Performance study of FPSC integrated with twisted tape inserts

Abstract

Abstract An experimental study has been carried out to enhance the performance of the Flat Plate Solar Collector (FPSC) using passive techniques. For this purpose, we have used a concept of twisted tapes such as single twisted tapes. The presence of twisted tape inside the pipes creates a swirl flow (secondary flow) which provides better mixing and higher heat transfer coefficients. A lot of researches have been done on twisted tape modifications to get excellent results. This study uses a twisted tape inside the copper pipe to examine the outcome on the heat transfer coefficient, heat transfer rate and enhancement of heat transfer performances. A physical representation of the experimental setup has been designed, built and instrumented for calculating those parameters. Then using the values and the formula, the efficiency of the Flat plate solar collector with and without twisted tape is found out. The efficiency of a flat plate solar collector integrated with twisted tape is 66%. The efficiency value of flat plate solar collectors without twisted tape is 48%. This showed the eminent improvement in twisted tape inserts than in usual solar collectors. It shows a greater good of using twisted tape inserts to increase the heat transfer. There has been a serious study on the kind of twist ratio to be used to enhance the transfer rate. In this project we have used the twist ratio of 2. Modifications on the geometry of twisted tape will lead to give better performances than the conventional flat plate solar collector.