Comparative Performance Analysis and Optimization of Acrylic Evacuated Tube Solar Collector with Water in Glass Tube Collector Through RSM

Abstract

The dominant technique used to utilize solar energy to heat water for domestic, industrial, and commercial requirements is a solar water heater. This research work aims comparative performance analysis of acrylic evacuated tube solar collector with water in glass evacuated tube solar collector and also, to investigate the optimal value of process parameters affecting the performance of water in glass and acrylic evacuated tube solar collectors. In this research work, the intensity of solar radiation, tilt angle of the collector, and the time are considered as independent variables. The temperature difference of water of glass evacuated tube solar collector and acrylic tube solar collector is measured as a response. The input parameters are optimized by using CCD method in RSM for the maximized value of the temperature difference. The result of the experiment shows that optimal values of solar radiation 843 W/m2, tilt angle of solar collector 32.1°, and time period is 59.2 min are for maximized value of temperature difference of water 7.4°C for glass and 7.7°C for acrylic evacuated tube solar collectors respectively. The experimental result deviates 1.33% in glass and -1.3% in acrylic tube solar collector from simulated values.