Asee peer logo

Solar Water Heating System Experimental Apparatus

Download Paper |

Conference

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 10, 2012

Start Date

June 10, 2012

End Date

June 13, 2012

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Laboratory Experiences with Thermal and Chemical Systems and Sensors

Tagged Division

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Page Count

13

Page Numbers

25.1168.1 - 25.1168.13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--21925

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/21925

Download Count

921

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Hosni I. Abu-Mulaweh Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

visit author page

Hosni I. Abu-Mulaweh is professor of mechanical engineering currently on sabbatical leave at King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. He earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly, University of Missouri, Rolla), Rolla, Mo. His areas of interest are heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

Solar Water Heating System Experimental ApparatusAcquiring new instructional laboratory apparatus is a challenge due to typical budgetarylimitations. In addition, the apparatus designed by companies specializing in educationequipment may not exactly reflect the educational objective intended by the faculty. Theseobstacles had forced us to seek and search different venues to acquire experimental laboratoryapparatus for demonstrating heat transfer principles. We concluded that such an apparatus can bedesigned, developed and constructed “in house” within a manageable budget. This can besuccessfully accomplished by taking advantage of the capstone senior design project andASHRAE Undergraduate Senior Project Grant Program which has been obtained.This paper describes the design and development of an experimental apparatus for demonstratingsolar water heating. This solar heating experimental was designed to meet several requirements:1) the system is to operate using the thermosiphon concept, in which flow through the system iscreated by density differences in the fluid; 2) to increase heating to the water and improve theeducational value of the project, the solar collector must have the ability to rotate in order tomaintain a position perpendicular to the sun’s rays; 3) the experimental apparatus must bemobile. A prototype of a solar water heating system was constructed and tested. The solarcollector rotated as the sun position/angle was changing, indicating the functionality of thecontrol system that was design to achieve this task. Experimental measurements indicate that thewater in the tank was heated by the solar energy being absorbed by the solar collector. Moreover,the water temperature measurements at different heights in the storage tank demonstrate thethermosiphon effect. Solar water heating utilizing thermosiphon is attractive because iteliminates the need for a circulating pump.

Abu-Mulaweh, H. I. (2012, June), Solar Water Heating System Experimental Apparatus Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21925

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015