Scribd
Upload
60 views

Tutorial 5

The document contains two questions regarding solar energy engineering. Q1 asks about determining the total useful energy gain and hourly collector efficiency of an array of 10 flat plate solar collectors. It is determined to be 35 MJ and 44.6% respectively. Q2 asks about a parabolic trough collector, determining the useful energy gain is 5980 W and exit fluid temperature is 234°C.

Uploaded by

harshit khandelwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
60 views

Tutorial 5

The document contains two questions regarding solar energy engineering. Q1 asks about determining the total useful energy gain and hourly collector efficiency of an array of 10 flat plate solar collectors. It is determined to be 35 MJ and 44.6% respectively. Q2 asks about a parabolic trough collector, determining the useful energy gain is 5980 W and exit fluid temperature is 234°C.

Uploaded by

harshit khandelwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering

BE(Mechanical Engg.) (Final Year) Solar Energy Engineering (UME853)


Tutorial-5

Q1. An array of 10 flat plate solar collector panels is installed in parallel in Patiala to heat water. Each
solar collector panel has 1 m width and 2 m length. The flow rate of water through each collector
panel is 0.03 kg/s and the water enters the solar collector at 40°C temperature. The specific heat of
water is 4.19 kJ/kg°C. For the collector assume the overall loss coefficient (UL) to be 8.0 W/m2°C
and the collector efficiency factor (F1) to be 0.84. The average hourly radiation on the plane of
collector (Ig), the average hourly radiation absorbed by the absorber plate (S) and the average hourly
ambient temperature (Ta) during an hour 10-11 am were found to be 3.92 MJ/m2, 3.29 MJ/m2 and
2°C respectively. Determine total useful energy gain by an array of solar panels and hourly collector
efficiency during the hour 10 to 11 am.
Ans: 35 MJ and 44.6%

Q2. A parabolic trough collector is 10 m long and 2.5 m wide. The ambient temperature is 10°C and
absorbed radiation flux per unit aperture area is 430 W/m2. The absorber is a cylindrical tube
surrounded by an evacuated cylindrical glass cover. The absorber tube has an outside diameter of
60 mm and the cylindrical glass cover has a diameter of 90 mm. The tube is made of stainless steel
(k = 16 W/m-°C) with a wall thickness of 5 mm. The collector is designed to heat a fluid entering
the absorber at 200°C at a flow rate of 0.0537 kg/s. The fluid has specific heat of 3.26 kJ/kg-°C.
The heat transfer coefficient inside the tube is 300 W/m2-°C and the overall loss coefficient is 10.6
W/m2-°C. Estimate the useful energy gain and exit fluid temperature.
Ans: 5980 W and 234°C
Q1: An array of 10 flat plate solar collector panels is installed in parallel in Patiala to heat water. Each
solar collector panel has 1 m width and 2 m length. The flow rate of water through each collector panel
is 0.03 kg/s and the water enters the solar collector at 40°C temperature. The specific heat of water is
4.19 kJ/kg°C. For the collector assume the overall loss coefficient (U L) to be 8.0 W/m2°C and the
collector efficiency factor (F1) to be 0.84. The average hourly radiation on the plane of collector (Ig),
the average hourly radiation absorbed by the absorber plate (S) and the average hourly ambient
temperature (Ta) during an hour 10-11 am were found to be 3.92 MJ/m2, 3.29 MJ/m2 and 2°C
respectively. Determine total useful energy gain by an array of solar panels and hourly collector
efficiency during the hour 10 to 11 am.
solution

Useful energy gain per unit collector area is calculated as:

𝑞𝑢 = 𝐹𝑅 [𝑆 − 𝑈𝐿 (𝑇𝑓𝑖 − 𝑇𝑎 )] , W/m2 Eq. (1)


where, FR is heat removal factor which is calculated as:

𝐹𝑅 = 𝑧𝐹1 [1 − 𝑒𝑥𝑝(− 1⁄𝑧)] Eq. (2)


