system that contains no water inside the
capacity is normal due to the increased thermal losses from the
(3)
temperature difference with the ambient. The results agree with
those obtained by other works [21,36,38,39,51].
(4) Fig. 5 compares the variation behavior of the mean tank tem-
peratures of the two systems under various weather conditions.
The differences in clear sky temperatures are attributed to the
differences in solar insolation and the initial tank temperature.
Maximum solar radiation values varies according the weather
6 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437

Fig. 3. Variation of the mean tank temperature at various storage capacities for the two systems.

Fig. 4. Effect of storage capacity on the overall useful energy and efficiency of the tested systems.

condition from 753 W/m2 in clear sky condition, 587.5 W/m2
in intermittent cloudy, 583 W/m2 in windy dusty, and drop to
120.8 W/m2 in overcast rainy windy weather; and the ambi-
ent temperature values range from minimum value of 13.1 °C
to maximum values ranging from 15.7 to 24.4 °C according to
the weather condition throughout the operation periods from
8:00 a.m to 18:00 p.m. Generally, the heat pipe system show
higher temperatures than the thermosyphon system even with
adverse weather conditions. This is attributed to the privi-
lege of the combined evacuated tube- heat pipe action that
allows collection of solar energy even at low solar irradiation
levels.
An important property of solar heat pipes is the thermal diode
property that eliminates back heat flow from the storage to the
solar collector at night. Some tests were conducted to verify
this property of heat pipes, as shown in Fig. 6. The global solar
radiation, mean tank temperatures of the two tested systems and
the ambient temperature were recorded for operation period from
8:00 a.m until midnight time. At night, the heat pipe evaporator
surface cools almost to the ambient temperature, while the mean
tank temperature of the heat pipe system descends only slightly
indicating that no heat removal takes place back to the heat pipe.
Moreover, the mean tank temperature of the heat pipe system
descends slighter than that of the thermosyphon system indicating
 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437 7

Fig. 5. Variation of mean tank temperature of the tested systems under various weather conditions.

Fig. 6. Temperature variation of the two solar water heating systems.

the effect of the thermal diode property of the heat pipe and the
absence of water inside the collector. The slight decrease of storage
water temperature is normally due to heat losses from the storage
tank to the ambient. The heat loss by conduction through the heat
pipe wall is small and usually ignored in performance calculations.
This result agrees with that obtained by Al-Joboory [5].
3.2. Solar water heaters performance with intermittent load
With intermittent load (hot water withdrawal), fixed amounts
of hot storage water are withdrawn out rapidly; these are 5, 10, 15,
20 and 25 liters respectively at the beginning of every hour from
10:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m throughout the operation period from 8:00
a.m to 18:00 p.m. The behavior of the mean tank temperature for
the two tested systems with five removal quantities is shown in
Fig. 7. Experiments are conducted in clear sky dates with global
solar radiation values ranging between 403.1 W/m2 to 896.4 W/m2
and ambient temperatures from 14.1 °C to 26.7 °C. Both systems
show almost similar behavior, the mean tank temperatures in-
crease gradually with time from the beginning of operation period,
drops suddenly after each withdrawal process, and increases
slightly after removing the load, then increases continuously after
8 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437

Fig. 7. Effect of intermittent loading on the mean tank temperature variation behavior.

Fig. 8. Effect of intermittent loading on the overall useful energy and efficiency.

the last withdrawal process until reaching its maximum value
at the end of the experiment. The sudden drop in storage water
temperature (Tmean ) ranged from 0.5 °C to 9 °C for the heat
pipe system, and from 1.5 °C to 10.2 °C for the thermosyphon
system, depending on the amount of hot water withdrawn and is
attributed to the instantaneous replacement of removed hot water
by corresponding quantities of cold supply water. The maximum
values of Tmean attained at the end of operation period were rang-
ing from 45.9 °C to 75.1 °C for the heat pipe system, and from
35.3 °C to 60.6 °C for the thermosyphon system, depending on the
hot water removal quantities and the supply water temperature,
that shows better response to loading of the heat pipe system
which is attributed to the ability of heat pipe to respond rapidly
to sudden temperature drops and the ability to transport large
amounts of heat even at very small temperature differences.
The variation of daily overall useful energy gain and efficiency
with intermittent loading was from 27,210 kJ and 75.1% to 31,880 kJ
and 83.8% for the heat pipe system and from 18,920 kJ and 52.7%
to 28,160 kJ and 68.7% for the thermosyphon system, as shown
in Fig. 8, that means the useful heat gain improved from 13% to
 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437 9

Fig. 9. The effect of continuous loading on the mean tank temperature variation of the solar water heating systems.

Fig. 10. Effect of the continuous load on the overall useful energy and efficiency of the solar water heating systems.

