Modeling and Experimental Verification of a Straight-Through Evacuated Tube Installed on a Façade for Solar Space Heating
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 1
Abstract
Using solar energy for space heating is a promising technology to offset buildings’ energy consumption and reduce environmental pollution. Solar air heating system is free of freezing and inexpensive owing to its inherent simplicity in many circumstances. In this paper, the performance of a straight-through evacuated tube (ST tube) which opens on both ends for space heating, is studied. A thermal model for a single ST tube installed on a building façade for solar space heating using hot air was developed and an experimental measurement was conducted. The results predicted by the thermal model and experimental measurement agreed well, which confirms the validity of the thermal model. The performance and some aspects for practical application of the ST tubes for solar space heating are studied and discussed. The daily average efficiency of the ST tube was approximately 55% under the experimental conditions. The radiative thermal resistance from the absorber tube to the cover tube was almost equal to the total resistance, and the emissivity of coating on the outside surface of absorber tube had great effect on total heat loss. The cost and useful heat gains for a single room in a building in Beijing was studied. The payback period of this solar space heating system is approximately 8 years. The performance of solar collectors, including multiple ST tubes, will be studied in the next research.
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Acknowledgments
The research is supported by the national key project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China, on “Green Buildings and Building Industrialization” through Grant No. 2016YFC0700500 and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51406119).
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Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 1 • February 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 23, 2017
Accepted: Jul 11, 2017
Published online: Nov 23, 2017
Published in print: Feb 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Apr 23, 2018
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