Shariah, A.M.; Rousan, A.; Rousan, K.K.; Ahmad, A.A.
July 1999
Applied Thermal Engineering, vol 19-7, p. 733-741
The effect of thermal conductivity of the absorber plate of a solar collector on the performance of a thermosyphon solar water heater is studied by the use of the transient simulation system (TRNSYS) computer program. The system is assumed to supply hot water at 55° and 80°C representing both domestic and industrial uses respectively. Hot water of volumes 50, 125, and 250 l is consumed daily according to the Rand distribution profile. The results have shows that the annual solar fraction of the system and the collector's characteristic factors (namely, fin efficiency factor, collector efficiency factor, and heat removal factor) have a very strong dependence on the thermal conductivity for its low values, and weak dependence is observed beyond a thermal conductivity value of 50 W/m °C for the solar fraction and beyond a value of 100 W/m °C for the characteristic factors. It is also observed that the annual solar fraction is improved by about 4%–7% and the characteristic factors are improved by about 12%–19% when a steel absorber plate is replaced by an aluminum one, whereas, the solar fraction and the characteristic factors are increased only about 1% and 3%, respectively, when a copper plate is used instead of an aluminum one.
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