An Experimental Study of a “Once-Through” Thermosiphon System

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted on the operation of a “once-through” thermosiphon system. This new type of natural circulation system, unlike the standard thermosiphon system, heats the collector fluid in one pass without any recirculation. An electrically heated manifold was used to simulate the useful solar gain. Power was varied with time in 22 half-hour increments to simulate the actual daily useful solar gain. The time-dependent responses of the system in terms of temperatures and mass flow rates were recorded and plotted. The response time for mass flow and temperature to approach steady state varied directly with the size of the power step. Two experiments were conducted; one which tracked mass flows and outlet temperatures for variable useful solar gains, and a second which tracked mass flows at constant outlet temperature for variable useful solar gains.