475
A publication of
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS
VOL. 71, 2018 The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at [Link]/cet
Guest Editors: Xiantang Zhang, Songrong Qian, Jianmin Xu
Copyright © 2018, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-68-6; ISSN 2283-9216 DOI: 10.3303/CET1871080
Heat Pipe Solar Water Heater System Based on Heat Pipe
Technology
Jingang Yang
School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130021, China
tiantianjingang@[Link]
Although traditional solar water heaters bring great convenience to people’s life, there are still shortcomings
such as slow start-up speed and poor thermal conductivity. Therefore, in order to improve the performance of
solar water heaters, this paper designs a heat pipe solar water heater system based on heat pipe technology,
and uses experiments to analyze the heat transfer performance of glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon at room
temperature. According to the experiment results, this paper fabricates a copper-water/ZGM thermosiphon,
and based on this, it designs a siphon heat pipe vacuum solar water heater. The research results show that
the optimal liquid filling rate of the glass-copper thermosiphon is about 14%. Compared with water, for
thermosiphon with ZGM as the working medium, the temperature of each point is about 2°C higher. The glass-
water/ZGM thermosiphon has good isothermality and thermal conductivity, and the start-up temperature is
low, about 14°C. The research results of this paper have important guiding significance for the improvement
and optimization of solar water heater systems.
1. Introduction
As a necessity for production and life, energy is the foundation of human social activities (Taylor, 2010). With
the development of society, people's demand for energy is also growing rapidly. In the future, energy will
become a bottleneck restricting the economic development of countries around the world. The various energy
sources such as wind energy and hydropower that humans use today are directly or indirectly converted from
solar energy (Tarasova and Makarova, 2013), and solar energy has received wide attention from people due
to its advantages of pollution-free, regenerative and long-lasting (Huang et al., 2015), but the solar energy is
thin and intermittent, and is affected by natural conditions (Chun et al., 1999). Therefore, how to convert solar
energy into conventional energy that can be used on a large scale has become the focus of research by
experts and scholars.
Humans have used solar energy for more than 3,000 years, mainly in the form of photoelectric conversion and
photothermal conversion (Akyurt, 1984). The era of large-scale development and utilization of solar energy by
human dates back to the first solar house built in 1939. The earliest research on solar energy focused on the
basic theory of solar energy and the endothermic coating. Black nickel selective coating has laid the
foundation for the development of high-efficiency heat collectors (Pei et al., 2012). The oil crisis triggered by
the Middle East War in 1973 set off a new wave of solar energy development in various countries. The United
States uses solar energy to generate electricity and produce hot water. Japan has subsidized households to
install solar water heaters and power generation systems through financial subsidies. From 1980 to the
present, US, Denmark, Germany and other countries have made considerable progresses in solar energy
utilization such as solar heating and solar power generation. Although there are still some gaps between
China and other countries, the use of solar energy in China has also been continuously strengthened, and our
country has become a major producer of solar water heaters. Until now, the development of solar water
heaters has experienced three generations of solar water heaters, the batch water heater, the flat-plate water
heater and the vacuum tube water heater (Hanson, 1985), however, there are still various shortcomings such
as damage of a single-pipe can lead to overall failure, and poor impact resistance. Heat pipe technology
invented the heat pipe heat transfer components by applying the principle of heat transfer, which has the
advantages of good isothermality, high thermal conductivity, reversible heat flow direction, variable density,
Please cite this article as: Yang J., 2018, Heat pipe solar water heater system based on heat pipe technology, Chemical Engineering
Transactions, 71, 475-480 DOI:10.3303/CET1871080
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etc. Therefore, it is hoped that the advantages of the heat pipe can be used to improve the solar water heater.
The requirements for the development of the fourth generation of solar water heaters, namely the heat pipe
solar water heaters, were proposed.
Based on the above analysis, this paper collates references related to solar water heater systems and heat
pipe technology at home and abroad, proposes a heat pipe solar water heater system based on the heat pipe
technology, analyzes the experimental process and results of glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon in detail. Based
on this, it also introduces the production process and fabrication method of copper-water/ZGM thermosiphon
in detail, analyzes the efficiency of solar water heater and designs a siphon heat pipe vacuum solar water
heater.
2. Experimental study on solar heat pipe technology
2.1 Experiment objective and equipment
2.1.1 Experiment objective
The thermosiphon is a kind of heat pipe, but has the advantages of reliable heat transfer performance, low
price, simple structure and convenient manufacture compared to ordinary heat pipes, and it’s a kind of high-
efficient heat transfer component among various heat transfer devices. However, its heat transfer performance
is greatly affected by the dip angle, the physical and chemical properties of the liquid working medium and the
liquid filling rate (Nuntaphan et al., 2009). Therefore, this paper uses experiments to analyze the heat transfer
performance of glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon at room temperature, and fabricates a copper-water/ZGM
thermosiphon based on this.
