Continental J.

Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011 Wilolud Journals, 2011 ` Printed in Nigeria

ISSN: 2251 - 0494 http://www.wiloludjournal.com

CHARACTERIZATION OF A FLAT PLATE DOUBLE GLAZED SOLAR COLLECTOR O. Ojike National Centre for Energy Research and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state. Nigeria ABSTRACT A double glazed passive solar collector was characterized and its properties determined. It consists of four black rectangular steel boxes neatly laid side by side so that their top formed absorber plate with selective surface. The boxes which behave as thin fins were filled with each 12.7kg of RT60 paraffin. The space between the absorber plate and the inner glass serves as the air heater. The insulation is made of fibre glass of 0.06m thick at the bottom and sides of the collector. By natural convection, ambient air enters the air inlet header while the heated air leaves through the air outlet header. The collector is inclined towards the equator at 17oC. Energy balance equations were used to characterize the collector. The thermal response of the collector at Nsukka was tested with collector efficiency varying between 28 and 56%. The collectors average efficiency was 40%, which is within the published values for solar flat plate collectors operating under 100oC. The collector could be used as a heat source for various agricultural processing systems. KEYWORDS: passive, paraffin, energy, absorber-plate, efficiency, heat INTRODUCTION Flat-plate collectors are the simplest and most commonly used collectors for converting the suns radiation into useful heat. A collector is a device for converting the energy in solar radiation into a more usable or storable form. Flat plate collectors are designed for applications requiring energy delivery at moderate temperature (less than 100C) as in water and space heating (Duffie and Beckman, 1991, Agbo and Okoroigwe, 2007). They have the advantages of using both beam and diffuse solar radiation, not requiring orientation towards the sun and requiring little maintenance. They consist of (1) a dark flat-plate absorber of solar energy, upon which solar radiation falls and is absorbed, changing to heat energy (2) a transparent cover that allows solar energy to pass through but reduces the upward convection and radiation heat losses from the collector, (3) a heat-transport fluid (air, antifreeze or water) to remove heat from the absorber, and (4) a heat insulating backing to minimize heat losses by conduction. The absorber consists of a thin absorber sheet (of thermally stable polymers, aluminum, steel or copper, to which a matt black or selective coating is applied). Applications of solar energy in agriculture aside from growing crops include pumping water, drying crops, brooding chicks and drying chicken manure (Leon and Kumar, 2006). To solve the energy supply problems associated with poultry egg incubation, Irtwange (1992) developed a solar heated system with rock-bed energy storage (Enibe, 2002). Although his system could not operate due to faulty design features and improper choice/location of the energy storage device, it suggested the possibility of developing solar collectors with heat storage systems for agricultural purposes. Thus, in this study characterization of passive solar collector design as a heat source for agricultural processes is done. Solar radiation is a periodic energy resource with strong diurnal variation. Its use for agricultural purposes must therefore incorporate a storage system to take care of the off-sunshine hours. Ways of storing solar energy can be roughly classified into three types: sensible heat storage, latent heat storage and chemical reaction energy storage (FAO, 1994). Several advantages of phase change material (PCM) energy storage strongly suggest its preference in solar egg incubation system. This includes a high energy storage density and the isothermal nature of the heat storage and recovery process (Conti and Charach, 1996; Enibe, 2003). A phase change material is a solid which stores energy by melting upon the application of heat. The stored energy is recovered upon solidification of the liquid. Many latent heat materials have been reviewed (Enibe 2003; Agyenim et al., 2010; Alkilani et al., 2009). These are mainly hydrated salts (such as Glaubers salt), paraffins, non-paraffins and fatty acids (Enibe 2002; Agyenim et al., 2010). Many low-cost paraffins are now available for use as PCMs at different temperatures up to 110oC (Veraj et al., 1997). PCM energy storage

