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Optimal flow control of a forced circulation solar water heating system with energy storage units and connecting pipes

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  • Ntsaluba, Sula
  • Zhu, Bing
  • Xia, Xiaohua

Abstract

This paper focuses on pump flow rate optimization for forced circulation solar water heating systems with pipes. The system consists of: an array of flat plate solar collectors, two storage tanks for the circulation fluid and water, a heat exchanger, two pumps, and connecting pipes. The storage tanks operate in the fully mixed regime to avoid thermal stratification. The pipes are considered as separated components in the system so as to account for their thermal effects. The objective is to determine optimal flow rates in the primary and secondary loops in order to maximize energy transfer to the circulation fluid storage tank, while reaching user defined temperatures in the water storage tank to increase thermal comfort. A model is developed using mainly the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The model is used to maximize the difference between the energy extracted from the solar collector and the combined sum of the energy extracted by the heat exchanger and corresponding energies used by the pumps in the primary and secondary loops. The objective function maximizes the overall system energy gain whilst minimizing the sum of the energy extracted by the heat exchanger and corresponding pump energy in the secondary loop to conserve stored energy and meet the user requirement of water tank temperatures. A case study is shown to illustrate the effects of the model. When compared to other flow control techniques, in particular the most suitable energy efficient control strategy, the results of this study show a 7.82% increase in the amount of energy extracted. The results also show system thermal losses ranging between 5.54% and 7.34% for the different control strategies due to connecting pipe losses.

Suggested Citation

  • Ntsaluba, Sula & Zhu, Bing & Xia, Xiaohua, 2016. "Optimal flow control of a forced circulation solar water heating system with energy storage units and connecting pipes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 108-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:89:y:2016:i:c:p:108-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.11.047
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Farahat, S. & Sarhaddi, F. & Ajam, H., 2009. "Exergetic optimization of flat plate solar collectors," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 1169-1174.
    2. Dalla Rosa, A. & Li, H. & Svendsen, S., 2011. "Method for optimal design of pipes for low-energy district heating, with focus on heat losses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 2407-2418.
    3. Kicsiny, R. & Nagy, J. & Szalóki, Cs., 2014. "Extended ordinary differential equation models for solar heating systems with pipes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 166-176.
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    2. Khoshvaght-Aliabadi, M. & Tatari, M. & Salami, M., 2018. "Analysis on Al2O3/water nanofluid flow in a channel by inserting corrugated/perforated fins for solar heating heat exchangers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1099-1108.
    3. Correa-Jullian, Camila & López Droguett, Enrique & Cardemil, José Miguel, 2020. "Operation scheduling in a solar thermal system: A reinforcement learning-based framework," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    4. Edoardo Alessio Piana & Benedetta Grassi & Laurent Socal, 2020. "A Standard-Based Method to Simulate the Behavior of Thermal Solar Systems with a Stratified Storage Tank," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Lugo, S. & García-Valladares, O. & Best, R. & Hernández, J. & Hernández, F., 2019. "Numerical simulation and experimental validation of an evacuated solar collector heating system with gas boiler backup for industrial process heating in warm climates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1120-1132.
    6. Le Minh Nhut & Youn Cheol Park, 2020. "A Study on Developing an Automatic Controller with an Inverter Collector Pump for Solar-Assisted Heating System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-11, April.
    7. Tian, Shuai & Lu, Yuxin & Zhou, Xin & Zhang, Lun & An, Jingjing & Yan, Da & Shi, Xing & Jin, Xing, 2023. "A new perspective of solar hot water system operation optimization: Supply and demand matching," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 89-104.

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