2.1.2 Experimental equipment
The glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon experimental equipment is shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon experimental equipment
Name Model Quantity
Quartz glass tube Φ30*2，total length 990mm One
Temperature Sensor —— Three
Rotary vane mechanical pump —— One
Vacuum gauge —— One
Electric constant temperature hot bath 0~500 watts adjustable power One
Measuring cup 500ml Two
Measuring cylinder 500-100ml 1 each
Thermometer Minimum scale 0.2℃ Two
Three-way valve —— One
Rubber stopper —— One
Rubber hose —— Several
Iron stand —— One
2.2 Glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon experiment process and results analysis
2.2.1 Experiment process
Before the experiment, the thermosiphon was cleaned and dried. In order to obtain the optimal liquid filling
rate of the thermosiphon, the liquid filling rate (distilled water) was set to be less than 5%, 14% and more than
20%, and the angle with the horizontal direction was set to 90°, when the vacuum gauge pointer is pointing at
0.09Mpa, the vacuuming is stopped, and the condensation section is condensed by natural convection cooling
(indoor air is 5°C). Under the same conditions, the working medium is changed from water to SGM and then
perform the experiment, separately record the temperature change of the hot water bath under the two kinds
of working media, and the temperature change of the evaporation section, the adiabatic section and the
condensation section with time in the thermosiphon, the results are shown in Figures 1-3.
2.2.2 Analysis of experimental results
When the liquid filling rate of the heat pipe is higher than 20%, during the temperature rise of the hot water
bath from 43°C to 77°C, the boiling inside the thermosiphon is changed from indirect to high frequency, while
the temperature of the evaporation section rises from 26°C to the final 55°C, and the final temperature of the
condensation section is only 50°C, indicating that the liquid filling amount is too large, resulting in unstable
thermal conductivity and poor heat transfer effect. When the liquid filling rate is less than 5%, during the
process of raising the temperature of the hot water bath from 45°C to 65°C, the liquid in the evaporating pool
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changes from indirect boiling to basically dried, and the temperature of the evaporation section rises from
28°C to the final 38°C. When the temperature rises to 75°C, the evaporation section of the thermosiphon
reaches the dry limit and is completely dried, so the liquid filling rate of the heat pipe should not be lower than
5%. When the liquid filling rate is 14%, the heat transfer of the thermosiphon is relatively stable. It can be seen
from Figures 1-3 that the temperature difference between the condensation section and the evaporation
section of the thermosiphon is less, and the temperature-time curves of the adiabatic section and the
condensation section are basically coincident, indicating that their isothermal and thermal conductivity are
good. In the course of the experiment, the final temperature of the working medium ZGM is about 2°C higher
at each point compared to water, indicating that the thermal conductivity is better.
Evaporation section (water)
90 Evaporation section (ZGM)
Water bath temperature
80
70
60
Temperature
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Time (minutes)
Figure 1: Superposition of temperature-time curve and hot water bath temperature time curve of evaporation
section
Evaporation section (water)
90 Evaporation section (ZGM)
Water bath temperature
80
70
60
Temperature
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Time (minutes)
Figure 2: Superposition of temperature-time curve and hot water bath temperature time curve of adiabatic
section
2.3 Production of copper-water/ZGM thermosiphon
2.3.1 Production process
The fabrication method of thermosiphon is the key factor affecting its quality. Figure 4 shows the flow chart of
the production process of copper-water/ZGM thermosiphon, including mechanical processing and cleaning of
the tube shell, assembly and welding, vacuum leak detection, vacuuming and liquid filling, sealing and cutting,
and other processes (Morrison et al., 1999).
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Evaporation section (water)
90 Evaporation section (ZGM)
Water bath temperature
80
70
60
Temperature
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Time (minutes)
Figure 3: Superposition of temperature-time curve and hot water bath temperature time curve of
condensation section
Figure 4: Copper thermosiphon production process flow chart
2.3.2 Production of copper-water/ZGM thermosiphon
(1) Cleaning of copper pipes
In order to avoid the influence of various impurities on the weld quality and the discharge of non-condensable
gas to affect the vacuum degree of the tube, before fabricating the thermosiphon, the pipe shell, liquid filling
pipe and the end cap shall be cleaned by phenol washing or acyl washing. In this paper, the copper pipe was
cleaned by dilute ammonium nitrate with a volume ratio of 1:1 and a concentration of 50%, and dilute sulfuric
acid with a volume ratio of 1:1 and a concentration of 55%.
(2) Main points of liquid filling process
Before filling liquid into the thermosiphon, firstly, the liquid working medium should be degassed by vacuuming
or heating and exhausting (this paper takes the vacuuming method) to ensure the vacuum degree of the
thermosiphon after filling the liquid. Secondly, a part of the air in the thermosiphon is discharged by heating
the shell to save the time for vacuuming in the next step.
(3) Welding and sealing technology
In order to ensure the sealing performance of the thermosiphon and improve its impact resistance and
pressure resistance, this paper uses the spot-welding electrode to internally weld the flattened liquid filling
pipe, and cut the fused part with the cutting tool. The specific process is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: Pipe sealing diagram
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3. Heat pipe solar water heater system based on heat pipe technology
3.1 Efficiency of heat pipe solar water heater
3.1.1 Working principle of a single heat pipe vacuum heat-collector
Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the operation of a single heat pipe vacuum heat-collector. The copper heat
pipe receives the solar heat energy transformed by the selective absorption coating, according to the heat
pipe principle, the heat transfer medium is heated and vaporized to carry the heat to the condensation section,
where the steam releases the heat and condenses to liquid, and the liquid flows back to the heating section at
the bottom, this cycle is continuously repeated so as to achieve the transformation process from solar energy
to thermal energy (Omara et al., 2013).
Figure 6: Schematic diagram of a single heat pipe vacuum heat-collector
3.1.2 Basic equation for heat transfer of heat pipe vacuum heat-collector
In order to facilitate the heat transfer analysis, it is assumed that the steam of the heat transfer medium is
uniform, the contact thermal resistance between the heat transfer plate and the heat pipe evaporation section,
the air convection and conduction heat loss in the vacuum tube are negligible, the total heat loss coefficient
and heat transfer coefficient are ℎ constants.
(1) Total heat loss coefficient of the vacuum tube heat-collector:
(ρ L − ρG ) ⋅ g ⋅ VB = πa 2 ρ LU0
2
⋅f (1)
2
Where, and are the heat loss coefficients of the heat preservation box and the vacuum tube,
respectively.
(2) Instantaneous efficiency .
Ap Tp − Ta
η= (τ a ) − U (2)
As I
I
Where, and are the area of the heat absorbing plate and the vacuum tube, respectively; and are
the temperature of the hot plate and the temperature of the air outside the tube, respectively; is the
absorption rate of the absorption coating, τ is the transmittance of the outer glass.
(3) Efficiency factor of heat pipe vacuum tube:
Ap Th − Ta
η2= F 1 (τ a ) − U I (3)
Ag I
Where, is the area of the outer glass tube, is the average temperature during operation of the copper
thermosiphon and is the efficiency factor of the heat-collector.
3.2 Overall design of heat pipe vacuum solar water heater
In order to improve the start-up speed of the solar water heater, and to make up for the disadvantages of
traditional solar water heater such as some hot water in the tube cannot be used, the inside of the vacuum
tube is easy to scale, damage of a single-pipe can lead to overall failure, and the poor impact resistance.
Based on these, this paper applied the vacuum layer insulation principle, diffuse reflection secondary heat
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collection principle and the working principle of heat pipe, and designed a siphon heat pipe vacuum solar
water heater, as shown in the figure.
Figure 7: Siphon heat pipe solar water heater
4. Conclusion
In order to improve the shortcomings of traditional solar water heaters, such as slow start-up speed and poor
thermal conductivity, this paper introduced heat pipe technology to study the heat pipe solar water heater
system based on heat pipe technology. The specific conclusions are as follows:
(1) The experimental results of glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon show that the liquid filling rate of the
thermosiphon shouldn’t be lower than 5%, or higher than 20%, the best liquid filling rate is 15%, and the
temperature difference between condensation section and the evaporation section of the thermosiphon is less,
indicating that its isothermality and thermal conductivity are better, and the working medium ZGM has better
thermal conductivity than water.
(2) Based on the experimental results of glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon, the fabrication process and method
of copper-water/ZGM thermosiphon were analyzed.
(3) Based on the glass-water/ZGM thermosiphon experiment and the fabrication of copper-water/ZGM
thermosiphon, a siphon heat pipe vacuum solar water heater was designed.
Acknowledgments
Science and technology project of the Jilin provincial education department in the 13th Five-Year Planning
(Heat recovery of low temperature bathing water based on MPHA technology) JJKH20170251KJ
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