O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

devices have been developed for space applications (Fatah, 1994), domestic hot water systems, greenhouse heating and solar power plants (Conti and Charach, 1996). Good operating efficiencies have been reported. The use of phase change materials for energy storage is not without its troubles. For salt hydrates, the major drawback is that of crystallization and segregation of the salt during repeated cycles of heat charge and discharge (Rabin et al., 1995). Another problem, common to all PCMs, is the low thermal conductivity of the material. The problem may be overcome by the use of fins of various configurations (Veraj et al, 1997; Lacroix, 1993; Shatikian et al, 2008). The output useful energy from a flat-plate collector depends on the thermal and optical losses occurring within the system. Thus, the performance of the collector can be optimized if the losses are reduced minimally. Several works (Yeh et al., 2003; Mumah, 1995; Eisenmann et al., 2004; Agbo and Unachukwu, 2006; Agbo and Okoroigwe, 2007) have been done in the area of design, performance evaluation and optimization of the collectors. Evaluation of the collector losses had been carried out by most of these authors using the Klein model of the loss coefficient. Pillar and Agarwal (1981) had reported on the optical and thermal losses of the flat-plate collector as a function of the number of glazing cover, plate emittance, wind velocity and the ambient temperature using the Klein model. Agbo and Okoroigwe (2007), utilized the Malhotra et al. (1981) model for the collector overall heat-loss coefficient to investigate the effect of wind speed, number of glazing cover, ambient temperature, gap spacing between collector plate and the glazing cover, collector tilt angle and the plate emissivity on energy losses in the collector. This model is simpler than the Kleins and can also be used to study the effect of collector tilt angle which is not reflected in the Kleins model. The choice of a theoretical model for scientific evaluations is cost-effective and tremendously reduces the empiricism associated with systems designing and performance evaluation. The aim of this study, is to determine the properties of a double glazed passive solar collector using the Malhotra et al. (1981) model for the collector overall heat-loss coefficient. The properties to be determined are the output useful energy from a flat-plate collector and the system efficiency. MATERIALS AND METHODS Description of the Passive Solar Collector The passive solar collector was developed at the National Centre for Energy Research and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It is of natural convection type as shown in Fig 1 and 2. The solar collector is always tilted and oriented in such a way that it receives maximum solar radiation during the desired season of use. Okonkwo (1993) suggested that a practical approach to flat plate collector is to tilt the collector along north-south direction at an angle from the horizontal to the local latitude plus 10o to 15o. The best stationary orientation is due south in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, the solar collector in this work is oriented facing south and tilted at 17o to the horizontal. This is approximately 10o more than the local geographical latitude (Nsukka is 6.8oN), which is the best recommended orientation for a stationary absorber (Adegoke and Bolaji, 2000). The major components of the collector as shown in fig. 1 are four thin rectangular steel (1.1m by 0.5m by 0.03m) black boxes neatly laid side by side so that their top formed the absorber plate (Bt) of (2.2m by 1m) 2.2m2 area. The boxes were filled with each 12.7kg of RT60 paraffin (P). It has two glass covers, Gout and Gin. The insulation is made of fibre glass of 0.06m thick at the bottom and sides of the collector. In the evenings, the solar collector may be covered with an opaque screen to minimize the night-time heat loss coefficient.

Fig. 1. Photograph of the solar collector assembly with energy storage and air-heating chamber.

O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the collector The thermophysical properties of the PCM is shown in Table 1. Table 1: Thermophysical properties of the phase change material

Source: Enibe, 2003 Basic Flat-Plate Energy Balance Equation In steady state, the performance of a solar collector is described by an energy balance that indicates the distribution of incident solar energy into useful energy gain, thermal losses and optical losses. The solar radiation absorbed by a collector per unit area of absorber S is equal to the difference between the incident solar radiation and optical losses. The thermal energy lost from the collector as shown in fig 3 to the surroundings by conduction, convection, and infrared radiation can be represented as the product of a heat transfer coefficient UL times the difference between the mean absorber plate temperature Tp and the ambient temperature Ta.

Fig. 3: Energy balance of a Flat-plate collector (Agbo, and Okoroigwe, 2007) The useful energy output of a collector of area Ac is given as: Qu = Ac [S - UL (Tp - Ta)]

(1)

O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

(2) is average transmittance-absorptance product which according to Duffie and Beckman (1991) is . (3) is transmittance-absorptance product for beam radiation and is gotten from Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. Typical curves for 1 to 4 covers (Duffie and Beckman, 1991). Angle of incidence, the angle between the beam radiation on a surface and the normal to For collector facing directly south

that surface.

(4) Where Latitute, the angular location north or south of the equator, north positive; -90 with respect to the plane of the equator, north positive -23.450 n 23.450 (5) day of the year. 1 n 365 Slope, the angle between the plane of the surface in question and the horizontal; 0 1800 rotation of 90o

Declination, the angular position of the sun at solr noon (i.e., when the sun is on the local meridian)

Hour angle, the angular displacement of the sun east or west of the local meridian due to the earth on its axis at 150 per hour, morning negative, afternoon positive.

