Energy efficiency of an electric boiler with indirect surface resistive heating of the heat carrier

Abstract

Introduction. The share of energy for heating of households makes up to 80 % of the total energy consumption. Works on increase of energy efficiency of HVAC equipment make the biggest contribution to reduction of manmade impact on the environment. Power-to-Heat technology — electric boilers used for heating with water systems with radiators and low-temperature heating devices of the “warm floor” type. The research of energy efficiency of the wall mounted electric boiler equipped with the heat generator of indirect surface resistive heating of the heat carrier is presented.
 
 Materials and methods. The object of the research is an electric boiler ARDERIA E24, with a nominal capacity of 24 kWh, equipped with a circulation pump, an expansion tank with a volume of 6 L, a group of hydraulic safety and heat carrier recharge. Control of the capacity of the boiler is carried out on semistors with cooling radiators located on the reverse line of the circulation circuit. The boiler is equipped with an electric heat generator with indirect resistor surface heating of the heat carrier.
 
 Results. The studied electric heat generators have high specific volumetric power equal to 9.3 kWh/dm3. The average specific power of tubular electric heaters is 25.1 watts/cm2. The coefficient of energy efficiency of the boiler is 0.986. The hydraulic resistance of the unit is 1.25 meters of water column at a flow rate of 1.0 m3/h.
 
 Conclusions. The application of the electric heat generator design consisting of a cast aluminum block with tubular heating elements placed inside and a spiral coolant circulation pipe showed high energy efficiency with coefficients of 0.98–0.986 in the modulation range of heat output. The heat output modulation factor of the electric boiler is 12 (2–24 kW). The energy intensity of the heat generator design is 9.3 kWh/dm3, which is significantly higher than traditional heat generation units with “wet” heating elements. The boiler’s heat output control system eliminates the possibility of the temperature rising above 88 °C on the inner heating medium circulation pipe surface.