43.8% and the efficiency improved from 22% to 42.5% in the heat
pipe system over the thermosyphon system. For both systems,
the mean tank temperatures were less than that with no load.
Higher daily overall useful energy and efficiency increase by 19.2%
and 14% respectively than no load condition were attained with
intermittent load condition. The results agree with those obtained
by other works [5,51].
3.3. Solar water heaters performance with continuous load
Fig. 9 shows the variation behavior of Tmean with continuous
loading at various removal rates. Experiments are conducted in
clear sky dates with global solar radiation values ranging between
578.7 W/m2 to 758.9 W/m2 and ambient temperatures from 14.1 °C
to 20.4 °C throughout the operation period from 8:00 a.m to 18:00
p.m. Maximum values of Tmean ranged from 50.5 °C to 63.4 °C
for the heat pipe system and from 25.4 °C to 45.6 °C for the
thermosyphon system, depending on the hot water removal rate.
The mean tank temperature decreased in both systems with in-
creased removal rate because of the continuous entry of equivalent
quantities of cold water into the storage tank.
The daily useful energy gain and the overall efficiency varied
from 27,800 kJ and 78.6% to 29,300 kJ and 81.2% for the heat pipe
system and varied from 16,700 kJ and 48.5% to 22,400 kJ and 61.3%
for the thermosyphon system with the range of testing removal
rates that means an enhancement in the overall efficiency by
32.4%, as shown in Fig. 10. Results also reveal an increase of useful
heat gain for the heat pipe system by 9.5% and efficiency by
10 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437

10.5% than no load condition and less by 8.8% in useful heat gain
and 3.2% in efficiency, whereas for the thermosyphon system the
useful heat gain has dropped by 0.4% and efficiency by 3.5% than
no- load condition and less by 25.7% in useful heat gain and 12.1%
in efficiency than intermittent load conditions. The results agree
with those of other works [5,51].
Figs. 11 and 12 compares the overall daily useful heat gain and
overall daily efficiency. The results reveal that the performance
of thermosyphon system is considerably affected by loading and
it is better used with no load conditions or intermittent loading
at small hot water removal quantities. On the other hand, for the
heat pipe system, higher overall useful energy gain and overall
efficiency were attained by the heat pipe system with hot water
removal due to the advantage of the combined action of heat pipe-
evacuated tube solar collectors that have higher response and high
energy transport capability of heat pipes. This result agrees with
Fig. 11. Overall useful energy of the two systems with the three loading patterns.
the experimental results obtained by Chun et al. [36] and Al-
Joboory [5] for solar water heating systems with evacuated tube
heat pipe solar collectors that, with a wide range of working
fluids, the system performs better with loading conditions than
without loading condition.

3.4. Justification of the results

The trend of variation of the mean tank temperature with time

for the two systems in the present work is similar to those in
several works [5,21,36,38,51], as shown in Fig. 13.
However, the peak values of temperatures are different due
to the differences in design specifications and the operation
conditions of each system. A comparison can be carried out mean-
ingfully only for the overall efficiency of the present systems with
Fig. 12. Overall daily efficiency of the two systems with the three loading patterns.
those in the literature [5,21,36,38,45,51], as given in Table 3.

Fig. 13. Comparison of the mean tank temperature variation behavior with various works.
 H.N.S. Al-Joboory / Energy & Buildings 203 (2019) 109437 11

Table 3
Comparison of the overall daily efficiency with various works.

Reference Solar absorber Load condition Heat transfer tool ηOverall, daily
Present work Evacuated tube No load Wickless heat pipe 73.5
Intermittent 83.8
Continuous 81.2
Evacuated tube No load Thermosyphon (Natural 63.5
Intermittent convection) 68.7
Continuous 57.6
Al- Joboory [5] Evacuated tube No load Wickless heat pipe 54.12
Intermittent 83.9
Continuous 81.5
Akyurt [21] Flat plate No load Wicked heat pipe 52
Feldman & Noren [38] Flat plate No load Wicked heat pipe 49
Chun et al. [36] Flat plate No load Wicked heat pipe 45
Teles et al. [45] Evacuated tube Continuous Wicked heat pipe 73
Wisut et al. [50] Evacuated tube Continuous Wicked heat pipe with cpc 78
Esen and Esen [51] Flat plate No load Looped type heat pipe 55.31
Intermittent 58.96

4. Conclusions References

Two evacuated tube solar water heaters; one system is modi-
fied with wickless heat pipes, are tested simultaneously outdoors
under various (non-standard) load conditions and different
weather conditions of Baghdad city of Iraq. Experimental evidence
revealed that the utilization of heat pipes cause an enhancement
of performance of the heat pipe solar water heater over the ther-
mosyphon one to meet the local domestic application under all
weather conditions and load patterns. The following conclusions
can be withdrawn:
• Both systems recorded increased mean tank temperatures
with decreased storage capacity, and increased efficiency
with increased storage capacity.
• The mean tank temperature in both solar water heaters de-
creased with increased removal quantities and increased re-
moval rates of hot water than with no load.
• The heat pipe solar system attained higher temperatures,
overall useful heat gains and overall efficiencies with all load
conditions than thermosyphon system in the range of exper-
iments.
• Improved response to load conditions and adverse weather
conditions is reported for the heat pipe system.
• The heat pipe solar water heater performed better with in-
termittent and continuous loading than with no- load con-
dition.
• The thermosyphon solar water heater performed better with
no- load condition and intermittent load at small removal
quantities.
• The thermal efficiency of the thermosyphon solar water
dropped steeply at intermittent (at high removal quantities)
and continuous loading (at all removal rates).
• The storage temperature of the thermosyphon solar wa-
ter heater dropped steeply at intermittent (at high removal
quantities) and continuous loading (at all removal rates),
that makes it more suitable with no load and intermittent
load (at small removal quantities).
Declaration of Competing Interest
With the submission of this manuscript I would like to under-
take that the above mentioned manuscript has not been published
elsewhere, accepted for publication elsewhere or under editorial
review for publication elsewhere.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not- for- profit sectors.
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