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Design and experimentation on domestic solar water heaters using kenics twist inserts

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Abstract

Passive thermal augmentation is preferred in the design of compact and energy efficient domestic solar water heating systems (DSWH). Current study investigates the impact of modified DSWH with Kenics insert brazed with rod and spacer sequentially on the heat augmentation, and flow pressure, and frictional attributes. The thermal performance and flow friction characteristics have also been analyzed for different rod and spacer lengths such as 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 m for twist designed with a stable twist ratio of 3. Experimental results reveal the drop in Nusselt number when the rod and the spacer span increase; and the flow pressure drop (ΔP) decreases significantly while extending the same in comparison with full kenics twist. Further, the increment in pressure drop and heat removal was observed significantly in twist and rod inserts of minimum twist ratio and rod length compared to twist and spacer combination. Interrelationships developed for Nusselt number (Nu) and Friction factor (ft) show close agreement between estimated and experimental values.

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Abbreviations

A c :

Collector Aperture area, m2

A i :

Inside surface area of the riser tube, m2

A o :

Outside surface area of the riser tube, m2

C p :

Specific heat kJ kg−1 oC

D h :

Equivalent diameter of the riser tube with respect to the spacer diameter, m

D o :

Outside riser tube diameter, m

f :

Friction factor for plain tube collector, (dimensionless)

ft:

Friction factor for twisted tape collector, (dimensionless)

Gz:

Gratez number (dimensionless) Gz = DH/L RePr

\(h\) :

Convective heat transfer coefficient (W m−2oC)

hi:

Internal convective heat transfer coefficient (W m−2oC)

H t :

Total intensity of solar radiation, W m−2oC

k :

Thermal conductivity of water, W m−1oC

k w :

Thermal conductivity of the riser tube wall, W m−1oC

L :

Length of the riser tube, m

m :

Mass flow rate kg s-1

Nu:

Nusselt number for plain riser tube, dimensionless, \(\mathrm{Nu}=\frac{hiDi}{k}\)

Nus :

Nusselt number for twisted tape inserted in the riser tube (Swirl flow)

Pr:

Prandtl number, dimensionless, \({P}_{\text{r}}=\frac{\mu {C}_{\text{p}}}{k}\)

Q :

Heat transfer rate, W

Re:

Reynolds number based on the internal diameter of the riser tube, dimensionless

S :

Length of rod and spacer (m)

T m :

Bulk mean temperature of fluid in the riser tube, oC \(\left(\frac{{T}_{\mathrm{in}}+{T}_{\mathrm{out}}}{2}\right)\)

T in :

Average outlet temperature of water, oC

T out :

Average outlet temperature of water, oC

T wo :

Average wall surface temperature outside

U i :

Overall inside heat transfer coefficient (W m−2oC)

U o :

Overall outside heat transfer coefficient (W m−2oC)

U l :

Overall heat loss coefficient (W m−2oC)

TR:

Twist ratio (length of one twist/diameter of the twist) (dimensionless)

Η :

Collector efficiency

F R :

Collector heat removal factor

\({\tau \alpha }\) :

Transmittance-Absorptance product

U l :

Overall heat loss coefficient

T a :

Ambient temperature

T p :

Absorber plate temperature

H t :

Total solar radiation

ρ :

Density of water (kg m−3)

µ :

Dynamic viscosity of water at bulk mean temperature (Ns m−2)

µ w :

Dynamic viscosity at wall temperature (Ns m−2)

ΔP :

Pressure drop of water (N m−2)

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Department of Science and Technology (SR/FTP/ETA-071/2009), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, AMET University, Chennai, India

    J. Ananth

  2. Star Lion College of Engineering and Technology, Manangorai, India

    S. Jaisankar

  3. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, PES University, Bangaluru, India

    Suganthi J

  4. School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Dire Dawa University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

    Balasuadhakar Arumugam

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  1. J. Ananth
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  2. S. Jaisankar
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  3. Suganthi J
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  4. Balasuadhakar Arumugam
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Contributions

JA contributed to development of experimental setup, experimentation, data analysis, investigation, content writing. SJ contributed to supervision, conceptualization, methodology. JS contributed to development of mathematical models, language check, data verification. AB contributed to data curation, draft preparation.

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Correspondence to J. Ananth.

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Ananth, J., Jaisankar, S., J, S. et al. Design and experimentation on domestic solar water heaters using kenics twist inserts. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 943–953 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11814-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11814-6

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