Collector overall -heat loss coefficient, UL: The collector overall heat loss coefficient is the sum of the top, edge and bottom loss coefficients. (6) Where (7) Where UT, and UB are the top loss and bottom loss coefficient, g is the transparent cover emissivity, p the absorber plate emissivity, Tg is temperature of the inner glass cover, while glass, absorber plate, and radiation heat transfer coefficients are h1, h2 and hr respectively. Following the basic procedure of Hottel and Woertz, Klein developed an empirical equation for the top loss coefficient, UT as (Duffie and Bechman, 1991; Agbo and Okoroigwe 2007):

O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

(8) where f = (1 + 0.089hw-0.1166hw p) (1 + 0.07866N), Cair = 520 (1-0.000052), is the collector tilt and is the Stephan Boltzmann constant. (9) The convective heat-transfer coefficient hw, for air flowing over the outside surface of the glass cover depends primarily on the wind velocity, v and can be determined from (Duffie and Beckman, 1991): hw = 2.8 + 3.8V Where V is the wind velocity in m/s The bottom loss coefficient, UB derives from the thermal conductivity, KS and the thickness, Ls of the bottom insulator as: (11) The air mass flow rate was calculated from the expression = aVAa (12) (10)

with Aa as air inlet area and a calculated for any given temperature Ta by considering air as a perfect gas at constant pressure. Thus, the useful instantaneous collectors efficiency is given as: (13) For solar collectors with storage system, the cumulative efficiency, than the instantaneous efficiency, (Enibe, 2002). is a more useful measure of performance

The cumulative heat gain from start up to any particular time is obtained by integrating the total useful heat gain for the period. Thus, (14) The cumulative efficiency at any time may be obtained by dividing the cumulative useful heat gain from the start by the cumulative irradiation, giving (15) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Solar Radiation Fig. 5 gives a graphical representation of the hourly solar radiation of December 10, 2010 which is the recommended average day for the month of December (Duffie and Beckman, 1991) in which the evaluation was done. The graph equally shows the variation of lowest and highest solar radiation days. The lowest and highest solar radiation days were December, 12 and 2 respectively.

O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

Time (hour) Fig.5 Solar Irradiance against Time where Slr, 02/10Slr and 12/10Slr are solar irradiance on the 10th, 2nd and 12th December, 2010 respectively. From Fig. 5 it is observed that the hourly solar radiation is maximum at 11:00 am and 2:00pm while lowest at early morning and late evening hours of the day respectively. Temperature of the Passive Solar collector/Heat Storage System Fig. 6 shows the variation in temperature of the (outer and inner glass medium, and absorber plate) collector and storage (paraffin) system.

Time (hours) Fig. 6. Temperature readings of the solar collector against Time of 10th December, 2010 where amb is ambient temperature. From the figure, minimum temperatures of 24o, 36o, 42o, and 45o were attained at 4:00am for outer glass, inner glass, absorber plate and paraffin respectively. After attaining the minimum values at 4:00am the temperatures for the entire collector continue to rise until they reach maximum temperatures of 34o, 75o, 96o and 106o for outer glass, inner glass, absorber plate and paraffin respectively at 2.00pm from then they begin to drop again till they reach the minimum values around 4.00 am the following day and the circle continues. Comparing figures 5 and 6 it can easily be observed that the values in figure 5 are directly affected by solar radiation available at any given time. During the day, that is sunshine period; the absorber plate absorbs solar radiation and converts it to heat energy. As air flows across the absorber plate, it absorbs heat from the plate and flows out through the air outlet. However, as solar irradiance starts reducing from the peak period less heat energy is available for storage medium and increasing quantity of stored energy is absorbed by the moving air

O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

into the incubating chamber. This continues till the minimum value is attained around 4:00a.m when solar radiation starts heating up the system again.

Fig. 7. Collector Efficiency Figure 7 shows the useful collector efficiency plotted as a function of total hourly insolation. The average efficiency is about 40%, which is well within the useful efficiency of flat plate solar collectors operating below 100oC (see for example, Duffie and Beckman, 1991; Enibe, 2002). The scatter observed in the plots is due to other climatic factors which influence collector efficiency, such as ambient temperature and diffuse fraction of incident radiation. The latter, as observed by Ezekwe and Ezeilo (1981), can be up to 40% on some overcast days. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION The passive solar collector with paraffin as a storage medium can conveniently be used for various agricultural processing purposes which include heating systems and drying of various crops. This can be done by attaching a drying chamber to the air outlet of the collector. Its advantage over ordinary passive solar dryers is that the heat storage medium helps drying to continue even during off sun-shine periods especially during the night hours. Thereby ensuring faster drying process. It can equally be attached to an incubating chamber to serve as a heat source for poultry egg incubation. In this way, energy needs of an average farmer can be solved to a large extend. REFERENCES Adegoke, C. O and Bolaji, B. O. (2000). Performance Evaluation of Solar-Operated Thermosyphon water System, International Journal of Engineering and Engineering Technology, 2 (1):35-40.

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O. Ojike: Continental J. Renewable Energy 2 (2): 10 - 18, 2011

Yeh, H. M., Ho, C. D. And Yeh, C. W. (2003). Effect of aspect ratio on the collector efficiency of sheet and tube solar water heaters with the consideration of hydraulic dissipated energy. Renewable Energy, 28: 15751586. Received for Publication: 05/09/2011 Accepted for Publication: 04/11/2011