| Author | Ali, Md. Arshad |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-86-2 |
| Subject(s) | Solar water heaters
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Even though some improvements in performance of the
conventional flat - plate collector for water heating have been
achieved by adding expensive selective coating, the possibility
of simple alternative approach has been overlooked. In this
study, a new approach of solar water heating, the phenomenon of
total internal reflection, is investigated. A prototype solar
thermal collector, named "Prismatic Solar Thermal Collector" is
designed and fabricated for experimental investigations. The
collector of this type is simple and cheap compare to
conventional flat - plate collectors, and h as high fluid storage
capacity per unit aperture area as such additional storage is not
essential.
The experimental results s how a high optical efficiency of
0. 87 a nd 0 . 78 with an additional glass cover. The h eat loss
coefficient of the collector decreased from 22 W/m2 °C to 13
W/m2 °C by fixing the additional glass cover. The flow pattern of
the working fluid in the collector is not too critical for the
performance as solar radiation is mostly absorbed directly by the
working fluid.
A model used to determine the instantaneous performance
parameters of this collector is developed to predict mean fluid
temperature of the collector. The predicted and the experimental
values are close to each other, which
confirms the validity of the model used.
The preliminary economic analysis shows that the cost of
solar energy is about 0. 83 6 per kWh which is 55% less than
the cost of average domestic electricity at 1 . 85 6per kWh. |
| Year | 1986 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Prida Wibulswas |
| Examination Committee(s) | Exell, Robert H.B. ;Reddy, T. A.
|
| Scholarship Donor(s) | DAAD |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1986 |