Hybrid Energy Thermal Water Pump for Producing Hot Water from a Shallow Well in Thailand
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 3
Abstract
The main objective of this research was to study a hybrid energy thermal water pump (HBWP) in order to produce hot water from a shallow well in Thailand. The pump was powered by air-steam which was produced from a flat-plate solar collector (SC) coupled with a supplementary heat source. The HBWP system with 9 L capacity comprised an SC, an overhead tank (OT), a storage tank (ST), a heat source tank (HST), a liquid piston tank (LT), and a one-way valve. A one-meter discharge head and 1–3 m suction heads were tested. The LT was initially filled with 10% air and 90% water. The pump could run automatically. It was found that for suction heads of 1 and 3 m, the total pump efficiency was around 0.012–0.027%, and the thermal efficiency was around 32.5–36.3%. The pump could suck around 7–8 L/cycle. The average temperature of pumped water was around 42.9–46.7°C, which is sufficiently high for residential use. It was concluded that the suction heads affected the pump efficiency. Increasing air amount in the system could reduce some energy consumption. Moreover, a heat source thermal water pump (HSWP) was tested. The pump capacity was expanded to 240 L. The energy input was taken from only one heat source. System operation was controlled by hand. Suction heads of 1, 3, and 5 m were tested. It was found that the pump could suck around and had more pump efficiency than the smaller pump with hybrid energy. However, the HSWP is more essential for agriculture in the rural area.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledged the financial support provided by National Research Council of Thailand. The authors also give thanks to the Department of Energy Technology, School of Energy Environment and Materials, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi for their supports. This work also was supported by the Higher Education Research Promotion and National Research University Project of Thailand, Office of the Higher Education Commission.
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Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 3 • September 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 8, 2014
Accepted: Mar 12, 2015
Published online: Jun 17, 2015
Discussion open until: Nov 17, 2015
Published in print: Sep 1, 2016
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