𝑚̇𝑐𝑝 0.03×4190
In above Eq. (2), z is calculated as: 𝑧 = = = 9.352
𝐴𝑐 𝐹1 𝑈𝐿 2×0.84×8

Thus, from Eq. (2), we get


𝐹𝑅 = 0.796
Using Eq. (1) to calculate useful energy gain per unit collector area :
3600
𝑞𝑢 = 0.796 × [3.29 − 8 × (40 − 2) × ] = 1.75 MJ/m2
106

Total useful energy gain by an array of 10 solar collector panel is:


𝑄𝑢 = 10 × 𝐴𝑐 × 𝑞𝑢 = 10 × 2 × 1.75 = 35 MJ (𝐀𝐧𝐬)
Hourly collector efficiency during the hour 10 to 11 am is:
𝑞𝑢 1.75
𝜂= = = 0.446 𝑜𝑟 44.6% (𝐀𝐧𝐬)
𝐼𝑔 3.92
Q2. A parabolic trough collector is 10 m long and 2.5 m wide. The ambient temperature is 10°C and
absorbed radiation flux per unit aperture area is 430 W/m2. The absorber is a cylindrical tube
surrounded by an evacuated cylindrical glass cover. The absorber tube has an outside diameter of 60
mm and the cylindrical glass cover has a diameter of 90 mm. The tube is made of stainless steel (k =
16 W/m-°C) with a wall thickness of 5 mm. The collector is designed to heat a fluid entering the
absorber at 200°C at a flow rate of 0.0537 kg/s. The fluid has specific heat of 3.26 kJ/kg-°C. The heat
transfer coefficient inside the tube is 300 W/m2-°C and the overall loss coefficient is 10.6 W/m2-°C.
Estimate the useful energy gain and exit fluid temperature.
solution

Dgc Given:
L = 10 m Do = 60 mm = 0.06 m
DO
W = 2.5 m Di = 60 − 10 = 50 mm = 0.05 m
Di Ta = 10°C Dgc = 90 mm = 0.09 m
S = 430 W/m2 k = 16 W/m-°C
Tfi = 200°C
m = 0.0537 kg/s
cp = 3.26 kJ/kg-°C
hfi = 300 W/m2-°C
UL = 10.6 W/m2-°C

Surface area of absorber tube = Aab = 𝜋 DoL = 1.88 m2

Aperture area = Aap = (W − Dgc ) × L = 24.1 m2

Useful energy gain per unit time is calculated as:

𝑄𝑢 = 𝐹𝑅 [𝐴𝑎𝑝 𝑆 − 𝐴𝑎𝑏 𝑈𝐿 (𝑇𝑓𝑖 − 𝑇𝑎 )] ,W Eq. (1)

where, FR is heat removal factor which is calculated as:


𝐹𝑅 = 𝑧𝐹1 [1 − 𝑒𝑥𝑝(− 1⁄𝑧)] Eq. (2)

In above Eq. (2), F1 and z are calculated as:


1⁄
𝑈𝐿 𝑚𝑐̇ 𝑝
Collector efficiency factor = 𝐹1 = 1 𝐷 𝐷 𝐷
= 0.96, and 𝑧 = = 9.15
+ 𝑜 + 𝑜 ln( 𝑜 ) 𝐴𝑎𝑏 𝐹1 𝑈𝐿
𝑈𝐿 ℎ𝑓𝑖 𝐷𝑖 2𝑘 𝐷𝑖

Using Eq. (1) to calculate useful energy gain per unit time :

𝑄𝑢 = 𝐹𝑅 [𝐴𝑎𝑝 𝑆 − 𝐴𝑎𝑏 𝑈𝐿 (𝑇𝑓𝑖 − 𝑇𝑎 )] = 5980 W (ans)

Since useful energy gain is also given by: 𝑄𝑢 = 𝑚̇𝑐𝑝 (𝑇𝑓𝑜 − 𝑇𝑓𝑖 )
𝑄𝑢
∴ 𝑇𝑓𝑜 = 𝑇𝑓𝑖 + = 234℃ (𝐚𝐧𝐬)
𝑚̇𝑐𝑝

You might also like