EVALUATION OF THE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF A HOT WATER TANK WITH BUILT-IN HEATING COIL

Hot water tanks with a built-in water-heating coil are commonly used in district heating house stations in Denmark for domestic hot water (DHW) production and storage. In this study, an evaluation of the dynamic performance of a hot water tank with built-in heating coil is carried out by applying a dynamic simulation programme which has been made previously, based on a simple dynamic model developed by the authors. System evaluation of the way in which system parameters, such as control valve size, heat loss coefficient of the DHW circulation pipe, position of the temperature sensor (for DHW temperature control) and fouling of the heating coil, affect the domestic hot water capacity and the average district heating water cooling for a given hot water tank is presented and discussed in this paper. The evaluation results show the importance of the correct design of the control valve size, the reduction of heat loss from DHW circulation pipes, the careful adjustment of temperature sensor position and temperature sensor set-point, and the reduction of the heat coil fouling growth rate in order to operate the hot water tank in an efficient way and to achieve significant cooling of the district heating water. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An energy-independent house combining solar thermal and sky radiation energies

A unique energy-independent house incorporating solar thermal, underground coolness, and sky radiation cooling energies is presented. An experiment on the long-term thermal energy storage (TES) performance was carried out for a model solar house at Tohoku University, and its characteristics, such as heat loss from the reservoir and long-term variation of the water temperature are reported. An experiment on the long-term sky radiation cooling was also performed and the radiative cooling performance of the sky radiator is reported.

It was shown that the proposed system provides almost all the heating, cooling, and domestic hot water (DHW) needs for a standard Japanese home.     

Identifying key design parameters of the integrated energy system for a residential Zero Emission Building in Norway

This study examined an integrated solution of the building energy supply system consisting of flat plate solar thermal collectors in combination with a ground-source heat pump and an exhaust air heat pump for the heating and cooling, and production of domestic hot water. The supply energy system was proposed to a 202 m² single-family demo dwelling (SFD), which is defined by the Norwegian Zero Emission Building standard. The main design parameters were analyzed in order to find the most essential parameters, which could significantly influenced the total energy use. This study found that 85% of the total heating demand of the SFD was covered by renewable energy. The results showed that the solar energy generated by the system could cover 85–92% and 12–70% of the domestic hot water demand in summer and winter respectively. In addition, the solar energy may cover 2.5–100% of the space heating demand. The results showed that the supply air volume, supply air and zone set point temperatures, auxiliary electrical volume, volume of the DHW tank, orientation and tilt angle and the collector area could influenced mostly the total energy use.     

Design of a solar heating and cooling system for CSU solar house II

This paper describes the design of a solar air heating and night/day exchange cooling system with emphasis on the operational modes. In this type of system the collector absorbs solar energy and converts it to heat for space heating and domestic water heating. Cooling is accomplished by using the cool night air available in dry climates) to cool a pebble-bed storage unit and subsequently using the cool pebbles to lower the air temperature in the building during the day. Circulation is from the solar system to the building in the same manner as most modern heating and air conditioning units but uses air as the medium for heat transfer. The air system is particularly suited for climatic regions where heating loads are high and cooling requirements are moderate. The system utilized in Solar House II operates in either the heating or cooling mode as selected through a seasonable change-over switch. Solar preheated hot water is furnished for domestic use in either mode.     

Solar heat pump systems for domestic hot water

Vapour compression heat pumps can upgrade ambient heat sources to match the desired heating load temperature. They can offer considerable increase in operational energy efficiency compared to current water heating systems. Solar heat pumps collect energy not only from solar radiation but also from the ambient air. They can operate even at night or in totally overcast conditions. Since the evaporator/collector operates at temperatures lower than ambient air temperature it does not need glazing or a selective coating to prevent losses. Currently, however, they are not used much at all in domestic or commercial water heating systems. In this paper comparison is made of a conventional solar hot water system, a conventional air source heat pump hot water system and a solar heat pump water heating system based on various capital city locations in Australia. A summary is given of specific electricity consumption, initial and operating costs, and greenhouse gas generation of the three systems dealt with in this paper. The ultimate choice of unit for a particular location will depend heavily on the solar radiation, climate and the local price paid for electricity to drive or boost the unit chosen.     

Energy and exergy performance of residential heating systems with separate mechanical ventilation

The paper brings new evidence on the impact of separate mechanical ventilation system on the annual energy and exergy performance of several design alternatives of residential heating systems, when they are designed for a house in Montreal. Mathematical models of residential heating, ventilation and domestic hot water (HVAC–DHW) systems, which are needed for this purpose, are developed and furthermore implemented in the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) environment. The Coefficient of Performance and the exergy efficiency are estimated as well as the entropy generation and exergy destruction of the overall system. The equivalent greenhouse gas emissions due to the on-site and off-site use of primary energy sources are also estimated. The addition of a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery to any HVAC–DHW system discussed in the paper increases the energy efficiency; however, it decreases the exergy efficiency, which indicates a potential long-term damaging impact on the natural environment. Therefore, the use of a separate mechanical ventilation system in a house should be considered with caution, and recommended only when other means for controlling the indoor air quality cannot be applied.     

