Heat Pipe and Trough Collector Integrated Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heater

Our project aimed to enhance the efficiency and performance of solar water heating systems by integrating heat pipes and trough collectors into existing evacuated tube solar water heaters. By incorporating these components, we were able to capture and retain more heat, thereby reducing the heating time and increasing the availability of hot water. Through theoretical design, validation using MATLAB and Ansys 18.0, and fabrication of the trough collector and heat pipe, we achieved significant improvements. Experimental testing showed a temperature increase of 11.2℃ with a water outlet temperature of 61.2℃ after 1 hour. Analytical modeling predicted a water outlet temperature of 63℃ and 18W heat transfer at peak solar conditions, which was further validated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using ANSYS Fluent, resulting in a water outlet temperature of 63.05℃ and 19.24W heat transfer. This project was recognized as the Best Project of the Year by KSCST, highlighting its innovative contribution to renewable energy utilization.

Project Images:

Github Repository for MATLAB Code: https://github.com/mohanraj-mr/Math_modeling_ETCwHP

Final Outcome: