Abstract
This study selects titanium dioxide (TiO2) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as far-infrared materials (FIRMs), and further adds water-based acrylic coatings to prepare far-infrared coatings (FIRCs). FIRCs are uniformly coated on #304 stainless steel sheets to make the test samples, which are then installed between the shell and insulation material of the hot water heater to measure the influences of various FIRCs on the performance of the hot water heater. The research results show no significant difference in the heating rate or heat insulation performance of the hot water heater with or without FIRCs coating. However, the uniformity of the water temperatures of the test samples is significantly improved with FIRCs. Considering that the uniformity of water temperature will inhibit the heating rate and heat insulation performance of the hot water heater, TiO2-FIRC should provide better performance improvement when applied to the hot water heater in this study. The application of TiO2-FIRC to large-scale hot water heaters with a high aspect ratio will effectively improve the quality of hot water supply in the future.
Highlights
In recent years, far-infrared rays have attracted considerable attention from the public
It can be seen from these figures that there are slight differences between the test samples, and the maximum water temperature (Tmax) under each experimental parameter is slightly higher than the target temperature setting (TTar)
The results show that the sample with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-farinfrared coatings (FIRCs) has better performance at the low heating power (40 W); while the sample with TiO2-FIRC has better performance at the high heating power (80 W)
Summary
Far-infrared rays have attracted considerable attention from the public. Various application fields have different wavelength ranges for the classification of infrared rays. The wavelength range of far-infrared rays (FIRs) as defined in the medical field is 5.6–1000 μm [1]. FIR is commonly used to promote industrial and civil applications, such as heating, cooling, and combustion. According to their material characteristics, far infrared materials (FIRMs) can resonate at different temperatures and wavelengths, and promote the disturbance of the working fluid or collision with surrounding objects, thereby enhancing energy transfer
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