House walls as passive solar collectors: An assessment

The gross solar energy falling on a typical house during the heating season is greater than the space heating requirement. Conventional solar collectors produce hot water, which is then used to meet the domestic hot water and space heating requirements of the house. Such collectors, however, are expensive, and it is only possible to use them to collect a small proportion of the available solar energy. This paper looks at an alternative approach of using the entire wall surface as a passive solar collector, by using an external layer of translucent insulation. Measurements and calculations are reported which show that a wall with a double-glazed outer layer would be expected to show a zero net heat loss over the heating season. This is not considered to be sufficient advantage to overcome the cost and other problems associated with the system.     

Hydronic heating systems: transient modelling,validation and load matching control

A dynamic model of a hydronic heating system is developed. The system consists of a boiler, baseboard terminal units, domestic hot water (DHW) heat exchanger coil and an environmental zone. The model is described by a set of time varying nonlinear coupled differential equations. Predicted responses from the model are compared with the measured data gathered on an on–off controlled hydronic heating system installed in an apartment building. Results show that the model predictions compare well with the field data. Using this validated model, feedback controllers are designed to achieve better regulation of zone air temperature, boiler water temperature and DHW temperature. A load tracking setpoint control strategy is proposed to regulate boiler temperature as a function of outdoor air temperature. Results showing the simulated responses of the system with the designed controllers subject to step changes in space heating and DHW loads are given. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Study of a new concept of photovoltaic–thermal hybrid collector

This work represents the second step of the development of a new concept of photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector. This type of collector combines preheating of the air and the production of hot water in addition to the classical electrical function of the solar cells. The alternate positioning of the thermal solar collector section and the PV section permits the production of water at higher mean temperatures than most of existing hybrid collectors. These higher temperatures will allow the coupling of components such as solar cooling devices during the summer and obviously a direct domestic hot water (DHW) system without the need for additional auxiliary heating systems. In this paper, a simplified steady-state two-dimensional mathematical model of a PV/T bi-fluid (air and water) collector with a metal absorber is developed. Then, a parametric study (numerically and experimentally) is undertaken to determine the effect of various factors such as the water mass flow rate on the solar collector thermal performances. Finally, the results from an experimental test bench and the first simulation results obtained on full scale experiments are compared.     

Financial analysis of an installed small scale seasonal thermal energy store

The financial viability of an installed solar heating system incorporating a Seasonal Thermal Energy Store (STES) for a house constructed to the low-energy Passivhaus standard is analysed. Details are provided of system costs and the recorded performance for the installation which is located in Galway, Ireland, a location which experiences a Temperate Maritime Climate. Using these figures, a financial Life Cycle Analysis has been undertaken to determine the cost effectiveness of the system in providing space heating and domestic hot water.As part of the life cycle cost analysis the effect of the treatment of the terminal value of the STES was considered. The analysis shows that irrespective of the terminal value attached to the STES, the use of solar thermal energy in combination with an STES offered a more favourable business case than the use of electricity for DHW and space heating over the 40 year time period considered. This shows that a direct space heating and DHW system incorporating STES can be economically viable in a Temperate Maritime Climate in the long term.     

温控下被动式太阳房辅助热源量的动态分析

减少对辅助热源的依赖是太阳能建筑设计的一个重要目标,利用建筑自身的集热蓄热能力,可以减少辅助热源量.研究了根据一维热网络模型、温控下辅助热源量的计算公式及热平衡方程,计算不同辅助热源的控制常数以及设定温度下室内温度和辅助热源量的变化;分析了不同的热源控制常数取值和设定温度对室内温度和辅助热源量的影响;讨论了设定温度对墙体蓄热利用的影响.     

Computational evaluation of solar heating systems using concrete solar collectors

This paper uses the F-chart technique to evaluate three types of solar heating systems, namely; space solar heating and domestic hot water system (SHDHW), domestic hot water system (DHW) and solar swimming pool heating system (SPHS), using three types of concrete solar collectors, models A, B, and C, and one conventional metallic solar collector.

The economical analysis of SHDHW system revealed that the concrete collectors provided about 49 and 63% of the annual load when the collecting area of the solar panel increased from 55 to 88 M² (25 to 40% of the building roof area). The corresponding solar contributions when conventional metallic collectors were used are 41 and 53%, respectively. This represents an improvement of the annual solar fraction of about 19% when concrete collectors are used instead of the metallic collectors.

It was found that solar heating systems with concrete solar collector models gave higher solar fractions and total life cycle savings than the conventional solar metallic collector.     

Massive Solar-Thermal Collectors: A critical literature review

The present work reviews the literature produced so far on high-capacitance solar thermal collectors, with the aim of highlighting the wide range of possible variants and applications and sharing the information here gathered for future developments. These solar systems are here denoted with the term of Massive Solar-Thermal Collector (MSTC). The review is focused on liquid rather air technologies, because of their direct applicability to systems that supply only domestic hot water (DHW) as well as combined DHW and space heating (SH) systems. The attention on this topic is justified by the rising number of publications and energy concepts that deal with the utilization of opaque structures as low cost solar absorbers and by the similar MSTC's efficiency in low temperature range to conventional solar systems.     

广东地区太阳能-空气源热泵复合系统供暖供生活热水实验研究

构建了一种太阳能-空气源热泵复合供热系统,在广东地区冬季的晴天和全阴天进行供暖供生活热水实验测试。针对办公建筑供暖供生活热水需求,定时间段供生活热水同时进行供暖实验。实验结果表明:晴天热泵相较于全阴天工况节电1.16 kW·h,供热效果优于全阴天工况,太阳能-空气源热泵复合供热性能相较于单独的空气源热泵更有显著优势;太阳能-空气源热泵复合系统供暖供生活热水期间,复合系统COP_(sys)平均值为4.71、波动范围在4.20～5.38,空气源热泵系统COP_(hp)平均值为4.60、波动范围在4.08～5.10。     

Design and performance of a roof integrated solar air heater

This paper discusses the design and construction of a roof integrated solar air heater used in a space heating system for a well insulated house located in Melbourne, Australia. The design of the house and the heat storage system is not discussed and details may be obtained elswhere [1]. The space heating system consists of an array of solar air heaters coupled to a rockbed thermal store located under the floor of the house, such that the rooms are heated by radiation and convection from the floor.     

Energy consumption of a residential building: comparison of conventional and RES-based systems

The energy needs of a typical one-family house in the Thessaloniki area for heating, cooling and domestic hot water production are calculated. The calculations are based on the typical average daily consumption of hot water and on the degree-day method for heating and cooling. The results are finally translated into thermal energy consumption, assuming the typical Greek situation (heating with diesel oil boilers and conventional radiators, cooling with local air-to-air split-type heat pumps and hot water production with electric heaters). The same energy needs are assumed to be covered by a vertical closed loop ground heat exchanger combined with a water-to-water heat pump system with fan-coils for heating and cooling and a thermosyphonic solar system for domestic hot water production. The ground heat exchanger/heat pump system efficiency is determined using data from an existing and continuously monitored similar system installed in the broader area of Thessaloniki. The solar system load coverage is calculated using the f-chart method. The energy consumption of the renewable energy systems is calculated and compared to that of the conventional system. The results prove that significant energy savings can be achieved.     

Experiments of a solar flat plate hybrid system with heating and cooling

Based upon the prior research of the solar hybrid water heater and refrigerator, a new flat plate solar hybrid system with heating and cooling was proposed and experimental prototype device was constructed. With this new hybrid system, the heat and mass transfer can be improved effectively both in desorption process and adsorption process. The conventional flat plate solar water heater collector absorber is immersed inside adsorbent bed in the new hybrid system. The experimental results show that not only the cooling effect can be obtained, but also both the sensible heat of the adsorbent bed and the adsorption heat can be recovered effectively to produce hot water for domestic use. The COP of this new flat plate hybrid system can reach 0.11 and the heat efficiency is about 0.45, this achievement has demonstrated an efficient way of the application of solar energy.     

家用集成热水系统的设计

本文设计了一种新型家用集成热水系统,它集成了太阳能热水器、燃气热水器和回水加热循环的优点,利用了太阳能热水器的节能、燃气热水器和回水加热循环的即开即热,采用PLC集中控制实现节能、环保和智能控制的目的。     

PCM storage for solar DHW: From an unfulfilled promise to a real benefit

The present numerical study is concerned with the use of phase change materials (PCMs) in solar-based domestic hot water (DHW) systems. During the last decade, the majority of the studies related to that issue concluded that the recourse to PCMs-based storage units was quite promising in order to enhance the overall performances of solar-based DHW systems. One recently interesting published numerical study (Talmatsky and Kribus, 2008), suggested though that this beneficial impact is not guaranteed since the gains observed over the day period brought by the presence of PCMs to store the solar energy were compensated by the losses undergone by the storage tank during the night. The origin of this absence of any beneficial impact of the use of PCMs in a DHW system has to be clearly understood in order to reconcile studies which indicated apparently contradictory findings. In that framework, the goal of the present contribution is to analyze the conditions under which such an absence of advantage of the use of PCMs in a DHW system were obtained in order to propose some possibilities of improvement for demonstrating the interest in using PCMs in solar-based DHW systems. Thus, the mathematical model based on the one reported in Talmatsky and Kribus (2008) is considered. This model describes the heat storage tank with PCM, collector, pump, controller and auxiliary heater. Realistic environmental conditions and typical end-user requirements are imposed.     

分体式家用太阳热水器

指出了传统太阳热水器存在的一些问题,为克服太阳热水器在高层建筑应用中受到的限制,研制了 一种靠重力循环的分体式家用太阳热水器。在冬季,用集中供暖系统中的热水为辅助热源加热蓄热水箱中的 水,以解决仅利用太阳能加热供水温度太低的问题,与利用辅助电加热相比,可降低运行费用。