Performance analysis of parabolic type solar water heater by using copper-dimpled tube with aluminum coating.

Abstract

A solar water heater has been developed to convert solar radiation into heat for use in residential and commercial settings. The collector makes up the bulk of a solar water heating system. The solar energy is captured by the collector and transferred to the tube that delivers the working fluid, water. In addition to the collector's tube, which carries the working fluid, researchers have focused on the design of the collector's tube. This paper examines the performance of a parabolic plate solar water heater that uses a copper dimpled tube with aluminum-coated tube channels. During the test, the flow rate of base fluid was in the range of 1.0 to 3.0kg/min in steps of 0.5. The performance of the solar water heater was also evaluated and verified using CFD. The test data such as friction factor, Reynolds number, uncertainty analysis, Nusselt number, solar collector efficiency, coefficient of convective heat transfer, linear dimpled tube velocity analysis, achieving maximum energy efficiency and thermal efficiency have been used to generate parametric values for parabolic plate solar water heaters. The results suggest that the best outcomes can be achieved with a mass flow rate of 2.5kg/min and the overall thermal efficiency was raised to 31.85%, which is 11% greater than that of the plain tube with base fluid. At mass flow rates of 2.5kg/min, the pressure drop was found to be 6.24% higher than that of 3.0kg/min. The experimental results were analyzed and compared with the CFD results, and the overall deviation was ± 3.24% which is in the acceptable range.