Analysis of experimental test results for the solar water heater of UDES

Abstract

A new thermosyphon solar water heater was built at UDES. In order to evaluate the performances of the prototype, a test bench has been established according to ISO standards. The tests were conducted over a period of twelve days to determine the daily performance and to verify the degree of mixing as defined by the ISO 9459-2 standard. The results were used for the prediction of long-term performances by simulation with SAM. As it has been noticed that the recorded performances were not sufficient, a new simulation was performed by replacing the UDES collector by a reference one from the literature having higher effective area and efficiency. It was observed that the obtained results were much better in terms of achieved temperatures at the outlet of the solar water heater. In order to obtain comparable systems performances, it was concluded that the thermal collector has to be reviewed.