Engineering analysis and testing of water-trickle solar collector, report No. 3. Progress report, June 1975--November 1976
An outdoor solar collector testing facility has been built at the University of Virginia for the purpose of conducting thermal performance evaluations of the Thomason ''SOLARIS'' watertrickle solar collector. The test facility was designed to include the instrumentation and other recommendations of the National Bureau of Standards (1). The facility has been used for simultaneously testing four ''SOLARIS'' collector panels under different operational conditions of inlet water temperatures and flow rates with the same atmospheric exposure. A near linear relationship of steady-state efficiency for the Thomason ''SOLARIS'' collector is displayed as a function of the difference between inlet water temperature and the ambient temperature, divided by the incident solar energy. The scatter in the data results from other variables which are analyzed and include glazing cleanliness, angle of incidence and wind. Various glazing materials are also examined and performance curves are presented for the water-trickle collector with a mylar film and ''Tedlar'' (Dupont registered trademark) PVF film. The performance of the ''SOLARIS'' water-trickle collector is compared with published results for conventional single and double glazed flat-plate collectors. The test facility has been expanded to evaluate the performance of an open fluid-film (silicone oil) collector designed by Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. Testing will be done at various ambient conditions and results will be compared with those of the water-trickle collectors. An analytical model will be developed and also compared with the water-trickle model. The next phase of the research will study various design modifications of both collectors. Included will be various glazing designs. The theoretical model of the collectors will be refined to more closely simulate performance.
- Research Organization:
- Virginia Univ., Charlottesville (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-S-05-4927
- OSTI ID:
- 7310786
- Report Number(s):
- ORO-4927-77/1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
FLAT PLATE COLLECTORS
PERFORMANCE TESTING
TEST FACILITIES
DESIGN
EXPERIMENT PLANNING
GLAZES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MODIFICATIONS
WATER
WORKING FLUIDS
COATINGS
FLUIDS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANNING
SOLAR COLLECTORS
TESTING
141000* - Solar Collectors & Concentrators