Comparative Study of Different Tube Geometries of Evacuated Tube Solar Collector

Abstract

This study investigates the thermal performance of an evacuated U-tube solar collector (ETSC) using different tube geometrical configurations. The effect of tube geometry on the overall collector efficiency is numerically analyzed and compared with experimental results. Three different ETSC configurations made of copper viz., Model 1 (M1) having one inlet and two outlets, Model 2 (M2) having one inlet and three outlets, and Model 3 (M3) having one inlet and four outlets are considered. An overall rise in temperature of heat transfer fluid at the outlets for each model is predicted and compared with a conventional U-tube (CT) for different mass flowrates and solar insolations to evaluate the collector performance. In comparison with the CT, the outlet temperature of the M3 and M1 is higher by 46.2% and 40.3%, respectively. M2 gives a nearly similar fluid outlet temperature as M1. A maximum of 35.4% enhancement in heat gain compared to the CT is observed for M3 (which is best among modified configurations) under similar operating conditions. However, at 788 W/m2 solar insolation and a constant mass flowrate of 0.0167 kg/s, the estimated thermal efficiency of M1 is higher among the three models which is 33.5% higher than the CT. The experimental results closely approximate the numerical predictions with a deviation of ± 1.1 °C. From the economic evaluation of the modified collectors, a minimum payback period of 2.5 years was observed for Model 1 which is the shortest among the investigated ETSC systems.