Hydraulic optimization of the flat solar collectors SUN 1 and the temperature gradient of the heat carrier in a system of connected solar units

Irkutsk National Research Technical University, 664074, Lermontova str., 83, Irkutsk, Russia

^* Corresponding author: tolstoi@istu.edu

Abstract

The article presents an analytical method for selecting the optimal technical performance of the heat exchanger for a flat solar collector, using meander-shaped heat-sensing tubes, which allow obtaining a higher value of the coolant temperature at the exit from the flat solar collector. Also, the article presents a technique for determining the temperature of the coolant at the exit from a flat solar collector and the possibility of its application in the design of solar heating systems. This technique will allow to determine the optimum and the maximum possible number of successively connected flat liquid helium collectors and, accordingly, to obtain effective design and technical solutions. The technique is based on the use of the empirical dependence of the coolant’s temperature in the outlet branch pipe of a flat solar collector on the length of its heat-sensing tubes. The technique has been successfully applied in the study of heat-mass transfer processes in a new model of a flat solar collector being developed at the Department of Engineering Communications and Life Support Systems of the Irkutsk National Research Technical University. A comparative analysis of the measured values of the coolant temperature in the outlet branch pipe of the investigated reservoir with the values calculated using the empirical dependence presented in the article actually confirmed the adequacy of the presented technique with reference to one solar collector. The article shows results of calculating a system of consecutively connected collectors, which was conducted using the aforementioned technology.