10.07.2015   Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV)

Tube distance, collector tilt and collector orientation

The optimum tube centre distance, collector tilt and orientation with respect the thermal performance per tube is investigated for the two locations. The gross collector area is assumed to be constant in the solar heating plant. Consequently, there are more tubes in the collector area when the tube distance is small than when the tube distance is large. Table 2 shows how the collector orientation, the tilt and the tube distance are varied.

Collector azimuth [°]

-90 (east), 75, 60, 45, 30, 15, 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90 (west)

Collector tilt [°]

15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 89

Tube centre distance [m]

0.048, 0.077, 0.107, 0.137, 0.167, 0.197

(corresponds to 1mm — 150 mm of air gap between the tubes)

Table 2: Overview of the parameter variations performed with the model.